description Sinfonia (Berio) Overview
Sinfonia is a composition by Luciano Berio for eight amplified voices and orchestra, first composed in 1968 and subsequently expanded. Its third movement uses the scherzo from Mahler's Second Symphony as a structural framework while layering quotations from other music and spoken fragments from literary and philosophical texts. The voices alternate among singing, speech, whispering, and phonetic sound rather than functioning as a conventional chorus.
help Sinfonia (Berio) FAQ
Why does Berio's Sinfonia quote Mahler's Second Symphony?
The third movement uses the scherzo from Mahler's Symphony No. 2 as a continuous structural current beneath many other musical fragments. Berio layers this foundation with quotations from composers such as Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky, and Strauss.
What text are the singers speaking in Sinfonia's third movement?
Much of the spoken material comes from Samuel Beckett's novel The Unnamable. The eight amplified voices also produce names, commentary, phonetic sounds, and references that interact with the orchestral quotations.
Was Sinfonia written for the Swingle Singers?
Yes, Berio composed the original 1968 version for eight amplified voices and orchestra with the Swingle Singers in mind. Their precision and flexible movement between speech, song, and extended vocal sound are central to the work.
Why do some recordings of Sinfonia have four movements and others five?
Berio first presented Sinfonia in a four-movement form in 1968. He added a fifth movement during the subsequent revision, so the expanded version became the standard form of the piece.
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