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Notes on Luciano Berio’s Thema (Omaggio a Joyce) (1958) andVisage (1961)by Bruce Christian Bennett

Luciano Berio imagined a situation in which it would be possible tomove imperceptibly from text to music, a situation in which text andmusic form a partnership in which they are equals. Berio busiedhimself from 1957 to 1958 researching onomatopœia in poetry withUmberto Eco,1 in particular, the poetry of James Joyce. Resultingfrom this was the composition, Thema (Omaggio a Joyce). In it,Berio sought, "an escape from the generally recognized problem foraesthetic theory of the primacy of musical structure over poeticstructure."2

Berio's experiment, as it was to manifest itself in Thema, required atext that was both onomatopœic and that could be read not as fixedand logically continuous but as an impressionistic collection ofpossibilities. Thus, while Stockhausen relied upon a text that couldbe assumed to be general knowledge, Berio relied on a text whosemeaning is essentially ambiguous to begin with. While Berio did notsubject his compositional material to serial processes, he diddiscover the need to clearly categorize and then relate thecompositional material along lines of similar or dissimilar "vocalcolours"3 in a kind series. The series then, "[ranged] from A to U,including the diphthongs," such that the series corresponded to "thesuccessive positions of the resonating points of the vocalapparatus."4

The formal structure of both Thema, and later Visage, follows anarrative form. The narrative structure is based on some kind ofphonetic or linguistic transformation and evolution. In Thema, theonomatopœic nature of the chosen text material itself is highly 1 Schrader. (1982), 179.2 Berio. "Poetry and Music - An Experiment", Prospice 10 (1979), 10.3 ibid., 16.4 ibid., 16.

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suggestive of musical possibilities. Berio notes that all the musicalpossibilities are, "already implicit in the Joycean original: ...based...on ...[the] powers of accentuation and timbre peculiar to theEnglish language."1 In this way, Berio's composition is text basedwhereas Stockhausen's composition is based on abstract musicalprinciples.

The text of Thema is the 'overture'2 to the Sirens chapter (chapter11) of Joyce's Ulysses. This particular chapter from Ulysses is anhomage to music and, more specifically, to the purely musical ideaof Fuga per canonem (although he is clearly unable to employ realcanon, for it is impossible in the literary form of a novel to havesimultaneous, contrapuntal lines). In the 'exposition,' Joyce's textestablishes a series of basic themes, which are separated from theirlinguistic context by leitmotifs, of sorts. These leitmotifs arestripped of any semantic connection or discursive meaning. Berionotes that any musical consideration of these literary leitmotifswould be restricted to onomatopœia, which he calls, "the mostprimitive style of spontaneous musical expression."3 He thencharacterizes these leitmotifs by a type of musical figuration ormeans of articulation:4

"Imperthnthn thnthnthn" - trillo"Chips, picking chips" - staccato"Warbling. Ah, lure!" - appogiatura"Deaf bald Pat brought pad knife took up" - martellato"A sail! A veil awave upon the waves" - glissando

Joyce thus transforms language into music by reference to suchmusical gestures. Furthermore, by means of thematic references(i.e., leitmotifs) Joyce is able to allude to musical structures. What isperhaps most interesting to Berio regarding Joyce's text is, however, 1 ibid., 15.2 Joyce. (1946), 252-253.3 Berio. "Poetry and Music - An Experiment", Prospice 10 (1979), 12.4 ibid.

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the musical quality of the sound of the words themselves:onomatopœia. "There is [in Joyce's text] a kind of musical processthat goes from the relatively simple exposition of words to noise,that is to the moment where everything is saturated by sibilantsounds in a kind of cadenza on the white noise quality of the 's'sound."1

By means of various tape manipulations, such as variations ofduration and frequency and changes of frequency levels, Berio isable to reveal, "new relationships within the material itself (theresemblance of the constituents)."2 Furthermore, he is able toimitate, "the natural transformations of vocal sounds,"3 byelectronic means. "Artificial conjunctions in consonants (inparticular rapid successions of unvoiced and voiced stopconsonants: b-p, t-d, t-b, ch-g) permit a decisive evolution towardsgreater richness of articulation."4 Thus, in Thema, "s" - which is theprimary vocal colour of the whole piece - may change into "f" and"f" to "v" or to "sz" to "zh", etc..., and, in its similarity to whitenoise, may dissolve into electronic sounds.

Every textual element is then adapted to 3 main types of articulationand processes of transformation as suggested by the original natureof the elements themselves:5

1) Discontinuous element -> Cyclic -> Continuous(ex. "Goodgod, he never heard in all")2) Continuous element -> Cyclic -> Discontinuous(ex. "s")3) Cyclic element -> Continuous -> Discontinuous(ex. "thnthnthn")

1 Schrader. (1982), 179-180.2 ibid.3 ibid.4 Berio. "Poetry and Music - An Experiment", Prospice 10 (1979), 17.5 ibid.

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Thema can be divided into five sections based on the process ofnegotiating the 'series' of vocal colors. Thema may also be heardroughly in a tripartite form based on whether the text is perceivedas language or as sound object. When Berio wants the text to beperceived strictly as a sound object the quality of the sound isessentially electronic.1 When the piece moves into the realm ofelectronic sound it also moves from the linguistic to the musical.

Thema (Omaggio a Joyce): I. 0:00–0:59 Vocal: sibilants vs. plosives

v, s, f, th, fl -> (sp) -> bl {as in "blooming"}process of disassembling phrases into words and words into syllables

II. 1:00–2:33 Vocal/Electronic duet: "a", sibilants, "u", plosivesah -> (sm)a(ck) -> u -> (J)i(ngle) -> o ; 'hissss'text further abstracted into syllables and phonemes; word objectified as sound in duet with the electronics

III. 2:33–2:59 Electronic: sibilants and pitched white noise - "s" predominance of "s"text almost entirely dissolves into white noise: total dissolution of semantic - pure sound

IV. 3:00–4:48 Electronic: "chips" + "o"3:43—"Mor-rrr-bida"4:03—electronic 'hit' evolves into 'electronic chatter' process of re-assembling words - 'chatter' brings electronic into the realm of linguistic

1 Even though no actual electronically produced sounds are used inThema, the degree to which Berio employs tape manipulationscreates an "electronic" quality of sound.

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V. 4:49–6:12 Vocal: pitched vowels, portamento, sibilants5:07—clearly audible text: apprehensible languagepredominance of "s"dissolves into "hissss..." as texture thins

The narrative of Thema then, is a process of disassembling the textinto its constituent phonetic elements, exposing previously unheard"musical" relations between these constituent elements, and thenreassembling them into comprehensible language all in smoothlygraded transitions. Berio allows the listener to "get inside" theonomatopœic quality of the text itself and as such exposes themusic inherent in the poetic language. The intention of Berio'sThema was to "develop the reading of Joyce's prose in a restrictedfield dictated by the text itself..."1; thus the sound material itself, inits very acoustic (i.e., onomatopœic) nature, dictates the criteria forthe composition.

Visage further abstracts the process explored in Thema, for there isonly one real word in the whole piece, "parole," while the remainderis made up of paralinguistic gesture, phonetic sounds, and mocklanguage. Paul Griffiths interprets both Thema and Visage aspsychological documents. Griffiths is tempted to interpret Thema assignaling the, "breakdown of the text as a metaphor for mentaldisintegration."2 And then upon hearing Visage Griffiths has thefeeling of "observing a woman in an emotional turmoil of anguish,fear, hysteria, and sexual arousal."3 As such, Griffiths seems tointerpret Visage similarly to the RAI, for whom the work wasoriginally intended, who banned the work from radio play for being"obscene."4 However, while any heartfelt interpretation of music hasa certain validity, I believe both Griffiths and the RAI missed thepoint of the work entirely. Berio offers a clue to interpreting Visage 1 Berio. "Poetry and Music - An Experiment", Prospice 10 (1979), 18.2 Griffiths. (1979), 38.3 ibid.4 Osmond-Smith. (1991), 64.

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in the liner notes of the Turnabout recording: "Visage can be heard...as a metaphor for vocal behavior: its means of discourse mainly atthe onomatopœic level." More than that, I hear Visage as ametaphor for the evolution of spoken language.

To attain the sound material for Visage Berio had Cathy Berberian1

improvise a series of monologues, where each one is based on acollection of phonetic materials and a repertoire of vocal gesturesas defined by a given linguistic model;2 however no real words fromany language, except for the Italian - "parole,” are used. Thus, as inthe apprehension of a foreign tongue, one perceives language whereno real language exists. Regardless, these "false" languages are notentirely meaningless, for Berberian's voice is able to convey a senseof meaningful content (particularly emotional) by means ofintonation and vocal inflection.

Berio uses the word "parole" in Visage to articulate formal regions.Likewise, the electronically generated sounds in Visage form aparallel dimension to the vocal sounds. I distinguish in Visage fiveformal regions devoted to one aspect of the evolution of spokenlanguage. The piece begins with a primordial mist of white noise andout of the mist the first intimations of vocal articulation form.

Visage: I. 0:00–3:38 the birth of speech

As the vocal sounds evolve from inarticulate gurgles to articulatespeech-like sound (phonemes to syllables, syllables to semblances ofwords) so does the electronic 'mist' of white noise transform intonarrower bands of articulated noise. This section ends in laughter(the pleasure of discovery?).

1 The voice that is Cathy Berberian is truly amazing. I believe shedeserves nearly as much credit for Thema and, in particular, Visageas Berio himself.2 Osmond-Smith. (1991), 63.

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II. 3:40–6:00 language

"Parole" is heard whispered at 3:38; thus intimating the process weare hearing: the transition from the apprehension of vocalizations asmere sounds to linguistic symbols. The electronic sounds move inarticulated pitched bands of noise imitating the voice's apparentarticulation of spoken language.

III. 6:00–10:08 emotive vocal gestures

"Parole" is heard at 6:00 and again at 6:10 amongst laughter andlaughter turning into weeping. The electronic sounds, on the otherhand, revert shifting planes of filtered noise until about 7:00 wherethey once again fall into imitations of the vocal gestures. At ca. 7:36there is a wonderful blending of the vocal and the electronic asreverb is applied to inhaled vocalizations and moves into the realmof electronic noise. This section comes to a climactic outcry in boththe electronics and the voice at ca. 9:00.

IV. 10:08–13:50 emotive language

"Parole" is clearly articulated at 10:08 followed by a slight pause(marking the middle of the work). Both the electronic and vocalsounds rapidly articulate what can be heard as language. The natureof the vocal inflection and intonation imparts a sense of urgency,possibly even the extreme emotions of fear, anguish, or hysteria.The emotional content of this section comes to a head at ca. 13:38with the outcry of "parole" within a dense and active electro-vocaltexture.

V. 13:50–21:04 song/poetry

Starting at about 13:50 the voice sings in unison with the electronicsounds. Then at 16:13 recites "poetry" (heard as such by means ofvocal inflection) in counterpoint to and eventually alternating withsong. As such, this treatment of the voice is tantamount to giving

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both music and poetry equal status as the highest symbolic ordersof the voice: the artistic voice. At the same time the poeticrecitation is first heard, the seeds of the "chorus of humanity" areplanted in the electronics, which evolves slowly, gradually, andcontinuously to the end of the piece. At ca. 18:07 the solo voicedissolves into the electronic chorus - the individual is subsumed intothe totality of humanity, where linguistic differences dissolve intocommon understanding. Thus, in my interpretation, Visage endswith the solo voice dissolving into the greater chorus of humanity.

In Berio’s Thema and Visage, the structure of the work and itsmaterial are one in the same thing. His materials are entirelylinguistic in nature. In Thema, Berio "transposed to a different, andperhaps higher, level, that which already exits in the text." He"extracted music," from the text, "and developed it in a waycongenial to the text itself."1 In Visage Berio achieves the intimationof language without any real language present. He created music andnarrative structure from models of language while simply relying onthe vocal inflection of the onomatopœic material to convey a senseof content. Berio both disassembles and intimates linguisticsemantics by realizing the onomatopœic implications of the text.

1 Schrader. (1982), 180.