Berio, "Visage"
Authorship and Female Voices in Electrovocal Music, by Hannah Bosma
Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference 1996, Hong Kong
The next electrovocal composition of Berio, Visage (1961), is also a next step in the relationship of author and voice. Visage consists mainly, and most prominently, of the voice of Cathy Berberian, uttering all kinds of sounds, and only one word: `parole'. For this composition, Berio asked Berberian to improvise according to a few vague instructions (Berberian in Stoïanova 1985: 70). The recording of this improvisation forms the main part of Visage; Berio made a montage of it and added electronic sounds and manipulations in the background (Osmond-Smith 1991). Berberian's sighing, crying, laughing, moaning, groaning and stammering, and her many other impressive non-verbal voice sounds, are the most striking features of Visage. One can imagine that these sounds shocked the Radio of Milano: Visage was considered as `obscene' and `too pornographic' (Berberian in Stoïanova 1985; Osmond-Smith 1991); and though Visage was made in the Studio of Phonology of the Radio of Milano, it was not broadcast in full (Stoïanova 1985).
With Visage, an important promise of electronic sound technology is fulfilled: that is, features that previously were considered as part of performance, i.e., vocal production and improvisation, now form a permanent, reproduceable, distributable product - a composition. But still, Berberian is not considered as a co-composer or co-author. She is mentioned in the sleeve notes, but her place is far less prominent than Berio's. Indeed, although most of the pieces on this CD mainly consist of Berberian's voice, her name is not on the cover; only the names of composers Berio and Maderna.[6] And in Dreßen's (1982) analysis of Visage (just as in his analysis of Thema), Dreßen does not even mention that the voice in this piece is a female voice. Strangely, he does mention that in the end `a kind of electronic men's choir comes out' of the sound mass (92). (Otherwise, he only writes about `a voice'.) Stoïanova suggests that Berberian's art is unconscious by writing that `her voice' `invented the expressive utterances' (67). According to Stoïanova, `the author' (i.e., Berio) is `the owner of the body, matter, sensuality and compositional technique' and `composes a coherent version' by his `compositional cutting' (71).
According to the texts accompanying Visage, the male composer-author organised (i.e. predominantly the work of the mind) and `owns' the piece and is presented as most important. The female vocalist, who produced the most striking part of the composition by her vocal art, vocal sound production and improvisation (i.e., work of body and mind), is assigned a less prominent place. Though this avant-garde composition was made with the newest technology, the old hierarchic dualism is still found.
Osmond-Smith, David (1991), Berio. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.
Stoïanova, Ivanka (1985). Luciano Berio: Chemins en musique. Paris: Editions Richard-Masse.
Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference 1996, Hong Kong
The next electrovocal composition of Berio, Visage (1961), is also a next step in the relationship of author and voice. Visage consists mainly, and most prominently, of the voice of Cathy Berberian, uttering all kinds of sounds, and only one word: `parole'. For this composition, Berio asked Berberian to improvise according to a few vague instructions (Berberian in Stoïanova 1985: 70). The recording of this improvisation forms the main part of Visage; Berio made a montage of it and added electronic sounds and manipulations in the background (Osmond-Smith 1991). Berberian's sighing, crying, laughing, moaning, groaning and stammering, and her many other impressive non-verbal voice sounds, are the most striking features of Visage. One can imagine that these sounds shocked the Radio of Milano: Visage was considered as `obscene' and `too pornographic' (Berberian in Stoïanova 1985; Osmond-Smith 1991); and though Visage was made in the Studio of Phonology of the Radio of Milano, it was not broadcast in full (Stoïanova 1985).
With Visage, an important promise of electronic sound technology is fulfilled: that is, features that previously were considered as part of performance, i.e., vocal production and improvisation, now form a permanent, reproduceable, distributable product - a composition. But still, Berberian is not considered as a co-composer or co-author. She is mentioned in the sleeve notes, but her place is far less prominent than Berio's. Indeed, although most of the pieces on this CD mainly consist of Berberian's voice, her name is not on the cover; only the names of composers Berio and Maderna.[6] And in Dreßen's (1982) analysis of Visage (just as in his analysis of Thema), Dreßen does not even mention that the voice in this piece is a female voice. Strangely, he does mention that in the end `a kind of electronic men's choir comes out' of the sound mass (92). (Otherwise, he only writes about `a voice'.) Stoïanova suggests that Berberian's art is unconscious by writing that `her voice' `invented the expressive utterances' (67). According to Stoïanova, `the author' (i.e., Berio) is `the owner of the body, matter, sensuality and compositional technique' and `composes a coherent version' by his `compositional cutting' (71).
According to the texts accompanying Visage, the male composer-author organised (i.e. predominantly the work of the mind) and `owns' the piece and is presented as most important. The female vocalist, who produced the most striking part of the composition by her vocal art, vocal sound production and improvisation (i.e., work of body and mind), is assigned a less prominent place. Though this avant-garde composition was made with the newest technology, the old hierarchic dualism is still found.
Osmond-Smith, David (1991), Berio. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.
Stoïanova, Ivanka (1985). Luciano Berio: Chemins en musique. Paris: Editions Richard-Masse.
Labels: jodru, Luciano Berio
posted by jodru at 18:31
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