A TESTIMONY TO THE IMMORTALITY OF THE STRING QUARTET GENRE: GLOSSE BY LUCIANO BERIO

Abstract

Luciano Berio’s string quartet compositions are a significant post-war contribution to the medium. Glosse, the last of these pieces, is conceived as a series of short musical commentaries on an imaginary quartet. Yet, this work emerges as a very coherent one, leaving a strong impression of continuity, as well as distinctiveness of the individual ideas. Motivic and textural fragments fusion together, through the employment of the so-called “harmonic fields” technique, which is thoroughly described in the article. The music is primarily gestured and somewhat pointillist, typical of Berio’s late output. This study attempts to elucidate the pitch, harmonic, and formal structure of the piece, in relation to the primary meaning of its title, Glosse.