Berio's aesthetic is one of communication and commentary. The third movement of the Sinfonia is first and foremost a setting and interpretation of the main text, Beckett's The Unnamable. Mahler's scherzo from the Second Symphony is the cantus firmus of the movement. An understanding of the song upon which Mahler based his movement, "Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt" from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, aids in the understanding of the Berio movement. A discussion of quotation and allusion includes reference to James Joyce. In the cases of Beckett, Mahler, Joyce, and Berio, "the artist has become the subject of art." A complete analysis of Berio's movement is beyond the scope of the article. Allusions to Schoenberg, Debussy, Mahler, Hindemith, Berg, Brahms, Ravel, Strauss, Berlioz, Stravinsky, Berio himself, Pousseur, Beethoven, Boulez, Webern, Stockhausen, and perhaps Schumann are pointed out. In music of the 1970s, especially in the music of American composers, quotation is the rule rather than the exception.

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: David C. Birchler