Sequenza II
Sequenza II is a composition for unaccompanied harp by the Italian composer Luciano Berio. Written for and premiered by the French harpist Francis Pierre in 1963 (who also recorded it twice), it has since been performed and recorded by Emily Laurance, Frédérique Cambreling, Susan Jolles, and Claudia Antonelli, among others.

As with most of the "Sequenze", Berio sought to explore the timbral and expressive capabilities of the harp in the hands of a virtuoso musician. Because of this, "Sequenza II" defies many of the stereotypes associated with the harp. In the liner notes of the 1999 Ensemble InterContemporain recording, Berio wrote of "Sequenza II", "French impressionism has left us with a rather limited version of the harp, as if its most obvious characteristic were that of lending itself to the attention of loosely robed girls with long blond tresses, capable of drawing from it nothing more than seductive glissandi." "Sequenza II" has its share of glissandi, but also calls for harmonic tones and extended techniques such as percussive effects (on the wooden body of the harp), as well as a virtuoso amount of pedal-shifting and an extreme sensitivity to rapid dynamic changes.
Q47369
harp
Concept
Q221450
Luciano Berio
PER
Q51871049
Francis Pierre
PER
None
Emily Laurance
UNK
None
Frédérique Cambreling
UNK
None
Susan Jolles
UNK
None
Claudia Antonelli
UNK
Q499541
Sequenze
ORG
Q125921
Ensemble InterContemporain
ORG
Q471744
glissandi
Concept
Q1148098
harmonic
Concept
Q3479099
Sequenza II
MEDIA
Q3479099
Sequenza II
MEDIA
Q3479099
Sequenza II
MEDIA
Q3479099
Sequenza II
MEDIA
1963-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1963
DATE
1999-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1999
DATE
instrumentation
composer
part of