The imaginative Luciano Berio was born 101 years ago on this day, October 24, 1925 in Italy. He was a composer noted for his experimental work particularly his pioneering work in electronic music. Unlike many avant-garde composers who sought to break away from history, Berio embraced it, using older music as a foundation to be expanded upon. ‘The music that interests me is that which carries traces of the past, but has a vision of the future, too.´
It is for this reason that Berio was not simply an experimentalist: he was deeply engaged with the entire history of music, from early traditions to contemporary composition. He refused to accept that modern composition had to abandon the past. He could incorporate electronic sounds, fragments of Mahler, folk melodies, literature, and unconventional vocal techniques into a single artistic vision.
“A good musician has to think with his belly and to feel with his brain.” This striking remark reflects Berio's resistance to separating intellectual understanding from physical and emotional experience.
