Cinque variazione (Berio)

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5 Variations for solo piano, written by Luciano Berio in 1952/3 and greatly revised in 1966. Dedicated to Luigi Dallapiccola.

A contribution to the piano repertory of the highest quality, but rarely performed. Published by Zerboni the script is 17 pages. The first edition is not easily available. Major changes between the two versions are indicated below, but many other small changes may be found and most of all are additions to render the harmony more complex.

• 1st variation: calmo e flessibile. No theme is stated in this piece. Like Webern's Piano Variations a 12-tone row stated at the beginning stands in for a theme. The first variation remains largely within the ppp-pppp range. It begins with a series of major ninths (the number nine plays a significant role in the structure of the piece) and gradually gains in rhythmic and harmonic complexity.

• 2nd variation: (quarter note) poco meno del (eighth note) precedente. Mostly built on a sharp dotted motiv but rapidly gains in speed and density, building up to a fff climax.

• 3rd variation: prestissimo (e ben articulato) Fragments of motivs thrown around with rests and accents. A short cadenza (dotted quarter =104) intervenes (the designation "cadenza" is taken out in the revised version). Finally, a coda prestissimo, rapidly building up from very soft to extremely loud, closes this variation (the word "coda" is removed in the revised version).

• 4th variation: legatissimo e volante. Beginning pppp, with rapid, highly chromatic scale passages (sometimes divided between the hands) and fragments of motivs tossed around. Builds to several climaxes. The bottom score of page 13 and the first two scores of page 14 are new to the revised version.

• 5th variation: calmo. Return to the pensive mood of the first variation, but with an intensely lyrical melody set among a large number of ornaments. The original version of the piece lacks almost all of these ornaments and is rhythmically far more simple and static (all the nontuplets are only found in the revised version).

• 6th variation: rittorivo molto. This variation was not originally produced by the original composer but by several more decades later after World War 2.

• Coda. Return to the stationary, ninth-dominated motives of the start, mostly in the ppp range with much pedal.