My voice is my absent body: Luciano Berio’s Un re in ascolto
Author(s)
Choi, Misty Ka Man
Date Issued
2023
Publisher
Transcript Verlag
Related Publication(s)
Körper(-lichkeit) in der musik des 20. und 21. jahrhunderts
Start page
43
End page
58
Abstract
Luciano Berio believed that there is inherently body vocality in sound, whether in vocal music or instrumental music. The corporeality is inscribed in a larger system of bodily meanings, along with the lexicon of gesture. Such corporeality is reflected in Berio’s stage work Un re in ascolto (composed 1979–1983, first performance 1984) on another level, in which the protagonist Prospero feels his inner self through a singing voice in the theater. Prospero’s consciousness is inseparable from the voice he projects in the dream where he perceives his fear and desire.The perception of voice as body is worth considering along with the composer’s exploration of music theater—a genre which, according to Berio,does not necessarily produce action but directs the audience’s thinking process.This paper first examines how silence and the patchwork of sounds and voices make up the protagonist’s absent body in Un re in ascolto, which further deconstruct sound and the textualized self that traditionally form the core of a musical discourse. I will then discuss briefly how the idea of »body« functions as the »listening space«which transfers Prospero’s act of listening to the audience’s mind in order to invite them to listen to their unconscious, the »absence« inside them. I conclude that the act of listening in Un re in ascolto echoes Berio and Calvino’s idea of »imaginary theatre« or »dream theater«.
SFU Affiliated Publication
No
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