The Modification and Instrumentation of a Famous Hornpipe as a Merry and Altogether Sincere Homage to Uncle Alfred
Purcell – Berio
Year of composition:
1969
Year composition ended:
1969
Scored for:
6 instruments
Duration:
1'
Annotations:
A hornpipe by Henry Purcell (1659-1695) transcribed for 6 instruments.
Instrumentation: fl (ob), cl, perc, hpsd, vla, vc.
The piece is part of A Garland for Mr. K,, an homage of Universal Edition to Alfred Kalmus, with compositions by Boulez, Stockhausen, Pousseur, Birtwistle and others.
The author's note (see below) originally had the following subtitle:
«Azione musicale su melodie siciliane (1985-86) | per viola, marimba, tam-tam e nastro magentico». Naturale is registered as a stage piece. Berio revised it in the years following the first performances (1985-86), he added rototoms to the percussion and changed the indication "magnetic tape" to "registered voice".