Composing with vocal physiology: extended vocal technique categories and Berio's Sequenza III

Luciano Berio' s Sequenza III for solo voice is a graphically notated piece of music with very few exact pitches and rhythms, and instead a variety of unconventional vocal gestures. Existing published analyses of Sequenza III have focused on extramusical aspects instead of its compositional structure. The analytical approach required for a more structural analysis of Sequenza III must be based on musical elements other than pitch and rhythm because they fail to provide an adequate description of the musical material. In order to build an analytical approach, a survey of the history of extended vocal techniques is undertaken from which a categorization of extended vocal techniques is harvested and is organized according to vocal physiology. This physiological categorization combined with other general musical parameters is the basis for analysis of Sequenza III where musical motives are described in terms of physiological production types. This physiologically influenced approach will reveal how the voice's capabilities and tendencies are the impetus for the structure and development of Berio' s Sequenza III.