Program note

Since Berio’s death in 2003, I had wanted to write an homage to him. Omaggio à Berio (Black is the Colour) engages with the material of the Folk Songs: the entire work is based on a descending line Berio had devised as a plaintive accompaniment in the harp in the first movement of the series. The performers coax this melody from the piano in various indirect ways, as if it were a sort of harp which one did not quite know how to play.

- Patricia Alessandrini