The act of transcription (like that of translation) may imply three different conditions:  the identification of the composer with the original musical text, the turning of the text into a pretext for analytical experimentation and, finally, the overpowering of the text, its deconstruction and its philological “abuse”. I believe that an ideal situation occurs only when the three conditions come to blend and coexist. Only then may transcription become a truly creative, constructive act.

Voci (Folk Songs II), written in 1984 for Aldo Bennici and dedicated to Laura and Paolo Martelli, deals precisely with the problem of converging those three dimensions. I am deeply indebted to Aldo Bennici for providing me with the original musical material for the piece: songs of work and love, lullabies and “street cries” from different parts of Sicily. With Voci I hope to contribute to the enhancement of a more profound interest in the Sicilian folklore which, along with that of Sardinia, is certainly the richest, most complex and incandescent of our Mediterranean culture.

Luciano Berio