journal of interdisciplinary music studies fall 2010, volume 4, issue 2, art. #10040204, pp. 55-84 •Correspondence: Blanka Bogunović, Faculty of Music, University of Arts Belgrade, Kralja Milana 50, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia; tel: + 381 11 361 0960, e-mail: jubo@kbcnet.rs • Received: 24 February 2010; Revised: 25 October 2010; Accepted: 2 November 2010 • Available online: 30 November 2010 • doi: 10.4407/jims.2010.11.004 Theatrical Expressivity of Berio’s Sequenza for Viola: Levels of Communication Blanka Bogunović 1 , Tijana Popović Mladjenović 2 and Ivana Perković 2 1 University of Arts, Faculty of Music, Belgrade 2 Department of Musicology, University of Arts, Faculty of Music, Belgrade Background in music psychology. Psychological approach to communicational process during performing and listening is directed towards personal perception and/or experience induced by music, as well as to the understanding roles of expression in compositional and performing processes. Performer intents to convey messages by his/her musical interpretation, but also by the nonverbal channels inducing a kind of ‘motor mimicry’ and emotional apperception. Different levels of experience and comprehension are engaged and intertwined – physical, emotional, cognitive and metaphorical. Background in music history. In Sequenzas Luciano Berio requires the ‘virtuosity of knowledge’ from the performer, a virtuosity that often entails a thoroughgoing understanding of the history of instrument. Sequenza VI for viola is a work of considerable difficulty and it draws researcher’s attention to the history of the instrument, as well as to the analytical presentation of the work. In performance actions, the body of the player and the body of the instrument become a single entity. Physical theatricality is also found in aural and visual drama of Sequenza VI (Halfyard). Aims. We aim to reveal the quality of musical/auditive, expressional, metaphorical and kinesthetic levels of communication in the tetrad: Berio’s Sequenza VI – viola – performer – listeners. Main contribution. Method is an empirical research that includes live performing and responses of viola player and group of listeners on musical, cognitive, expressional and kinesthetic level. Qualitative content analysis of participants’ reports and narratives has been done. Sample is consisted of 23 participants divided into groups, on the basis of expertise: musical experts and non-musicians. The results suggest that there are patterns of musical, expressional and kinesthetic interactions viewed through the psychological and social context of communication. Music communication model during live performance of Berio’s Sequenza VI has been suggested. Implications. Berio’s music demonstrates that expression does not come necessarily from any sentimentalism: the capacity of expression is written in the human nature. The music invents on this reality which is made of time, of movements, of gestures, of multiform languages (Imberty). Knowledge could be used in music education for defining differential strategies of interaction with audience during performance. Keywords: Berio’s Sequenza VI, viola, performer, listeners, communication model, live performance, narrative, nonverbal communication, dramatic expressivity.