Sequenza X

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Sequenza X is a composition for solo trumpet by Luciano Berio. The work was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Thomas Stevens, and premiered by him on November 19, 1984. The piece is dedicated to Ernest Fleischmann, managing director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1969 to 1997.

While Sequenza X is for solo trumpet, it also includes a piano part with chords and pedal markings that are to be performed silently, allowing certain strings to resonate when the trumpeter is directed to play into the piano. The piece requires the trumpeter to perform a variety of articulations and timbral effects -- including double tonguing, flutter tonguing, "doodle" tonguing (a technique with origins in jazz), shakes, valve tremolos, and hand stops -- in rapid succession and at times simultaneously.

The piece has become a standard in the contemporary trumpet repertoire, and has been recorded numerous times, most notably under supervision of the composer by trumpet soloist Gabriele Cassone.

Sequenza X is the basis for Berio's Kol-Od (also called Chemins VI) which adds a small ensemble to accompany the solo trumpet part. Kol-Od was premiered by Gabriele Cassone with the Ensemble InterContemporain, Pierre Boulez conducting, on April 27, 1996 in Basel, Switzerland.