Opera dominated Italian domestic music-making and eclipsed instrumental writing, which often had to draw on operatic models in the shape of virtuosic paraphrases. The renewal of Italian orchestral and chamber music in the twentieth century, however, led to vibrant native schools of composition, not least for the clarinet.

Some composers, such as Giuseppe Ruggiero and Nino Rota, acted as bridges between the past and the present, while others invented new ‘effects’ and sounds, such as those of Bruno Bettinelli in his Studio da concerto. Berio’s Lied reworks and simplifies some of the technical innovations to be found in Sequenza IXa, also written for the clarinet.

Sergio Bosi is Principal Solo Clarinet in the Orchestra Regionale delle Marche (FORM) and teaches at the Gioachino Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro where, at the age of sixteen, he graduated with the highest distinction.