Luciano Berio, one of the most important representatives of the avant-garde in the 20th century, repeatedly explored the music of past eras in his work. The doyen of Italian modernism, who died in Rome in 2003, was born in Oneglia near Genoa in northern Italy in 1925. In his compositions, Berio advocated the concept of the “open work of art”, which draws on the wealth of musical history to constantly reassemble its material independently of current fashions and formal aesthetics. Berio’s search for inspiration ranged from Monteverdi to Schubert and Puccini, and led him, via sophisticated collage techniques, to an art of permanent transformation. ‘Music about music’ was one of the central themes of his oeuvre.