Tidings come of Luciano Berio's death in Rome, aged 79.
Thus passes a composer of very considerable note, who is the subject of a well-written study, 'The past as future' on the site of his publisher, Universal Edition. This article has the merit of being clearer than rather too much writing about 20th century music, while there are links to (brief QuickTime) extracts from two or three of his works.
Berio was not among my favourite avant-garde composers - with the exception of some of his pieces for chamber orchestra - but I greatly admired him both as an innovator and a teacher.
Of his vocal works, largely written for his wife, soprano Cathy Berberian, I was too young for the initial astonishment at Circles, but when it did come to my ears in the '70s I was deeply impressed by a piece which so successfully married - or rather, set off - lines by e. e. cummings with an ensemble consisting of Cathy B., a harp and two percussionists ... equipped with a battery of 80 instruments or more!
The Wergo recording linked above also features 'Sequenza III', which really is a "tour de force" for those who like that kind of thing.
Berio it was too who founded the Juilliard Ensemble in 1967. There are iinteresting thoughts on "'Words and Music': Exploring an Intricate Relationship" in the April edition of 'The Juilliard Journal Online'.
1:13:55 PM link 
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