Intersemiosis in Contemporary Musical Theater and Opera

Abstract

In this article the author intends to apply the concepts he has developed in his theory of music semiotics for the study of multimediality in significant works of contemporary western music. Using the general theory of signs from Charles Peirce and B. Fuller’s concepts of synergy and tensegrity, we propose a study of musical intersemiosis as heterogeneous forms which are cooperatively articulated while pointing out the interrelations between music and text, music and gestures and music and technical image. The works analyzed are: L’Histoire du soldat, by Igor Stravinsky; Lulu, by Alban Berg; Sequenza V by Luciano Berio; and Rosa, the Death of a Composer by Louis Andriessen.