Cathy Berberian

Catherine Anahid Berberian (July 4, 1925 – March 6, 1983) was an American mezzo-soprano and composer based in Italy. She worked closely with many contemporary avant-garde music composers, including Luciano Berio, Bruno Maderna, John Cage, Henri Pousseur, Sylvano Bussotti, Darius Milhaud, Roman Haubenstock-Ramati, and Igor Stravinsky. She also interpreted works by Claudio Monteverdi, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Kurt Weill, Philipp zu Eulenburg and others. As a recital curator, she presented several vocal genres in a classical context, including arrangements of songs by the Beatles by Louis Andriessen as well as folk songs from several countries and cultures. As a composer, she wrote Stripsody (1966), in which she exploits her vocal technique using comic book sounds (onomatopoeia), and Morsicat(h)y (1969), a composition for the keyboard (with the right hand only) based on Morse code.

Songs Cathy Sang, Music Composed for the Voice of Cathy Berberian. Berio: Folksongs & Sequenza III - Cage: Aria - Pousseur: Phonèmes pour Cathy - Berberian: Stripsody - 2025-07-30T00:00:00.000000Z

Folk Songs of the World - 2016-04-01T00:00:00.000000Z

Maderna: Electronic Music - 1994-07-06T00:00:00.000000Z

MagnifiCathy - The Many Voices of Cathy Berberian - 1970-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z

Wie einst in schöner'n Tagen - Salonmusik der Belle Epoque - 1970-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z

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