Written the same year as the Sequenza XII for bassoon, the Sequenza XIII for accordion is totally different in its composition approach. His meeting with accordionist Teodoro Anzellotti allowed him to approach the accordion from the solo side. Berio was then confronted with popular music immediately associated with the instrument: “from the melody accompanying trips to the countryside to the songs of the working class, from night clubs to Argentine tango, to jazz” (Luciano Berio).

Berio also recognizes in jazz a style that considerably evolved the accordion at the end of the 20th century under the impetus of soloists such as Richard Galliano.

The problem then arose of paying a common tribute to all these accordion traditions. Also the subtitle “Song” came naturally to the composer; an expression to be taken spontaneously describing precisely Berio’s relationship with the accordion.

In this sense, the Sequenza XIII for accordion is a succession of accompanied melodies, in an always hushed atmosphere, far from the finds and contrasts of the other Sequenze. Here, the accordion, initially polyphonic, becomes multiple, both from several traditions but entering at the end of this century into a new tradition that had rejected it throughout the 20th century: the tradition of modern written music.