I have argued in the previous chapters that the starting and ending points for the first three phases are delineated by tonal translations, and that each phase begins with a flurry of compositional activity and exploration. I have also asserted that the works of each phase are relatively homogenous with respect to their procedures, formal attributes, organizational principles, and soundscapes. But some factors make it difficult to pinpoint a starting date for the fourth phase, after Dialoghi. One is that there is no fourth tonal translation; another is the fact that the compositions of this period are less homogenous than those of previous phases. However, there is ample justification for marking Dialoghi (1960) as the last work of phase 3, and considering Preghiere (1962) as the inauguration of phase 4. Dialoghi is the last of a group of works (including Cinque Canti and Requiescant) that is permeated with RI-symmetrical rows, four-voice arrays, inversional designs, and certain rhythmic and timbral innovations. Preghiere anticipates many of the characteristics of Ulisse and the subsequent works of the last phase, chiefly the application of hexachordal inversional combinatoriality and an increased tendency to compose with aggregates (as opposed to rows).

This chapter has three aims: to advance a conceptual framework for the late works and to make a case for combining them into a single phase; to document the influence of several Schoenbergian techniques that have not been addressed in the literature; and to show how Dallapiccola’s penchant for self-quotation and borrowing contributes to the synthetic nature of the fourth phase.

Hexachordal structuring plays a significant role in nearly all of the works of the last period, with the exceptions of Parole di San Paolo (1964) and Sicut Umbra (1970). Dallapiccola once stated that the entire opera of Ulisse was built on hexachords whose tones remained the same but whose order fluctuates: “I wanted to retain a constant… .The two hexachords never change. The order of their tones changes.” To illustrate, example 4.1 surveys the vast row complex of Ulisse. Dietrich Kämper considers the first row, labeled “Mare I” in the example, as the “Ur-Row” from which the other rows are derived; he also suggests that the arrangement of semitones in this row suggests the undulating rise and fall of the ocean.