Luciano Berio's Sequenza I for flute (1958) explores counterpoint via a monophonic instrument by using materials that reflect the loss of tonal foundations and a great expansion of rhythmic possibilities. In Sequenza VII for solo oboe (1969), Berio makes more explicit the relationship between the horizontal and vertical aspects of the music by incorporating a drone, the pitch middle B, which is either taped or played by an offstage instrument. This decision flirts with tonality, or more accurately, with the idea of a tonal center that is not dependent upon traditional harmonic progression. The oboe intones the same pitch in short bursts, plays above and below the pitch, and gradually becomes increasingly independent of that center, incorporating the extended possibilities of pitch bends, micro-intervals and multiphonics. Alternate fingerings also add to the work's timbral range. Eventually, all returns to the unrelenting B.

Like earlier entries in the Sequenza series, Sequenza VII was used as the basis for another, expanded work, in this case Chemins IV for oboe and strings (1975). Sequenza VII was written for Heinz Holliger and premiered by him in Basle, Switzerland in 1969.

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