Luigi Nono (1924-1990)
Luigi Nono
achieved prominence after World War II as an uncompromising modernist
seeking to revolutionize music in Europe. Along with fellow Italians
Luciano Berio and Bruno Maderna, Nono attended the influential
Darmstadt Summer Courses and became associated with other young
modernists such as Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen. In many
ways, Nono was the most radical of them all, choosing to combine a keen
political engagement with a musical orientation that mixes austere
beauty with fierce intensity. Nono grew up in Venice as part of a
reasonably well-to-do family. He studied composition with Gian
Francesco Malipiero as an auditor but he graduated with a law degree.
While he never practiced, his political interests were likely sharpened
during that period. In 1946, just out of university, Nono met two
important figures: Luigi Dallapiccolo, the first Italian to compose
12-tone music, and Maderna, the innovative composer and conductor who
became his friend and mentor. Around this time, Nono was introduced to
the writing of Federico García Lorca, whose poetry he would set on a
number of occasions, and whose political engagement would ignite his
interest. He joined the Italian Communist Party in 1952. His
interest in electronic music developed in 1952, through lectures and
demonstrations given by Werner Meyer-Eppler in Bonn. The first
professional association Nono developed was with the Studio di
Fonologia in Milan. Directed by Berio and Maderna, Nono carried on
working there after the others had left, producing a whole series of
pieces, both prerecorded and mixed (instruments/voices and tape),
into the 1970s. Nono's first stage work, Intolleranza 1960,
was presented at the 1961 Venice Biennale. Collage-like, with a large
collection of political texts, this "azione scenica" provoked a great
deal of controversy. But Nono was unrelenting in his commitment to
combining radical texts with revolutionary music. In 1964, he put his
beliefs to the test by beginning a series of lecture-concerts in
factories and other locales all over Italy. By far, the majority of
Nono's compositions use voice, the "message" being of critical
importance. In the 1980s, Nono began a fruitful collaboration with
the Experimentalstudio der Heinrich Strobel-Stiftung in Freiburg,
developing elaborate schemes for transforming the sounds of live
instruments.- James Harley/AllMusic
COMPOSITIONS Nono Links ~ ~ ~ Works by Genre
[under construction]
STAGE
II mantello rosso (ballet, 3, T. Gsoysky, after F.G. Lorca), Berlin, 1954
Intolleranza 1960 (azione scenica, 2, after idea by A.M. Ripellino,
various texts), Venice, 1961; rev. as Intolleranza 1970 (1, new
scene with text by J. Karsunke), Florence, 1974
Die Ermittlung (incid music, P. Weiss), tape, Berlin, 1965, rev. as
concert work Ricorda cosa ti hanno fatto in Auschwitz, 1966
Al gran sole carico d'amore (azione scenica, 2, Nono), 1972-4; Milan, 1975
Prometeo (tragedia dell'ascolto, M . Cacciari), 1981-4, Venice, 1984, rev. 1985
Also stage productions of various concert works
CONCERT "WORKS "WITHOUT ELECTRONICS
Variazioni canoniche sulla serie dell'op.41 di A. Schonberg, chbr orch, 1950
Composizione no.l, orch, 1951
Polifonica - monodia - ritmica, fl, cl, b cl, sax, hn, pf, perc, 1951
Tre epitaffi per Federico Garcia Lorca, 1951-3:1. EspaSa en el
corazon (Garcia Lorca, P. Neruda), S, Bar, small chorus, insts; 2. Y
su sangre ya viene cantando, fl, chbr orch; 3. Memenro: romance
de la guardia civil espaiiola (Lorca), spkr, speaking chorus, chorus, orch
Due espressioni, orch, 1953
11 mantello rosso, suite no.2, orch, 1953 [after ballet]
II mantello rosso, suite no.l, S, B, chorus, orch, 1954 [after ballet]
Liebeslied (Nono), chorus, insts, 1954
La victoire de Guernica (P. Eluard), chorus, orch, 1954
Musica da scena per William Shakespeare: Was ihr wolk, fl, cl, tpt,
gui, perc, 1954, unpubd
Canti per 13,13 insts, 1954-5
Incontri, 24 insts, 1955
II canto sospeso (letters of Resistance fighters), S, Mez, T, chorus, orch, 1955-6
Varianti, vn, ww, str, 1957
La terra e la compagna (C. Pavese), S, T, chorus, insts, 1957-8
Cori di Didone (G. Ungaretri), chorus, perc, 1958
Piccola gala notturna veneziana in onore dei 60 anni di Heinrich
Strobel, 14 insts, 1958, unpubd
Composizione no.2 (Diario polacco '58), orch, 1958-9
Ha venido: canciones para Silvia (A. Machado), S, 6 female w , 1960
Intolleranza 1960, suite, S, chorus, live or recorded orch, 1969
Sara dolce tacere (Pavese), 8 solo w , 1960
Canti di vita e d'amore: sul ponte di Hiroshima, 1962:1. Sul ponte di
Hkoslrima (G. Anders), S, T, orch; 2. Djamila Boupacha (J.L.
Pacheco), S; 3. Tu (Pavese), S, T, orch
Canciones a Guiomar (Machado), S, 6 female w , insts, 1962-3
Da un diario italiano, 2 choruses, 1964
Voci destroying muros (various), 4 female w , speaking w , chorus,
orch, 1970 [partly reworked in Ein Gespenst geht urn in der Welt]
Ein Gespenst geht um in der Welt (K. Marx, C. Sanchez, H.
Santamaria), S, chorus, orch, 1971
Siamo la gioventu del Vietnam (anon., G. Federici), unison w , 1973
Fragmente-Stille, an Diotima, str qt, 1979-80
;Donde estas, hermano?, 2 S, Mex, A, 1982
A Carlo Scarpa architetto, ai suoi infuiiti possibili, orch in microintervals, 1984
No hay rarninos, hay que caminar... Andrej Tarkowskij, 7 inst groups, 1987
'Hay que caminar' sohando, 2 vn, 1989
CONCERT WORKS WITH TAPE
Omaggio a Emilio Vedova, tape, 1960
La fabbrica ifluminata (G. Scabia, Pavese), Mez, tape, 1964
Ricorda cosa ti hanno fatto in Auschwitz, tape, 1966
A floresta e jovem e cheja de vida (G. Pirelli, etc.), S, 3 spkrs, cl, bronze sheets, tape, 1966
Per Bastiana Tai-Yang Cheng (L'oriente e rosso), orch, tape, 1967
Contrappunto dialettico alia mente, tape, 1967-8
Musica-manifesto no.l, 1968-9:1. Un volto e del mare (Pavese), w ,
tape; 2. Non consumiamo Marx, tape
Musiche per Manzii, tape, 1969
Y entonces comprendio (C. Falqui), 6 female w , chorus, tape, elecs, 1969-70
Como una ola de fuerza y luz (J. Huasi), S, pf, orch, tape, 1971-2
Fur Paul Dessau, tape, 1974
Nottumi-albe, pf, tape, 1974—
. . . sofferte onde serene..., pf, tape, 1976
Frammenti da Al gran sole carico d'amore (Nono), 3 S, Mez, 2B, SATB, orch, tape, 1976
La lontananza nostalgica utopica futura, madrigale per piti
caminantes con Gidon Kremer, vn, tape
CONCERT WORKS WITH LIVE ELECTRONICS
Con Luigi Dallapiccola, 6 perc, live elecs, 1979
Das atmende Klarsein (R.M. Rilke), SATB, b fl, live elecs, 1981
Io, frammento dal Prometeo (M. Cacciari), 3 S, SATB, b fl, b cl, live elecs, 1981
Quando stanno morendo (Diario polacco no.2) (M. Cacciari, after C.
Milosz, E. Ady, V. Chlebnikov and B. Pasternak), 2 S, Mez, A, b fl, vc, live elecs, 1982
Omaggio a Gyorgy Kurtag, A, fl, cl, tuba, live elecs, 1983, rev. 1986
Guai ai gelidi mostri (M. Cacciari), 2 A, va, vc, db, fl, cl, tuba, live elecs, 1983
A Pierre (Dell'azurro silenzio, inquietum), cb fl, cb cl, live elecs, 1985
Risonanze erranti (Liederzyklus a Massimo Cacciari), Mez, fl, tuba, 5 perc, live elecs, 1986, rev. 1987
Caminates . . . Ayacucho (G. Bruno), Mez, fl, SATB, SATB, org, 3 inst groups, live elecs, 1986-7
Post-prae-ludium no.l 'per Donau [eschingen]', tuba, live elecs, 19 87
WORKS BY GENRE Nono Links ~ top of page ~
[under construction]
Dramatic/Theater
Orchestra
Band
Soloist(s) w/Orchestra
Chorus w/Orchestra
Choral
Chamber
Instrument and Piano
Solo Instrument
Piano
Vocal
Incidental/Film
El jinete del cubo, short film score (1966)
Un hombre de éxito, film score (1986)
Electronic/Electroacoustic
NONO LINKS Works by Genre ~ top of page ~
[under construction]
A Guide to Luigi Nono's Music (Tom Service, The Guardian)
Luigi Nono - On What Would Have Been the Composer’s 80th Birthday (John Warnaby, MusicWeb International)
Luigi Nono: Il Prometeo - A Revolutionary's Swansong (Stefan Beyst)
Luigi Nono's "Quando Stanno Morendo Diario Polacco No. 2 (Stefan Beyst)
Composer website . . . inquire about Luigi Nono: here
Nono @ Wikipedia
Nono @ Answers.com
Nono @ Audiophile Audition (via Google Advanced Search)
Nono @ Classic Cat
Nono @ Classical Archives
Nono @ Classical Composers Database
Nono @ Classical Net
Nono @ ClassicsToday (via Google Advanced Search)
Nono @ composition:today
Nono @ Dr. Estrella's Incredibly Abridged Dictionary of Composers
Nono @ Facebook
Nono @ La Folia also here
Nono @ Fondazione Archivio Luigi Nono
Nono @ ICC Online
Nono @ IMDb (Internet Movie Database)
Nono @ InstantEncore
Nono @ IRCAM
Nono @ Klassika
Nono @ Magazzini-Sonori.it
Nono @ MusicWeb International
Nono @ MySpaceMusic
Nono @ Naxos
Nono @ The New York Times
Nono @ NNDB
Nono @ The Rambler
Nono @ REC Music Foundation /The Lied and Art Song Texts Page
Nono @ Ricordi
Nono @ Schott Music
Nono @ Talk Classical
Publisher
Nono @ Ars Viva
Nono @ Olschki
Nono @ RaiTrade
Nono @ Ricordi
Nono @ Schott Music
Streaming Audio
Nono @ Classical Archives
Nono @ last.fm
Nono @ Magazzini-Sonori.it
Nono @ MySpaceMusic
Nono @ PRX (Public Radio Exchange)
Nono @ Rhapsody.com
Nono @ SoundCloud
Recordings
Nono @ Amazon.com
Nono @ ArkivMusic
Nono @ CD Universe
Nono @ ClassicsOnline
Nono @ Discogs
Nono @ itunes
Nono @ Naxos
Video
Nono @ YouTube
Nono @ Google Video
Nono @ Vimeo (via Google Advanced Search)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
HOME ABOUT RESOURCES COMPOSERS PERFORMANCES 20/21 ENSEMBLE CONTACT US
HOME ABOUT RESOURCES COMPOSERS PERFORMANCES 20/21 ENSEMBLE CONTACT US