Luigi Russolo

(b Portogruaro, 30 April 1885; d Cerro di Laveno, 6 Feb 1947). Italian composer. Not fully trained in music, he began his association with futurism as a painter, but in 1913-14 gave concerts with ‘intonarumori’, noise machines of his own invention. In the 1920s he made more machines, but all were destroyed during World War II; they are regarded as forerunners of machines used in musique concrète.

(b Portogruaro, Venice, 7 May 1885; d Cerro di Laveno, Lake Maggiore, 4 Feb 1947). Italian painter, printmaker, writer and composer. The fourth of five children, he was trained in music by his father, who was a clockmaker and organist. In 1901 he went to Milan to join his family, who had moved there so that his two brothers, Giovanni and Antonio, could study music at the conservatory. Diverging from his father's inclinations, Luigi was attracted towards other forms of art, especially painting. Though not actually enrolled at the Accademia di Brera, through new friends he indirectly followed the ideas taught there. In the same period he worked for the restorer Crivelli in Milan, serving his apprenticeship working on the interior decorations of the Castello Sforzesco and on Leonardo's Last Supper in the refectory of S Maria delle Grazie. In December 1909 he took part in the exhibition Bianco e nero at the Famiglia Artistica in Milan, contributing a series of etchings, made during the preceding year, which show a definite leaning towards Symbolist forms and images. The undulating quality of the line in such etchings as his portrait of Nietzsche (c. 1909; Milan, Gal. A. Mod.), which seems to translate a musical rhythm into visual form through a strong, enveloping sign, remained a distinctive and individual feature of Russolo's work and poetics, especially in his Futurist work.

See the Abbreviations for further details.

Quotes:

"In antiquity there was only silence. In the nineteenth century, with the invention of the machine, Noise was born. Today, Noise triumphs and reigns supreme over the sensibility of men."

Luigi Russolo
Luigi Russolo ca. 1916
Background information
Birth name	Luigi Russolo
Born	30 April 1883(1883-04-30)
Died	February 4, 1947 (aged 63)
Genres	Experimental music
Occupations	"Machine music" pioneer Futurist painter Custom instrument builder
Voice types	Bass
Years active	1901-1947

Luigi Russolo with his assistant Ugo Piatti and their Intonarumori (noise machines)

Luigi Russolo (April 30, 1885 – February 4, 1947) was an Italian Futurist painter and composer, and the author of the manifesto The Art of Noises (1913).^[1] He is often regarded as one of the first noise music experimental composers with his performances of "noise concerts" in 1913-14 and then again after World War I, notably in Paris in 1921.^[2] He is also one of the first theorists of electronic music.

Contents 1 See also 2 Further Reading & Audio Clips 2.1 Further reading 2.2 Audio 3 External links 4 References 5 Footnotes

See also

• Musica Futurista
• Experimental music
• Custom-made instruments
• List of custom-made instrument builders
• Noise music
• Futurism
• List of noise musicians

Further Reading & Audio Clips

Further reading

• Luigi Russolo's "The Art of Noises"

Audio

• [1] mp3 audio files of the music of Luigi Russolo on UbuWeb
• Three audio clips by Luigi Russolo: Serenata, Corale and Risveglio di una città. (Thereminvox.com)
• Modern recordings of noise intoners and a fragment of Luigi Russolo's key Futurist

External links

• Intonarumori: history, working and photographs of Russolo's Intonarumori (noise makers) at thereminvox.com
• Media Art Net | Russolo, Luigi: Intonarumori (at at medienkunstnetz.de)
• Peggy Guggenheim Collection: Luigi Russolo
• "Art of Noise" at zakros.com
• JahSonic.com: Luigi Russolo
• Bob Osborn's Futurism: Luigi Russolo
• Prof. Russolo & His Noise Intoners
• [2] mp3 audio files of the noise music of Luigi Russolo on UbuWeb
• Russolo's Intonarumori

References

Ian Chilvers & John Glaves-Smith, A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art. Oxford University Press

Footnotes

1. ^ Ian Chilvers & John Glaves-Smith, A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art. Oxford University Press, p.619
2. ^ Ian Chilvers & John Glaves-Smith, A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art. Oxford University Press, p. 620

Persondata
NAME	Russolo, Luigi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Electronic music pioneer and Futurist painter
DATE OF BIRTH	1885-04-30
PLACE OF BIRTH	Portogruaro,
DATE OF DEATH	1947-02-04
PLACE OF DEATH	Cerro di Laveno

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