Antonio Russolo (1877–1943) was an Italian

Futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abou ...

composer and the brother of the more famous Futurist painter, composer and theorist

Luigi Russolo Luigi Carlo Filippo Russolo (30 April 1885 – 4 February 1947) was an Italian Futurist painter, composer, builder of experimental musical instruments, and the author of the manifesto ''The Art of Noises'' (1913). He is often regarded as one of ...

. He is noted for composing pieces made with the

intonarumori Intonarumori are experimental musical instruments invented and built by the Italian futurist Luigi Russolo between roughly 1910 and 1930. There were 27 varieties of intonarumori built in total, with different names. Background Russolo built ...

and, together with his brother, introduced ''

The Art of Noises ''The Art of Noises'' ( it, L'arte dei Rumori) is a Futurist manifesto written by Luigi Russolo in a 1913 letter to friend and Futurist composer Francesco Balilla Pratella. In it, Russolo argues that the human ear has become accustomed to the ...

''.

Biography

Russolo was the son of Domenico Russolo who was a clockmaker as well as a piano and organ tuner. The family moved to

Latisana Latisana ( fur, Tisane, locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Udine, in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of north-eastern Italy, on the Tagliamento river. History The city was probably a Roman post station (''Mansio Apicilia'') o ...

when Domenico became the director of the town's

Philharmonic An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola ...

School and the Schola Cantorum. Antonio learned music early through his father, who successfully prepared him and another brother, Giovanni, to pass the entrance exam at the

Milan Conservatory The Milan Conservatory (''Conservatorio di Milano'') is a college of music in Milan, Italy. History The conservatory was established by a royal decree of 1807 in Milan, capital of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. It opened the following year ...

. He completed a degree in piano and organ.

The Art of Noises

Russolo helped his brother Luigi construct noise-intoning intonarumori instruments in line with the noise music manifesto that Luigi released called ''

''. This Futurist musical concept, which was introduced by F.T. Marinetti, sought to avoid imitating the sound of everyday life by stylizing sonic materials so that it loses its original sense; acquiring a new aural sphere in the process. It opposed the philosophy behind the Late Romanticism, which favored the reproduction of reality. Several compositions by Russolo that included the

are considered hybrid. These were pieces based on traditional instrumentation and modified to include the noise music machines. A record made by Russolo in 1921 is the only surviving sound recording that features the original intonarumori. It includes the pieces, ''Corale'' and ''Serenata'', which combined conventional orchestral music set against the famous noise machines. This music was released in 1924 on a 78 rpm record. In these pieces, Russolo used the intonarumori as underlay. The sounds made are described as tunes disrupted by growls and low-pitched electrical interference. In the same year, Russolo's compositions were conducted during a concert organized by F.T. Marinetti at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. The program included four of Russolo's work along with two compositions of Nuccio Fiorda. The use of the noise intoners were acclaimed by critics such as

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

Sergei Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pat ...

Leonide Massine Leonide or Léonide is a masculine given name which may refer to: * Leonide or Leonid of Georgia (1861–1921), Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia * Leonid Berman (1896–1976), Russian Neo-romantic painter and theater and opera designer * Léo ...

, and

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being ...

Recordings

''Corale, Serenata'' by Antonio Russolo and Luigi Russolo (1924) were published on cassette in 1988 in the ''Audio By Visual Artists'' edition of ''

Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine Launched from the Lower East Side, Manhattan in 1983 as a subscription only bimonthly publication, the ''Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine'' utilized the audio cassette medium to distribute no wave downtown music and audio art and was in activity f ...

'' #21 and are archived on the internet at

Ubuweb UbuWeb is a web-based educational resource for avant-garde material available on the internet, founded in 1996 by poet Kenneth Goldsmith. It offers visual, concrete and sound poetry, expanding to include film and sound art mp3 archives. Philosop ...

References

1877 births 1942 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Italian composers 20th-century Italian male musicians Futurist composers Italian classical composers Italian male classical composers Noise musicians People from Portogruaro {{Italy-composer-stub

Biography

The Art of Noises

Recordings

See also

References