CD – Sub Rosa

The Noise Of Art: Works For Intonarumori is a collaborative project made together by the Czech ensemble Opening Performance Orchestra, Blixa Bargeld, Luciano Chessa and Fred Möpert. This unusual collective wants to pay homage to the art of intonarumori, a family of musical instruments invented by the Futurist Luigi Russolo in 1913. These were mechanical generators of acoustic sounds where it was possible to control dynamics, and frequencies by means of a mechanical crank. The intonarumori had their premiere on June 2nd, 1913 in Modena at Theater Storchi, where Russolo introduced a “scoppiatore” (blaster). Later, they were used in 1914 in other concerts in Milan (Theater Dal Verme), Genoa (Politeama Theater) and London (Coliseum). The definitive consecration of these unusual instruments took place in 1921, after the First World War, with three concerts in Paris (Théâtre des Champs-Élysées) and in the following year with the collaboration with Filippo Tommaso Marinetti for Il Tamburo di Fuoco (The drum of fire), a piece settled in Africa. With all its contradictions, some historical ambiguity and the weight of some unhealthy proximity to the fascist regime, Futurism was the first and most radical avant-garde movement of the twentieth century, initially pervaded by an anarchic, ultra-modernist and anti-academic force. These instruments express a great power even now, so it’s not a surprise that contemporary artists still pay attention to this movement. When the intonarumori get into action, their power is unquestionable. They create noisy and ecstatic drones, hyperbolic intonations, whistles, puffs, hisses and rumbles. According Russolo’s manifesto ‘The Art of Noises’, these sounds are placed in different subcategories (Roars, whistling, whispers, screeching, noises obtained by beating on metals, woods, skins, stones etc and voices of animals and people), and each subcategory had different registers (soprano, contralto, tenor, bass). Each piece here refers to the theme of futurism and employs different combinations of intonarumori. Despite not being prevalent in the general project design, there are also some futurist textual parts, “interpreted” in different languages, a kind of “anti-passatist” and “anti-traditionalist” incitement, typical of the first phase of the movement.

 

Various Artists – The Noise Of Art: Works For Intonarumori