Antonio Russolo (1877–1943) was an Italian Futurist composer and the brother of the more famous Futurist painter, composer and theorist Luigi Russolo. He is noted for composing pieces made with the intonarumori and, together with his brother, introduced '' The Art of Noises''.

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 (, locally ) is a town and (municipality) in the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity of Udine in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, north-eastern Italy, on the Tagliamento river. History The city was probably a Roman ...

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: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, a ...

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. 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 Noise music is a genre of music that is characterised by the expressive use of noise. This type of music tends to challenge the distinction that is made in conventional musical practices between musical and non-musical sound. Noise music include ...

manifesto that Luigi released called '' The Art of Noises''. 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 intonarumori are considered hybrid. These were pieces based on traditional instrumentation and modified to include the

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 Diaghilev, Leonide Massine, and

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), known after 1911 as Piet Mondrian (, , ), was a Dutch Painting, painter and Theory of art, art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He w ...

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'' #21 and are archived on the internet at Ubuweb

References

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

Biography

The Art of Noises

Recordings

See also

References