Borealis 2012

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Luigi Nono

Komponist / Composer 

Den italienske komponisten Luigi Nono (1924-1990) var en av de mest sosialt engasjerte av 20-århundre komponister. Hans marxistiske politiske syn påvirket de fleste av hans avant-garde komposisjoner. Han ble født den 29. januar 1924, i Venezia, Italia, hvor hans far var en velstående ingeniør. Han begynte å studere musikk i 1941 i Venezia konservatoriet. Han fikk sin doktorgrad i jus i ved Universitetet i Padova mens han studerte musikk med komponisten Gian Francesco Malipiero.

Nono var aktivt medlem av det italienske kommunistpartiet, og han ofte brukte marxistiske tekster og revolusjonære skrifter som grunnlag for sine komposisjoner. På midten av 1950-tallet kom han med et sterkt utttrykk som reflektere han idologi og ståsted: "Urettferdighet dominerer i vår tid. Som mann og musiker må jeg protestere."

 Av Nonos komposisjoner som har tiltrukket størst, og bredest oppmerksomhet var hans opera Intolleranza, først komponert i 1960, så revidert I 1970. Stykket er et angrep på raseskille og kjernefysiske våpen. Temaet er akkurat det motsatte av totalitære system som begrenser både individualitet og frihet, likevel gjorde publikumet opprør under hans premiere i Venezia i 1961. Nonos tidlige verker var influert av komponisten Arnold Schönberg og i 1955 giftet Nono seg med Schönberg datter Nuria. De hadde to døtre, Silvia og Serena. Nono døde av en leversykdom 6. mai 1990.

The Italian composer Luigi Nono (1924-1990) was one of the most socially engaged of 20th-century composers. His Marxist political views influenced most of his avant-garde compositions. He was born on January 29, 1924, in Venice, Italy, where his father was a prosperous engineer. He started studying music in 1941 at the Venice Conservatory. He received his doctorate in law in at the University of Padua while studying music with composer Gian Francesco Malipiero.
 
Nono was an active member of the Italian Communist Party, and he often used Marxist texts and revolutionary writings as a basis for his compositions. In the mid-1950s, his highly ideological scores attracted notoriety. "An artist must concern himself with his time," Nono said. "Injustice dominates in our time. As man and musician I must protest."

Nono's composition to attract wide attention was his opera Intolleranza, first composed in 1960 and revised in 1970. It attacked racial segregation and nuclear weapons. The theme of the work is opposition to all totalitarian systems that restrict individuality and freedom. The protagonist is a miner who seeks the meaning of life. There are three main scenes: a mine cave-in, a political demonstration crushed by the police, and a catastrophic flood. The work employs multimedia techniques. Scenes of injustice are projected on multiple screens, along with the faces of the principal singers. Even the audience sees itself in projected images so it cannot ignore its involvement. The chorus, which plays an important role, is heard from a pre-recorded tape, the sounds emanating from loudspeakers placed throughout the auditorium. At its premiere in Venice in 1961, the audience rioted. Nono's early works were influenced by composer Arnold Schoenberg. In 1955, Nono married Schoenberg's daughter Nuria. They had two daughters, Silvia and Serena. Nono died of a liver ailment on May 6, 1990. 

At Borealis:

Tinghuset 19.00                                                     Wednesday 14. March