Intonarumori: Ieri Ed Oggi

Description

FRANCO CASAVOLA, CHRIS CUTLER, ANDRZEJ KARPINSKI, SILVIO MIX, ALESSANDRO MONTI, NICK SUDNICK, PIERO VERADI.New and old compositions for Luigi Russolo's legendary Intonarumori. After publishing his visionary manifesto, the Art of Noises in 1913, the futurist painter Luigi Russolo designed and built a revolutionary family of new instruments with which to compose with noise - large black boxes fitted with huge amplifying acoustic horns, with crank-handles to drive them and levers to vary the pitch. There were many different varieties designed to give composers access to five of what Russolo identified as 'the six families of noise': 1. Roars, Thunderings, Explosions, Hissing roars, Bangs, Booms 2. Whistling, Hissing, Puffing 3. Whispers, Murmurs, Mumbling, Muttering, Gurgling 4 Screeching, Creaking, Rustling, Buzzing, Crackling, Scraping 5. Noises obtained by beating on metals, woods, skins, stones, pottery, etc. 6. Voices of animals and people, Shouts, Screams, Shrieks, Wails, Hoots, Howls, Death rattles, Sobs. There were concerts and the obligatory accompanying riots, then war intervened and, although Russolo resumed the project afterwards, it was too off-track for the musical world and Russolo remained until the end of his life a lone voice in the wilderness. By the end of the Second World War all the surviving instruments had been lost or destroyed. 52 years later, in 1977, the Venice Biennale commissioned early music specialist and instrument builder Piero Verardi to research and reconstruct some of the instruments for their festival. He built twenty different varieties - and seven of these are what made this record possible. A few years ago, Alessandro Monti visited Professor Verardi and recorded a number of demonstrative performances on the reconstructed instruments. Monti then selected three percussionists: Cutler, Karpinski (from Reportaz) and Sudnik (from Zga) to compose pieces for them. They came up with three very different approaches, documented here along with an assembly by Monti himself. Also featured are two rare-as-hen's-teeth recordings of orchestral works composed for the original instruments in the 1920s, now recorded, for the first time, using the reconstructions. Beautifully packaged in a threefold digipack featuring four impressive paintings by Futurist Ivo Pannaggi and an explanatory text. NICK SUDNICK Founder of the legendary Rigan experimentalist group ZGA (1984). Inventor and builder of many varieties of Zgamonium - electroacoustic sound sculptures and instruments. Now running programmes at the Art centre Pushkinskaya 10 in St. Petersburg and working on the border of noise, avant-rock, industrial, traditional and classical music. Current project: a series of 24 Operas. ANDRZEJ KARPINSKI Polish drummer and visual artist (specialist in airbush art). After some years in punk bands Sten and Socrealizm, he founded the experimental rock band Reportaz in the 1980s. He plays an electronic/acoustic hybrid drum kit and sings. CH