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| The Art of Noises | |
|---|---|
| Name | The Art of Noises |
| Caption | Manifesto pamphlet cover, 1913 |
| Author | Luigi Russolo |
| Country | Kingdom of Italy |
| Language | Italian |
| Subject | Futurism, experimental music |
| Pub date | 1913 |
| Media type | Pamphlet |
The Art of Noises Luigi Russolo's 1913 manifesto argued for the inclusion of industrial and everyday sounds into musical composition, aligning with Filippo Tommaso Marinetti's Futurist movement and challenging traditional practices from Giuseppe Verdi and Gioachino Rossini to Claude Debussy and Richard Strauss. Written amid technological change that included innovations by Thomas Edison, Guglielmo Marconi, Nikola Tesla, Karl Benz, and Wright brothers, the essay intersected debates in Milan, Paris, London, Berlin, and New York City about modernity, noise, and performance in institutions such as the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and salons frequented by figures like Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Igor Stravinsky, and Arnold Schoenberg.
Russolo published his pamphlet during the era of the Second Industrial Revolution and the lead-up to World War I, when rapid urbanization in cities like Milan, Turin, Naples, and Venice produced new soundscapes. His ideas were influenced by Futurist manifestos from Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and debates among composers in Paris Conservatoire, critics such as Hector Berlioz's heirs, and avant-garde circles including Les Six, Dada, and Surrealism. Technological innovations by Alexander Graham Bell, Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville, and Lee de Forest had already reshaped how sound could be captured and reproduced, resonating with contemporaneous experiments by John Cage's precursors and engineers at Bell Labs.
The pamphlet begins with a polemic against the aesthetic heritage of Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and advocates a typology of noises inspired by mechanized sources such as steam engines, automobiles by Karl Benz and Henry Ford's factories, and railways operated by companies like the Great Western Railway. Russolo offers practical guidance for noise-generation, foreshadowing instruments similar to those later used by builders influenced by Harry Partch, Pierre Schaeffer, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Edgard Varèse. He structures the essay into declarative sections—manifesto, cataloguing of noises, performance suggestions—addressing readers in Milanan salons, industrial sites, and experimental venues linked to institutions like the Royal Opera House and Teatro alla Scala.
Initial reactions ranged from support by Futurist allies such as Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and Umberto Boccioni to criticism by conservative critics aligned with La Scala programming and proponents of Giuseppe Verdi's repertory. Newspapers in Milan, Paris Match, and periodicals edited by Alfred Jarry and Marcel Duchamp debated Russolo's claims alongside debates over World War I's cultural impact. Later, composers and theorists including Edgard Varèse, John Cage, Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, Iannis Xenakis, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and György Ligeti cited the manifesto in discussions about noise, electronic synthesis, and musique concrète developed by Pierre Schaeffer at institutions like ORTF and studios such as Studio d'Essai.
Russolo proposes classifications of noises into families and dynamic gradations, anticipating technical practices used in electroacoustic music, sampling techniques popularized in studios like BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and synthesis methods later formalized at IRCAM and Bell Labs. His aesthetic draws on Futurist visual strategies used by Giacomo Balla and Umberto Boccioni and parallels the rhythmic complexities explored by Igor Stravinsky and Olivier Messiaen. The manifesto's emphasis on urban sonority and machine timbre informed later theoretical work by Theodor W. Adorno, Roland Barthes, Marshall McLuhan, and scholars at Columbia University and University of California, Berkeley examining noise in modern culture.
The essay's long-term legacy appears in practices fostered by studios and institutions including Studio for Electronic Music of the West German Radio (WDR), Milan's RAI studios, BBC Radiophonic Workshop, IRCAM, Cologne Radio's electronic studio, and academic programs at Harvard University, Princeton University, and Stanford University. Innovators such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Edgard Varèse, Pierre Schaeffer, John Cage, Luciano Berio, Iannis Xenakis, Sujiro Nomura, Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno, Aphex Twin, Throbbing Gristle, Merzbow, and Einstürzende Neubauten adopted noise aesthetics in genres spanning musique concrète, electroacoustic concert works, industrial music, ambient music, and noise music. The manifesto influenced hardware and software development by companies like Moog Music, Roland Corporation, Yamaha Corporation, and research labs including Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
Early performances by Futurist ensembles in Milan featured Russolo-built noise machines and occurred in venues such as Teatro Dal Verme and private salons frequented by Gino Severini and Carlo Carrà. Mid-20th-century premieres invoking his ideas include concerts by Edgard Varèse in New York City, radio works by Pierre Schaeffer in Paris, electronic realizations at WDR by Karlheinz Stockhausen, and experimental events curated at MoMA and Tate Modern that featured artists like Nam June Paik, Marina Abramović, and Yoko Ono. Later adaptations appeared in festival contexts such as Wolrd's Fairs, Glastonbury Festival, Woodstock Festival, Festival d'Avignon, and contemporary programming at Sonar, Unsound Festival, MUTEK, and All Tomorrow's Parties.