Italian Futurist (April 30, 1883 – February 4, 1947)

I am not a musician, I have therefore no acoustical predilections, nor any works to defend. I am a Futurist painter using a much loved art to project my determination to renew everything. And so, bolder than a professional musician could be, unconcerned by my apparent incompetence and convinced that all rights and possibilities open up to daring, I have been able to initiate the great renewal of music by means of the Art of Noises.

As a painter and sculptor Luigi Russolo didn’t let his lack of musical knowledge get in the way to voice his Futurist ideas about music. Calling for the established musical practices of his time to open up to the new sounds and dynamics of his industrialized and mechanized environment with its cars, trains, air planes and other machinery bringing new, mostly noise sounds.

Acoustics has taught us very little, since having been applied to the study of pure sounds until now, it has completely neglected the study of noise.

Russolo went on to invent his own Noise-Intoners or Intonarumori, playable instruments, to mimic various noise sounds to form a small albeit alternative orchestra.

Although none of the original Intonarumori instruments have survived past WWII and barely any Futurist noise music was written to begin with, let alone preserved, the Futurist manifestos like Russolo’s 1913 “L’Arte dei Rumori” leave no doubt about their innovative intentions and call upon others to join them and therefore stands as a, if not the, most powerful movement for musical renewal in the 20th century.

Russolo’s 1913 manifesto (left) and his Intonarumori (right), also showing Russolo and assistant.