LUIGI NONO is one of the most significant composers of the last century and one of the major voices who epitomises both modernism and Marxism in music. 

[[{"fid":"65749","view_mode":"inlineleft","fields":{"format":"inlineleft","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"SOCIALIST APPEAL: Maria Krzyszkowska and Witold Gruca, in Luigi Nono's ballet The Red Cloak, 1962 - Pic: Piotr Baracz, scanned from monthly Poland, January 1963, Interpress Publishers, Warsaw, Poland/CC","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"inlineleft","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"SOCIALIST APPEAL: Maria Krzyszkowska and Witold Gruca, in Luigi Nono's ballet The Red Cloak, 1962 - Pic: Piotr Baracz, scanned from monthly Poland, January 1963, Interpress Publishers, Warsaw, Poland/CC","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"alt":"SOCIALIST APPEAL: Maria Krzyszkowska and Witold Gruca, in Luigi Nono's ballet The Red Cloak, 1962 - Pic: Piotr Baracz, scanned from monthly Poland, January 1963, Interpress Publishers, Warsaw, Poland/CC","class":"media-element file-inlineleft","data-delta":"1"}}]]Born January 29 1924, Nono was deeply involved in political struggle. Having been active within the Italian resistance against Mussolini and joining the Communist Party of Italy (PCI) in 1952 (becoming a member of the central committee in 1975), Nono searched to tie his political convictions with his musical aspirations. 

He stated in 1969: “There is no doubt that a score has no more chance of causing a revolution than a picture, a poem or a book; but music, just like a picture, poem or book, can testify to the desolate state of society, can contribute, can be the basis for awareness, if its technical attributes maintain the same level as the ideological ones.”

Coming to the fore, musically, in the 1950s and 1960s, Nono was a significant voice of the post-war avant-garde, like his contemporaries Stockhausen, Xenakis, or Boulez. However, there were many points of contention – most notably, the role which music can play within society. 

Nono’s musical output is broad and covers a wide variety of territories, including a deep exploration of what was then the newly evolving world of electronic music. But to convince readers of the Morning Star to investigate the work of Nono I want to focus on three works: 

Il canto sospeso (The suspended song)

Written in 1955-56, Il canto sospeso is a political cantata which draws on farewell letters written by various European anti-fascists who were condemned to death. The letters were gathered in a 1954 publication by Giulio Einaudi called Lettere di condannati a morta della resistenza europea (Letters from the condemned to death of the European resistance) and the individuals featured come from many nations including Greece, Bulgaria, the USSR, Poland, Italy, and Germany and is a good reflection of the broad variety of people who fought valiantly against fascism. 

Nono’s mastery in the composition of this work is how he avoids trying to present their words heroically, as a moment of defiance, but instead opts to treat the choir in an almost ghostly manner, where the utterances these final words just hang in space – almost lost on the wind. This, combined with the often brutal power of the orchestra, makes for a truly startling work which both haunts and terrifies. 

Intolleranza 1960 (Intolerance 1960)

Luigi Nono’s one “traditional” opera is striking and gut-wrenching work which, much like the operas of his predecessor Luigi Dallapiccola (1904-1975), explore how humanity can descend into brutality and destruction. Following the journey of a lone immigrant, we are led through demonstrations, repressive attacks, and eventually end up within a concentration camp. Though it is contested whether the work has a linear narrative, or is instead a series of scenes which are connected loosely, the opera is a powerful reflection the potential of humanity both in its destructive capabilities, but also in its tenacity, its ability to survive and fight against repression. 

The opera’s premiere in 1961 met with controversy as Italian fascists tried to disrupt the performance by chanting fascistic slogans. Similarly, at the US premiere the opera was met once more with controversy when demonstrations by the Polish diaspora demanded that “comrade Nono go back to Moscow.” 

Nono’s use of the orchestra, combined with the harrowing violence and terror of the scenarios, is not only a demonstration of how opera can be utilised to demonstrate a political message but also that it can do so in a striking and startling way, hitting the audience like a thunderbolt. 

Como Una Ola De Fuerza Y Luz (Like A Wave Of Strength And Light)

Initially started as a work for Maurizio Pollini, after Nono discovered the death of the Chilean activist (and his friend) Luciano Cruz, Nono expanded it to include soprano to sing texts by the Argentine poet Julio Huasi. 

The combination of live voice, electronic voices, the massive orchestra and piano soloist makes for a momentous musical dialogue which not only demonstrates power, but a crystalline fragility – almost a reflection of how even the mightiest heroes will eventually fade away. 

The three works are only a sample of what Nono created during his lifetime. And in reality, following the failure of the student protests at the end of the ’60s and the weakening of the left from that point onwards, Nono’s music does soften politically, though he never abandons it, instead opting to look internally rather than trying to incite revolt. 

Though many marked Nono’s centenary discussing his musical ingenuity and musical radicalism, we cannot lose sight of his political vision. His significance lies in grasping his understanding that ideology and artistic craft go hand in hand, and that it is the role of the artist to bring the audience with them and use their craft for the good of humanity and fight for a better tomorrow.