Luigi Nono

Born Jan. 29, 1924, in Venice. Italian composer. Fought in the Italian resistance movement.

Nono studied under G. F. Malipiero, the Italian conductor and composer B. Maderna, and the German conductor H. Scherchen. In the 1950’s, Nono, P. Boulez, and K. Stock-hausen were the leaders of the avant-garde in music. An exponent of the tone-row (serial) technique, Nono uses aleatory and electronic music.

Nono’s works, which deal with the most important problems of contemporary life, are a protest against totalitarianism, fascism, and violence against the individual. Among his works are Epitaph to Federico García Lorca (1953), the cantata Interrupted Song (1956; text based on letters of fighters condemned to death for their participation in the European resistance movement), and the orchestral composition Polish Diary 1958 (1959; written after a visit to the death camps). Nono is also the composer of the opera Intolerance 1960 (1961), the cantata On the Bridge of Hiroshima: Songs of Life and Love (1962), and a composition for voice and electronic music (A Specter Haunts the World, 1970). In addition, he has composed lyrical music celebrating the beauty of life.