Born in Venice, Italy, Nono was a member of a wealthy artistic family, and his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono began music lessons with Gian Francesco Malipiero in 1941 at the Venice Conservatory where he acquired knowledge of the Renaissance madrigal tradition, amongst other styles. After graduating with a degree in law from the University of Padua, he was given encouragement in composition by Bruno Maderna.
In 1950, he attended the "Ferienkurse für neue Musik" in Darmstadt, where he met composers such as Edgard Varèse and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Works from this first period include: Polifonica-Monodica-Ritmica (1951), Epitaffio per Federico García Lorca (1952-1953), La victoire de Guernica (1954) and Liebeslied (1954). He increasingly rejected the analytical approach of serialism, as evidenced by the following works: Incontri (1955), Il canto sospeso, (1955-1956), et Cori di Didone (1958).
He married Arnold Schönberg's daughter Nuria in 1955.
Nono was committed to socialism. He joined the Communist party in 1952. His avant-garde music was also a revolt against bourgeois culture. As such, he avoided most normal concert genres in favor of opera and electronic music, and sought to bring music to factories. He made frequent recourse to political texts in his work. Many of his works are overtly political: Il canto sospeso (1956), based on the letters of victims of wartime oppression, which brought him international fame; Diario polacco (1958), Intolleranza, (1960), Intolleranza (1961), La fabbrica illuminata (1964), Ricorda cosa ti hanno fatto ad Auschwitz (1966), Non consumiamo Marx (1969), Ein Gespenst geht um in der Welt (1971), Canto per il Vietnam (1973), and Al gran sole carico d'amore (1975). From 1956 onward, he was increasingly interested in electronic music, first at the "Elektroakustische Experimentalstudio" at Gravesano (Scherchen). Electronic music is involved in works like Como una ola de fuerza y luz for soprano, piano, orchestra and tape (1971-1972), ...sofferte onde serene... for piano and tape (1974-1977) and especially Al gran sole carico d'amore (1972-1975).
After 1980 he worked in the "Experimentalstudio der Heinrich Strobel-Stiftung des Südwestfunks" in Freiburg, where he resolutely turned to live electronics. He became increasingly interested in the properties of sound as such. The new approach became apparent in works such as Quando Stanno Morendeo Diario polacco n° 2 (1982), Guai ai gelidi mostri (1983) et Omaggio a Kurtág (1983), but above all in his last opera Prometeo (1984). In the same spirit he wrote Fragmente - Stille, an Diotima (1980), No hay caminos, hay que caminar... Andrei Tarkovski pour 7 groupes instrumentaux (1987), La lontananza nostalgica utopica futura for violin, live electronics and tape (1988).
La fabbrica illuminata
Luigi Nono Lyrics
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a ustioni a esalazioni nocive a gran masse di acciaio fuso
esposizione operaia a elevatissime temperature
su otto ore solo due ne intasca l'operaio esposizione operaia
a materiali proiettati relazioni umane per accelerare i tempi esposizione operaia
a cadute a luci abbaglianti a corrente ad alta tensione
quanti MINUTI-UOMO per morire?
e non si fermano MANI di aggredire, ININTERROTTI che vuota le ore
al CORPO nuda afferrano quadranti, visi: e non si fermano
guardano GUARDANO occhi fissi: occhi mani sera giro del letto
tutte le mie notti ma aridi orgasmi TUTTA la città dai morti VIVI
noi continuamente PROTESTE la folla cresce parla del MORTO
la cabina detta TOMBA tagliano i tempi fabbrica come lager UCCISI
passeranno i mattini passeranno le angosce
non sarà così sempre ritroverai qualcosa
The lyrics to Luigi Nono's song "La fabbrica illuminata" describe the harsh and dangerous conditions experienced by workers in a factory. The factory is called "fabbrica dei morti," which translates to "factory of the dead," suggesting that the workplace is a place where workers face grave risks. The workers are exposed to extreme temperatures, burns, and harmful fumes. They endure long hours of work, but only receive a minimal reward for their efforts. The lyrics also highlight the dehumanizing aspects of the factory, with workers being treated as mere objects to accelerate production. The dangers include falling objects, blinding lights, and high-voltage currents, highlighting the constant risks faced by the workers.
The song portrays a bleak and grim picture of the workers' lives, emphasizing their exploitation and the disregard for their safety and well-being. The haunting imagery of hands continuously attacking and emptying the hours, seizing on the workers' vulnerable bodies, and their gaze fixed on them captures the oppressive nature of the factory environment. The lyrics also touch upon the theme of mortality, asking how many "minutes-man" (referring to the time it takes for a person to die) are required to sacrifice in such conditions. Despite the despair portrayed, there is a glimmer of hope expressed in the final lines, suggesting that things may not always be this way and that something will be found.
Line by Line Meaning
fabbrica dei morti la chiamavano esposizione operaia
The factory of the dead, they called it a representation of labor.
a ustioni a esalazioni nocive a gran masse di acciaio fuso
To burns, to harmful fumes, to masses of molten steel.
esposizione operaia a elevatissime temperature
A representation of labor at extremely high temperatures.
su otto ore solo due ne intasca l'operaio esposizione operaia
Out of eight hours, the worker only pockets two, a representation of labor.
a materiali proiettati relazioni umane per accelerare i tempi esposizione operaia
To materials thrown, human relationships to speed up the times, a representation of labor.
a cadute a luci abbaglianti a corrente ad alta tensione
To falls, to dazzling lights, to high voltage current.
quanti MINUTI-UOMO per morire?
How many HUMAN-MINUTES until death?
e non si fermano MANI di aggredire, ININTERROTTI che vuota le ore
And the hands don't stop attacking, uninterrupted, emptying the hours.
al CORPO nuda afferrano quadranti, visi: e non si fermano
They grasp the naked body, dials, faces: and they don't stop.
guardano GUARDANO occhi fissi: occhi mani sera giro del letto
They look, they keep looking into fixed eyes: eyes hands evening around the bed.
tutte le mie notti ma aridi orgasmi TUTTA la città dai morti VIVI
All of my nights, but dry orgasms, the whole city from the living dead.
noi continuamente PROTESTE la folla cresce parla del MORTO
We continuously PROTEST, the crowd grows talking about the DEAD.
la cabina detta TOMBA tagliano i tempi fabbrica come lager UCCISI
The cabin called TOMB, they cut the times, factory like a killed concentration camp.
passeranno i mattini passeranno le angosce
Mornings will pass, anxieties will pass.
non sarà così sempre ritroverai qualcosa
It will not always be like this, you will always find something.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
ElectroSuperNun
the soprano is Carla Henius, the factory sounds has been recorded in the Genova-Cornigliano Italsider Steel Factory, those two things has been mixed in the Studio di Fonologia della RAI in Milan
walter horn
Thanks
Ricardo Moreno
Ouvindo Nono no Brasil.
Marco Inchingolo
Arte altissima.
Emanuela Terzariol
Assolutamente geniale
Elisa Badio1
un genio, nulla da dire
collina24
Grazie per questo prezioso documento!
Arianna Savo
E' la cosa piu geniale che abbia sentito da diverso tempo a questa parte.
Urano Gaia
I commenti dei borghesi compiacenti e crogiolati nel nulla sono sempre divertenti (specie se letti, come nel mio caso, a un'ora tarda della notte)Quante parole inutili sono state spese. Questa per me è arte, genio, mentalità visionaria, studio e assiduo lavoro. Se a qualcuno non piace non vi è di certo bisogno di andarlo a indispettire (facendo, forse, proprio quello che egli vuole). Nella ragione il "bello" e il "brutto" non esistono. Questa è l'opera: a chi piace, bene. A chi non piace, pazienza, ognuno cercherà ciò che secondo il suo canone reputa bello e andrà perciò ad ascoltare altro
Tazio C.
Concordo con tutto, se non che anche con i "compagni operai" i rapporti non furono così idilliaci.