Luigi Nono’s Works from the Late 1950s: The Emergence of a New Choral Style

Abstract

At the center of attention in the article are Luigi Nono’s choral works from the late 1950s. On the example of analysis of two compositions created consecutively one after the other — La terra e la compagna (The Earth and the Female Friend, 1957) and Cori di Didone (Choruses of Dido, 1958), — the composer demonstrates innovative techniques expanding the arsenal of technical means and testifying of the intensity of the development of his personal choral style within the indicated period of time, and also manifests the tendencies characteristic for the choral texture of the subsequent years. Special attention is given to the texts of Cesare Pavese and Giuseppe Ungaretti that comprised the verbal basis of the analyzed compositions. It is noted that the pathos of the struggle for liberation of the earlier compositions is overshadowed by a lyricism connected to the composer’s focusing to the images of nature. During his work on the texts, Nono actively experiments with the phonetics establishing its impact on the vocal sound. Among the specific peculiarities of the choral writing in the examined compositions, the techniques of timbral modulation, as well as poly-timbral and mono-timbral stereo-monody are emphasized. In the sphere of the organization of the sound material, the transition from serial technique to the technique of sound masses is noted. On the basis of the carried out analysis, the tendencies conducive to the transformation of the image of the choral texture are indicated: the reduction of the melodic horizontal motions to sound-points; the acceleration of attention in mixing timbres within the framework of the unison; and the expansion of the functions of the verbal text (the process of its delinearization and phonetic disintegration).

Keywords: 20th century choral music, avant-garde music, Luigi Nono, choral texture, Klangfarbenmelodie, poly-timbral stereo-monody