LUIGI RUSSOLO, FUTURIST Noise, Visual arts, aNd the occult Luciano Chessa uNiVersity of califorNia Press Berkeley Los Angeles London LUIGI RUSSOLO, FUTURIST The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Ahmanson Foundation Humanities Endowment Fund of the University of California Press Foundation. LUIGI RUSSOLO, FUTURIST Noise, Visual arts, aNd the occult Luciano Chessa uNiVersity of califorNia Press Berkeley Los Angeles London University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2012 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Chessa, Luciano, 1971– Luigi Russolo, futurist : noise, visual arts, and the occult / Luciano Chessa. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. isbN 978-0-520-27063-3 (cloth : alk. paper) isbN 978-0-520-27064-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) isbN 978-0-520-95156-3 (ebook) 1. Russolo, Luigi—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Futurism (Music). I. Title. ml410.r966c44 2012 700.92—dc23 2011046516 Manufactured in the United States of America 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 In keeping with a commitment to support environmentally responsible and sustainable printing practices, UC Press has printed this book on 50-pound Enterprise, a 30% post- consumer-waste, recycled, deinked fiber that is processed chlorine-free. It is acid-free and meets all aNsi/Niso (z 39.48) requirements. To Troy This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Part One. Luigi Russolo from the Formative Years to 1913 1. Futurism as a Metaphysical Science 13 2. Occult Futurism 43 3. Spotlight on Russolo 71 4. Painting Noise: La musica 98 5. Russolo and Synesthesia 110 6. Russolo’s Metaphysics 122 Part two. The Art of Noises and the Occult 7. Intonarumori Unveiled 137 8. TheSpirali di Rumori 151 9. TheArte dei “Romori” 169 10. Controversial Leonardo 197 11. Third Level 209 Conclusion: Materialist Futurism? 225 Notes 231 This page intentionally left blank ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Luigi Russolo, Autoritratto con teschi (1908) / 6 2. Fillìa, title page of Arte fascista, December 1927 / 9 3. Umberto Boccioni, Città che sale (1910 – 11) / 29 4. Giacomo Balla, Trasformazione forme spiriti (1918) / 33 5. Giacomo Balla, Mercurio passa davanti al Sole, visto da un cannocchiale (1914) / 40 6. Luigi Russolo, La musica (1911–12) / 77 7. Luigi Russolo, Autoritratto (1940) / 80 8. Luigi Russolo, Maschere (1907 – 08) / 82 9. Luigi Russolo, Autoritratto (con doppio eterico) (1910) / 86 10. Luigi Russolo, Autoritratto (con l’ombra) (1920) / 87 11. Luigi Russolo seduto in mezzo ai suoi rumorarmoni (1924 – 28) / 88 12. Luigi Russolo, Ricordi di una notte (1912) / 91 13. Luigi Russolo, Linee-forza della folgore (1912), central panel / 93 14. Annie Besant and Charles W. Leadbeater, illustrations 22 and 23 from Thought-forms (1901) / 94 15. Luigi Russolo, Solidità nella nebbia (1912) / 95 16. Luigi Russolo, Compenetrazione di case + luce + cielo (1912) / 96 17. Umberto Boccioni, caricature of the futurist serata in Treviso on June 2, 1911 / 99 ix x . illustratioNs 18. Annie Besant and Charles W. Leadbeater, plate W, “Wagner: Overture to Meistersingers [sic],” from Thought-forms (1901) / 105 19. The Three-Level Process / 139 20. Luigi Russolo, musical example from Risveglio di una città (1913) / 152–53 21. Paolo Buzzi, Pioggia nel pineto antidannunziana (1916) / 165 22. Luigi Russolo, Impressione di bombardamento shrapnels e granate (1926) / 166 23. Leonardo da Vinci, Codex Arundel 263, fol. 175r / 175 24. Luigi Russolo, drawing for the patent Intonatore dei rumori (1914) / 178 25. Luigi Russolo, drawing for the patent Descrizione della prima aggiunta al brevetto depositato l’8/10/1921 / 179 26. Luigi Russolo, drawing for the patent Apparecchio acustico producente sotto l’azione di un rumore qualsiasi dei suoni la cui tonalità e il timbro sono definiti (1921) / 180 27. Luigi Russolo, drawing for the patent Instrument de musique (1931) / 183 28. Leonardo da Vinci, sketch of the viola organista, Madrid MS II, fol. 76r / 187 29. Adolfo De Carolis, header for Il Leonardo (1903) / 203 AcKNOWLEDGMENTS Like every work that aspires to be scientific, this book is not the result of a solitary effort; rather, it is the product of a multifaceted dialogue. My thanks therefore go first to Mary Francis for having encouraged me from the incep- tion of this dialogue, for her constant and enthusiastic support, and for guid- ing me through the treacherous traps that accompany all publications. Other key participants in the dialogue were Barbara Moroncini, who gave this work its first edit; Julie Brand, who provided a thorough final edit; and Rose Vekony, the project editor. Their help was crucial in making this book speak to you as it does. The dialogue started whileI was in graduate school at the University of California in Davis, and this book follows on the completion in 2004 of my PhD dissertation, “Luigi Russolo and The Occult.” I should like to thank my dissertation committee, David Nutter, Douglas Kahn, D. Kern Holoman, Pablo Ortiz, and Margherita Heyer-Caput, for their trust, generous exchange of ideas, and advice. I wrote the dissertation in Italian. It was translated by Tamsin Nutter, and her translation was revised by Beth Levy, Marit MacAr- thur, and Ramón Sender Barayón: I thank them all for their time and help. Justin Urcis, Mark Gallay, Nathan Kroms Davis, and Beverly Wilcox read this manuscript and gave me their feedback. Ellen Fullman, Gregory Moore, and Theresa Wong discussed specific sections of it with me. I am grateful to them all. Thanks go to my family — my father and mother, and my sister and brother and their families — without whom I would not have been able to accomplish xi xii . ackNowledgmeNts this. Thanks also to Troy Boyd for his unwavering support throughout the entire process and beyond. This book is dedicated to him. A version of chapter 9 appeared twice as an article: “L’arte dei romori: Leonardine Devotion in Luigi Russolo’s Oeuvre,” Leonardo 41, no. 1 (Febru- ary 2008); and “L’arte dei romori: Del culto leonardesco nell’opera di Luigi Russolo,” in Musica e arti figurative: Rinascimento e novecento, ed. Gerhard Wolf and Mario Ruffini (Venice: Marsilio, 2008). Both articles were based on chapter 11 of my dissertation, and it is on this version that I have based the material presented here. I was able to improve the section on the mechanisms of the intonarumori with the help of a commission I received from RoseLee Goldberg of the New York – based Biennale of the Arts Performa to direct the first reconstruc- tion project of Russolo’s earliest intonarumori orchestra. Together with Esa Nickle, I curated a concert program that featured music specifically commis- sioned for this orchestra, which the New York Times hailed as one of the best events in the arts in 2009, and which subsequently toured internationally. My thanks go also to Mary Ellen Poole and John Spitzer at the San Fran- cisco Conservatory of Music and to Tom Welsh from the Cleveland Museum of Art for their indirect and direct support. Finally, thanks to Margaret Fisher who upon reading my “Luigi Russolo and the Occult” first convinced me to revise and submit the work for publication. Introduction To enrich means to add, not to substitute or to abolish. —Luigi Russolo, The Enharmonic Bow On a summer evening the Russolos were entertaining a guest, when Russolo, plead- ing fatigue and sleepiness, went to bed. The lady and the guest continued chatting for a little longer, until she, the good nights said, retired. While ascending the inter- nal staircase, her gaze was attracted upward: something that had never happened to her. It was then that she saw a kind of white ghost appearing at the banister of the landing, and quickly recognized its familiar face: it was Russolo, leaning on the banister, all illuminated by the full moon. His wife gazed at him amazed and asked what he was doing and why he was standing there so calmly, and wrapped up in his white nightshirt. He did not respond, nor did he move. Alarmed by his silence, Madame Russolo descended the few steps to call on the guest so that she could be reassured that this was not an illu- sion. But at their return the white vision had disappeared. She felt humiliated and almost offended by the teasing of her guest, who treated her as a visionary. They quickly entered Russolo’s room and found him deeply asleep, calm, breathing very regularly. In silence, they left. Later, rethinking the incident, the wife was not able to convince herself that it had been a hallucination. The morning after the event Madame Russolo recounted the scene to her hus- band, who, with evident satisfaction, asked: “Ah! Do you really say? You saw me, actually me in that state? But then I have finally succeeded! I have obtained the doubling of my body. That which you saw, you really saw it: it was my etheric body, perhaps coming to see you go up to your room, while my physical body lay inert in bed. Good! Good! I am more than happy about this. But I pray you: don’t tell this story to anyone now; the reasons for silence are obvious and you understand them by yourself.” 1 2 .