Nostalgia for the future : Luigi Nono's selected writings and interviews

Prefacen / by Nuria Schoenberg Nono -- Introduction / by the editors -- Exergo : clarifications (1956) -- Excursus I : an autobiography recounted by Enzo Restagno (1987) -- Part I : Musical analysis and composition. Dallapiccola and the sex carmina alcaei (ca. 1948). On the development of serial technique (1956). The development of serial technique (1957). Text-music-song (1960). [About il canto sospeso] (1976) -- Excursus II : Letter from Los Angeles (1956) -- Part II : Music on stage : from a "Theatre of Ideas" to the "Tragedy of listening." Some clarifications on Intolleranza 1960 (1962). Possibility and necessity of a new musical theatre (1962). Play and truth in the new musical theatre (1962). Die Ermittlung : a musical and theatrical experience with Weiss and Piscator [music and theatre] (1966). Towards Prometeo : journal fragments (1984) -- Excursus III : Interview with Renato Garavaglia (1979-80) -- Part III : "Conscience, feelings, collective reality." Historical presence of music today (1959). Music and resistance (1963). Replies to seven questions by Martine Cadieu (1966). Music and power (1969). In the Sierra and in the Parliament (1971) -- Excursus IV : Technology to discover a universe of sounds (interview with Walter Prati and Roberto Masotti-1983) -- Part IV : Portraits and dedications. Josef Svoboda (1968). Remembering two musicians (1973). Victor Jara's song (1974). Preface to Arnold Schoenberg's Harmonielehre (1977). Bartók the composer (1981). For Helmut (1983). For Marino Zuccheri (1986) -- Excursus V : Interview with Michelangelo Zurletti (1987) -- Part V : The "possible infinities". Error as a necessity (1983). Other possibilities for listening (1985). Lecture at the Chartreuse in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon (1989) -- Excursus VI : "Proust" questionnaire (1986) -- Bibliographical notes and commentary on the texts -- Chronology of the works.

"Nostalgia for the Future is the first collection in English of the writings and interviews of Luigi Nono (1924-1990). One of the most prominent figures in the development of new music after World War II, he is renowned for both his compositions and his utopian views. His many essays and lectures reveal an artist at the center of the analytical, theoretical, critical, and political debates of the time. This selection of Nono's most significant essays, articles, and interviews covers his entire career (1948-1989), faithfully mirroring the interests, orientations, continuities, and fractures of a complex and unique personality. His writings illuminate his intensive involvements with theatre, painting, literature, politics, science, and even mysticism. Nono's words make vividly evident his restless quest for the transformative possibilities of a radical musical experience, one that is at the same time profoundly engaged with its performers and spaces, its audiences, and its human and social motivations and ramifications"--Provided by publisher.