Recently there has been a growing interest in the work of the Italian futurist painter, composer, and maker of musical instruments Luigi Russolo (1885–1947). As the author of the first systematic aesthetics of noise and the alleged creator of the first mechanical sound synthesizer, Russolo is increasingly regarded as a key figure in the evolution of twentieth-century music. Adopting as its unifying leitmotif Russolo's interest in the occult throughout his life, this biography demonstrates that the occult arts were the foundation upon which the superstructure of his art of noises was erected, s ... More

Recently there has been a growing interest in the work of the Italian futurist painter, composer, and maker of musical instruments Luigi Russolo (1885–1947). As the author of the first systematic aesthetics of noise and the alleged creator of the first mechanical sound synthesizer, Russolo is increasingly regarded as a key figure in the evolution of twentieth-century music. Adopting as its unifying leitmotif Russolo's interest in the occult throughout his life, this biography demonstrates that the occult arts were the foundation upon which the superstructure of his art of noises was erected, showing that both his noise aesthetics and its practical manifestation—the intonarumori—were for him and his associates elements of a multileveled experiment to achieve higher states of spiritual consciousness and a medium to catalyze materialization/incarnation. The book changes the current perception of Russolo from a rational scientist devoted to positivist thinking to a multifaceted man in whom the drive to keep up with the latest scientific trends coexisted with an embrace of the irrational and a critique of materialism and positivism. Uncovering Russolo's occult interests strengthens the connections between his best-known ideas and his spiritual legacy in the works of Edgar Varèse, Pierre Schaeffer, and John Cage.