Canto Sospeso

'The Song Unsung': Luigi Nono's "Il Canto Sospeso"
Author(s): Carola Nielinger

Source: Journal of the Royal Musical Association, Vol. 131, No. 1 (2006), pp. 83-150
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Royal Musical Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3840472
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Journal ofthe Royal Musical Association, 131 no. 1 83-150
cThe Song Unsung': Luigi Nono's

// canto sospeso
CAROLA NIELINGER
A WORK by a dedicated Communist that dared to address N

they were still largely taboo in West German cultural life wa
controversy when it was first performed in Cologne at the he
War.1 Although the premiere of Nono's II canto sospeso was itself
work's reception in Germany (and later also in Britain) was soo
by the context of Adorno's distorting but influential association
alism with totalitarian regimes (Nazi as well as Stalinist).2 Moreov
condemnation of the use of text in this work did Nono few favou
less, // canto sospeso was a great breakthrough and of such impo
that, towards the end of 1960, he returned to it anew. He felt
so in the context of the Algerian War of Independence and t
which it gave rise. Thus, despite the fact that Nono had developed
refined his serial technique in the intervening four years, th
movement is integrated into the music-theatre piece Intolleranza
is explicidy tied to the political situation in Algeria. The same
musicologist Massimo Mila concluded his observations on // canto
following terms:
The novelty and rigorous idiomatic originality of II canto sospeso . . . do

exhaust the merits of this work. Once again, invention and technical comma
municate a message whose fully perceptible depth is what counts. The em
1 Luigi Nono's // canto sospeso (1955-6) was premiered under Scherchen in Co

1956. The concert also included Webern's Pieces for Orchestra, opp. 6 and 10, as w
Friede auf Erden, op. 13.
2 Theodor W. Adorno, 'Das Altern der neuen Musik', broadcast April 1954,
Der Monat, 80 (1955), 150?8, expanded in Dissonanzen: Musik in der verwaltete
1956), 136-59; 'The Aging ofthe New Music', trans. Robert Hullot-Kentor
in Adorno, Essays on Music, ed. Richard Leppert (Berkeley, 2002), 181-202.
3 Karlheinz Stockhausen, 'Musik und Sprache', lecture delivered at Darmsta
in Darmstadter Beitrage, 1 (Mainz, 1958); revised version broadcast on SW
Reihe, 6 (1960), 36-58, and in Stockhausen, Texte, ed. Dieter Schnebel, ii (Colo
149-66.
In Intolleranza 1960 the fourth movement of II canto sospeso links the 'Interrogation' and 'Torture'
scenes (Act 1, scenes iv and v). It follows a chilling quotation from the book La question (1958)
by Henri Alleg, a personal account ofthe practice of torture in Algerian detention camps with a
preface by Jean-Paul Sartre. The book was seized by police in France as soon as it was published.
Nono used a quotation from Sartre's preface in the 'Torture' scene.
? The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf ofthe Royal Musical Association. All rights reserved.
doi:io.i093/jrma/fklooi
84 carola nielinger
which 7/ canto sospeso p

today but continuously
divides modern art from
concession and without c
The composer, about

ical context, must sur
both content and idio
lytically, in the ligh
permutational system
at the Archivio Luig
technical focus of la
an ever-growing fasc
broader concern, tho
a means, not an end -
One important tech
originally conceived
composers in Italy a
This technique, which
not sufficiently bee
work.7 The aim of th
sympathetic historic
many analytical facet
into account importa
as insights gained fro
the myths surroundin
pelled, and that the
sive, but also one of
European anti-fascist
age of Bagram, Guan
'Never before did I

Nono wrote to Paul
total silenzio, no noise
describes the remarka
5 Massimo Mila, 'La linea

are my own unless otherw
Henceforth abbreviated
environment a most pleas
whose careful reading of
7Kathryn Bailey, 'Work i
279-334; Wolfgang Motz,
// canto sospeso de Luigi
8 Nono, letter to Paul D
Spannung gehort! Spannu
'the song unsung' 85
left the most significan

generation of composer
mize the enigmatic "le
'no one is actually chall
in it, or senses in it an
wrong with greater poig
left and continues to le
the choice of texts from
cuted. Nono selected th
della Resistenza europe
The score is dedicated 'a
sage from the book's p
the faith, the hope, the r

bore the fine name ofthe '
disgrace of their country
Hitlerite world, though wh
the vanguard of a better h
Some ofthe letters sele

sacrifice for a better w
forte con tale bellezza
tizia. Le nostre idee vinc
light of such strength
dying for justice. Our
'Muoio per la liberta' (
Greece, no. 3); 'Vado con
of a better life for yo
with the difficulty of s
ever to life which is so
1 Herbert Eimert, 'Urauffuh

] Adorno, 'The Aging ofthe
Lettere di condannati a mor
with a preface by Thomas
have used, is not found amon
to this second edition. An an
same editors two years earlie
1943-25 aprile 194$) (Turin, 1
' As cited in the score, trans
5 Ibid., 90-1. More overtly co
discarded, e.g. a letter of t
'search for the meaning of l
Klekner, written to his brot
2 November 1943: 'Now . . . i
hand over the flag of liberty
freedom.' Lettere di condann
86 CAROLA NIELINGER
texts are extracts fro

ever, is the aphoristic
terra' ('Goodbye, moth
Liubka Shevzova was a member of the Russian resistance movement known as
the Young Guard, and among those captured in December 1942 for helping
75 prisoners escape from German concentration camps. Like many of her com-
rades, she was tortured, without revealing information, and was finally beaten
to death under the eyes of a Rotenfiihrer of the SS on 7 February 1943. Her
short testimony, representative of the fate of so many of those cited in this
anthology, lies at the heart of the conception of // canto sospeso and was later
used for movement no. 7, the lyrical apotheosis ofthe central part ofthe work.
Nono himself referred to // canto sospeso as a cantata, while Massimo Mila
later coined the term 'freedom mass'. None ofthe chosen letters seeks refuge
in religion, however. Nono may have agreed with Mann that 'those who do not
speak of God and Heaven find much higher, more spiritual, and more poetic
expression for the idea of living on'.1 Furthermore, // canto sospeso was written
during a time when Italian communists were publicly denounced and officially
excommunicated from the Catholic Church, whose role in European anti-
fascist resistance movements was not in any case prominent.17 Nono, who had
joined the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1952, could not but write a secular
cantata. Had the work not been a West German commission, its political mess-
age might have been voiced in stronger terms but, under the circumstances,
contemporary politics could only be alluded to. The passage Nono quotes from
Mann is in fact part of a vicious attack on the deadlock situation of the then
divided world: 'a world of evil regression' ruled by superstitious hate and perse-
cution mania, a world where weapons of mass destruction are entrusted to those
who are intellectually and morally incompetent, and a world in which 'the sink?
ing level of culture, the atrophy of education, the mindless acceptance of atroc-
ities committed by a politicized judiciary, bigwigs, blind greed for profit, the
1 Ibid., 794.
' The term 'cantata' is found among the earliest sketches, ALN 14.02.01/04 (current catalogue
marking). Mila speaks ofa 'messa della liberta, che non puo concedersi la gioia sfolgorante del
Gloria' ('a freedom mass that does not allow for the radiant joy ofthe Gloria'). The analogy is
taken further: the orchestral introduction is regarded as the Kyrie, the first a cappella chorus
(no. 2) as the Credo, the tenor and soprano solos (nos. 5 and 7) as the Benedictus and Agnus
dei, and no. 6 for chorus and orchestra as the Dies irae. Mila, 'La linea Nono', 302-7.
' Thomas Mann, preface to Lettere di condannati, ed. Malvezzi and Pirelli, repr. as 'Vorwort zu
dem Buche Briefe Todgeweihter', Mann, An die gesittete Welt: Politische Schriften und Reden im
Exil, ed. Peter de Mendelssohn, Gesammelte Werke (Frankfurt am Main, 1986), 812-19
(p. 816).
The Italian Communist Party (PCI) was ousted from government by the Christian Democrats
in 1948. Card-carrying communists were excommunicated by Pope Pius XII in the buWAvviso
sacro of 1949. Few communist activists, therefore, were practising Catholics. The PCI, however,
never defined itself as explicitly anti-Catholic or anti-clerical. On the PCI and the Catholic
Church see Cris Shore, Italian Communism: The Escape from Leninism (London, 1990), 38.
CTHE SONG UNSUNG' 87
decay of loyalty and faith' seem

a Third World War.18
Nono alludes to this deplorab
whose preface may well have b
also through the work's title. 77
rightly been regarded as a rathe
being translated as either 'floa
De Benedictis rediscovered that t
the Jewish American who, with
transmitting secret scientific
Union. Their essentially unjus
within the European left, partic
the 'atrocities' Mann had in m
Nono owned the Italian trans
lished under the title Lettere da
correspondence is the poem If
You shall know, my sons,

why we leave the song unsu
the book unread, the work
to rest beneath the sod.
Mourn no more, my sons,

why the lies and smears we
the tears we shed, the hurt
to all shall be proclaimed.
Earth shall smile, my sons,

and green above our resting
the killing end, the world
in brotherhood and peace.
Work and build, my sons,

a monument to love and jo
to human worth, to faith w
for you, my sons, for you.2
18 Mann, 'Vorwort', 817-18.

19 Lettere di condannati, ed. Malvezz
under the title Und die Flamme soll eu
20 // canto sospeso, score, p. 89.
21 Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, Lette
Orlandini, Attualita politica, 5 (Rom
of the poem, If We Die, with the beg
{Work andBuild, my Sons), thus givin
22 Ethel Rosenberg, If We Die (24 Ja
British edition includes letters of pro
CAROLA NIELINGER
Translating Rosenberg's 'song unsung', II canto sospeso thus also con

den reference to a more contemporary case of violently 'interrupte
ofthe Rosenbergs in 1953. The poem that inspired this deliberat
title is essentially a personal tribute to the Rosenbergs' two y
aged 6 and 10 at the time. It does not claim to be high art, but
moving testimony of the sort found in the letters of the Europ
fighters. Mann describes the peculiar effect of such document
admires poetry because it can express itself like real life. One is doub
life itself, because unintentionally it expresses itself as poetry.'23
Notably, Adorno's 'The Aging of the New Music' cites a docum
nature: the title-page illustration from the first edition of Karl Kr
tic drama Die letzten Tage der Menschheit {The Last Days of Mankin
picture represents 'the execution ofthe deputy Battisti, accused by
of spying', with 'a merrily laughing hangman' at its centre. The
picture - 'along with another that was, if possible, even more s
omitted in the drama's first post-World War II edition prom
argue that
as a result of this seemingly superficial change something decisive was transformed in the
work. A similar transformation, a little less crass, occurred in New Music. The sounds
remain the same. But the anxiety that gave shape to its great founding works has been
repressed. Perhaps that anxiety has become so overwhelming in reality that its undis-
guised image would scarcely be bearable: to recognize the aging of the New Music does
not mean to misjudge this aging as something accidental. But art that unconsciously
obeys such repression and makes itself a game, because it has become too weak for seri?
ousness, renounces its claim to truth, which is its only raison d'etre.
In setting text which no longer merely conjures up the image of a 'merrily

laughing hangman' but Nazi-style executions and, ultimately, the extermination
camps, Nono, among very few other composers of his time, took the bold step
demanded by Adorno and addressed his European contemporaries with a work
that forced them to confront the recent past. Moreover, he did so with compo?
sitional means of the most advanced kind. While // canto sospeso retains the tra?
ditional lineup of soloists, chorus and orchestra, as well as the movement structure
of established genres such as oratorio or cantata, each of its nine movements is
also a perfect example of serial technique. Nono later described the work as a
1Divertimento of different compositional ideas', and indeed the variety with
among others. Rosenberg's poem is mentioned by Mila in 'La linea Nono', 306. No reference
is given by Mila, and the German translation of this article in Jiirg Stenzl, Luigi Nono: Texte,
Studien zu seiner Musik (Zurich, 1975), 380-93 (p. 388), provides the wrong reference to Lettere
di condannati, ed. Malvezzi and Pirelli.
23 Mann, 'Vorwort', 814.
24 Adorno, 'The Aging ofthe New Music', 183.
25 Nono, 'Un'autobiografia dell'autore raccontata da Enzo Restagno' (1987), Scritti e colloqui, ed.
Angela Ida De Benedictis and Veniero Rizzardi, Le sfere, 35 (Lucca, 2001), ii, 477-568 (p. 511).
THE SONG UNSUNG
which serial technique is employed in 77 canto sospeso is hardly s

works of this period and certainly justifies the attention thi
been given in purely analytical terms. However, one question
are these adequate means for the expression of such content
such means can be said to exist? This question has been asked
especially in German criticism, ever since Adorno first form
heatedly debated dictum: 'to write poetry after Auschwitz is bar
tum, overtones of which are also present in 'The Aging of
reached a wider German audience only with the publication of
tion of essays entitled Prismen in 1955.27 Specifically with regar
// canto sospeso, Eimert remarks: 'Can one "set" this to music? E
think that this may have been done with traditional means of exp
tive narrative or sensational reportage with large-scale magazine
Eimert's response to Nono's treatment of the text, however, is ess
Nono does not interpret the words, nor does he cover them up. In
incorporated into the structure - not only words, but syllables, too, m
voices. The phonetic thus becomes part of the 'serial' - this happens h
time outside the field of electronic music. And it happens so convincing
posed' vocal colour merges into a vibrating image of sound, an ob
metallic plasticism and greatest intensity.29
26 In addition to the analyses by Bailey, Motz and Feneyrou already cited, mu

on individual movements oi II canto sospeso. On no. i: Wolfgang Motz, 'Ko
und kompositorische Freiheit im ersten Satz des Canto sospeso', La nuova
Luigi Nono, ed. Gianmario Borio, Giovanni Morelli and Veniero Rizza
Nono: Studi, i (Florence, 1999), 53-66. On no. 2: Stockhausen, 'Mus
Jonathan Kramer, 'The Fibonacci Series in Twentieth-Century Music', Jou
ory, 17 (1973), 110-49 (pp- 126-30); Erika Schaller, Klang und Zahl: Ser
zwischen 1955 und 1959 (Saarbrucken, 1997), 112-25; Angela Ida De Benedictis
musica nelle opere vocali di Luigi Nono: Studio filologico-analitico con par
a Canti di vita e damore (Laurea in musicologia, University of Pavia, 1996
Gianmario Borio, 'Sull'interazione fra lo studio degli schizzi e l'analisi d
ricerca, ed. Borio, Morelli and Rizzardi, 1-21 (pp. 15-17); Matthias Herrma
serielles Mittel formaler Organisation: Untersuchungen zum IV. Satz aus I
Luigi Nono', Musiktheorie: Festschrift fur Heinrich Deppert, ed. Wolfgan
2000), 261-75. On no. 6: Nicolaus A. Huber, 'Luigi Nono: Il canto sospeso V
ed. Heinz-Klaus Metzger and Rainer Riehn, Musik-Konzepte, 20 (Munic
no. 8: Gianmario Borio, 'Tempo e ritmo nelle composizioni seriali, 1952-5
anni cinquanta, ed. Gianmario Borio, Giovanni Morelli and Veniero Rizza
Nono: Studi, 2 (Florence, 2004), 61-115 (pp. 112-14). On no. 9: Angela
'Gruppo, linea e proiezioni armoniche', ibid., 183-226 (pp. 204-5).
27 Theodor W. Adorno, 'Cultural Criticism and Society', Prisms, trans.
Weber (London, 1967; repr. Cambridge, MA, 1981), 17-34 (p. 34). 'Kulturk
schaft' (1949) was first published in the Festschrift Soziologische Forschu
Leopold Wiesezum 75. Geburtstag, ed. Karl Gustav Specht (Cologne, 19 51), an
Prismen (Frankfurt am Main, 1955), 7-31.
28 Eimert, 'Uraufftihrung von Nonos Canto sospeso in Koln'.
29 ibid.
90 CAROLA NIELINGER
As is well known, St
analysis of the second
reflections on the mu
In certain pieces of the

public eye where it has
such a regardlessly stri
when performed. To w
as follows: particularly
ashamed that they had t
not interpret, he does n
mutations of vowel-sou
texts so rich in meanin
where only the phoneti
In part, Stockhausen's
sospeso can be unders
struction of text and
premiered in 1956
Stockhausen argues,
Apocrypha to the Bo
great extent, 'genera
becomes clear, is essen
these testimonies fel
the ordinary Germa
they must have evok
cisely this feeling of
in which Thomas Ma
The thick walls of the t

forced open. Our disgra
sions, to whom these u
this exceeds all dreadfu
30 Karlheinz Stockhause
(pp. 48-9), and Morag Jo
Stockhausen may have b
but this is not present.
31 Ludwig Wismeyer, 'W
review is discussed in Gra
Hartmann und die Music
32 Stockhausen, 'Music an
33 Stockhausen himself i
programme, had been 'of
1945. And yet Stockhause
that's my way.' Stockhau
Maconie (London, 1989),
THE SONG UNSUNG 91
readers and listeners! B

in German, and has live
German culture had

ance on negative diale
in the name Auschw
impossibility of repr
it. The topic is alrea
lished only in 19 51:
All the worlds not a sta

impossibility of repre
Fascism is not due to la
writer's most urgent ta
fact that in it, as in its
dom can be recognized,
icalnarratives today, as
of impotent reassurance
The much-debated dic

question by the autho
has asto much right
have been wrong to s
Adorno here clearly m
and Society' and add
Hitler upon unfree
Auschwitz will not re
this concession, writt
lished just after the p
lung (for which Non
that addressed the t
function in society.
modernist belief in t
tics, however, was c
3 Thomas Mann, 'Die Lag

Throughout the 1940s
against the Nazi regime.
mitted by phone to Lon
under the title 'Deutsche
on German listeners was
Raymond Rosenthal (Lon
Theodor Adorno, Minim
(London, 1974), 143-5. N
Renato Solmi (Turin, 19
3 Adorno, Negative Diale
37 Ibid., 365.
92 CAROLA NIELINGER
Nono. As is evident fro

outright to align with
letter of support in the
Medusa in 1968, Adorno
having heard that such
Such were the politi
Metzger's defence of i
the New Music' not on
composition of the sor
serve only to justify Ad
Metzger is forced to c
works, but
Partisans in the struggle against reactionary oppression can no longer write one last line
to their mother before being executed without becoming the subject of a masterpiece by
one of the composers who specialize in these matters. The war in Algeria had not even
ended by the time Nono had prepared himself to process in music the screams of those
who were tortured there, with the usual 12 notes, in order to present them at the next
important festival to the applause of a delighted bourgeoisie. Of all the well-known com?
posers of his generation, however, the author of Intolleranza 1960 resists musical progress
with the greatest intolerance - a serial Pfitzner.39
In marked contrast, Massimo Mila argued that precisely because 7/ canto sospeso
stems from the context of Adorno's 'The Aging ofthe New Music' and success-
fully denies the philosopher's historical pessimism, its significance 'surpasses the
usual satisfaction with an accomplished work of art'. ? Well aware ofthe political
implications of Adorno's polemic, Mila openly defends Nono against Metzger,
but also specifically homes in on the Italian context:
Another criterion for testing the idiomatic authenticity of II canto sospeso is the nausea
produced by the voluntary celebratory pieces with which musicians take advantage ofthe
moral values ofthe Resistenza for their tired local communities. In II canto sospeso there is
nothing of that cheap sentimental blackmail which has prompted surviving partisans
more than once to paraphrase Lecomte de Lisle: 'It is forbidden to lay music on the
tombs of our dead.' On the contrary, the most rewarding praise one can possibly write
for II canto sospeso is that the music is worthy of its texts and that, within its own sphere,
it manages to recreate the dramatic moral depth of the letters of the Resistance fighters
38 Hans Werner Henze, Bohemian Fifths, trans. Stewart Spencer (London, 1998), 244. 'Saluto a
Henze', the letter Nono wrote in support of Henze, is included in Scritti, i, 254-5.
39 Heinz-Klaus Metzger, 'Das Altern der jiingsten Musik' (1962), Musik wozu: Literatur zu Noten
(Frankfurt am Main, 1980), 113-28 (pp. 120-1).
40 Mila, 'La linea Nono', 300-1.
Mila {ibid., 310) quotes a similarly scathing passage from Metzger, 'Ecksteine neuer Musik',
Magnum, 30 (1960). In this passage Metzger accuses Nono of'having succumbed to the slogans
of the Prague Manifesto' with 'a return to tonality, speaking choruses, arioso opera cliches,
popular dance rhythms and Gregorian chant' in his Lorca trilogy.
THE SONG UNSUNG 93
condemned to death - of
most decisive of proofs.
The difference betw

not be clearer. Since 1
cultural life, not only
ing Maderna and Non
into contact with the a
ing from army servic
region of Verona in F
fight, but he and his
stamps for counterfe
reflected in music. So
music for a radio doc
17 November 1946.
Manzoni (b. 1932) also
use letters by resistanc
gionia (1938-41) and
Fellegara (b. 1927) chos
the Italian resistance
Quattro lettere (1953) f
Lettere di condannati a
and orchestra. Like //
cifically for perform
ment is found in a lett
The letters on the Resist

resolved the problem by
Resistenza; the second a
business letter (from wh
age a small business . . .
2 Mila, 'La linea Nono', 311

3 This information was ki
law was an important comm
Angela Ida De Benedictis
radiofonica: Storia efunzion
Romito, 'I commenti mus
musicale italiana, 36 (2002
Joachim Noller, Engagem
musikkritischen Zusammen
Other works by Fellegara
and adopted serialist pract
These include Epigrafeper
major works that set text
and two chamber works o
94 CAROLA NIELINGER
correspondence. I am ent
ful Cantata Krakaka. 7
The choice and juxtap

Resistenza is clearly as
parties in Italy, the co
struggle (1943-5) in w
became the great appea
the party in the imme
Communism, it seemed,
liberated the nation from
hour and the making of
Fascism (hence the virtua
the Soviet Union). It was
Gramsci's prison lette

late 1940s and indeed
particular, appealed to
PCI. The concept emp
cultural front and to s
whereupon the so-called
hegemony essentially
than by means of viole
alternative to the Stali
success story of the
munist parties. The
1956, while the PCI,
gained more than 22%
ing those 'hard years'
was the Christian Dem
which any alliance of
receive two thirds of
Socialists immediately
saw in it a dangerous p
47 Maderna, letter to Non

sources are published in
Briefe (1953)', Rivista ital
Maderna: Etude historique
Kranichsteiner Kammerkan
8 Shore, Italian Communism
49 Nono's library contains
prison letters and notebo
annotated.
Shore, Italian Communism
THE SONG UNSUNG 95
the fascists in powe

50% mark by a fract
a year later. With t
Italian neo-fascists m
It is against this poli
ued importance ofth
and Nono's commitm
reply to a questionn
glorious banner ofth
ment of a 'new cons
and are being murder
music, Nono went o
In post-war Italy music

elsewhere. The urgency
the search for adequate
Ideological commitme
Maderna, the head of
composed chamber ca a
in Italy) is marked by
tent and the novel proj
us around Maderna at
technical.5
Such total engagement governed the choice not only of text but also of the
musical material itself. As Verzina has shown, Maderna's Quattro lettere is based
on one of the most famous songs of the Resistenza: Fischia il vento (The Wind
Whistles). This choice of material was again far from exceptional: both Nono
and Manzoni used political songs for a number of compositions in the 1950s.
The middle movement of Nono's first Epitaffio a Federico Garcia Lorca (1952),
for example, makes use of rhythmic material from the communist 'hymn'
Bandiera rossa, which was sung by the partisans as well as the International
51 On the 'legge truffa' and Mussolini's Acerbo law see Paul Ginsborg, A History of Contemporary
Italy (New York, 2003), H2-3-
52 Ibid., 143-5.
Nono, 'Musica e Resistenza', questionnaire set by Luigi Pestalozza, Rinascita, 20/34 (7 December
1963), Scritti, ed. De Benedictis and Rizzardi, i, 144-7 (p. 144).
54 Ibid, 145.
Verzina, 'Tecnica della mutazione', 319?45. The song Fischia il vento uses the melody of the
Soviet song Katyusha (text: Michail Isakovsky, music: M. Blanter, 1939), probably known to
Italian soldiers since their retreat from Russia in the winter of 1942. The Italian version, of
which there are many variations, was written by Felice Cascione, a partisan commander whose
brigade fought in the region of Imperia. The song was widely known and sung by almost every
brigade. See Canti della Resistenza italiana, ed. Giorgio Solza and Mario de Michelis (Avanti,
1960), 163 (ALN), and Philip Cooke, 'The Resistance Movement: 1943-1945', The Italian
Resistance: An Anthology, ed. Cooke (Manchester, 1997), 3-17 (p. 9).
96 CAROLA NIELINGER
Brigades during the Spani

from the Spanish Civil War,
(1954). Manzoni's Cinque V
use of popular song: five pr
Vicaria in Palermo.38
While the choice of such so
realist' trend that dominate
war, the way it came to b
Italy, was by no means irr
and Maderna to join the P
Italian communists, includin
avoid the term formalism a
declared:
Under the conviction that the

declare ourselves Formalists a
progressive elements of our so
and should not fall victim to t
recent experiences in the visua
Nono himself later mention
Bruno and I joined the Comm

realism was in full swing. In
L'unita who were against dod
'imperialist', etc, all these stu
Schoenberg, followed Varese in
'that is your own affair, we do
on the autonomy of confronti
5 On the use of Bandiera rossa

replaces, see Borio, 'Tempo e rit
Mamita mia was written by Ern
fun of four fascist generals. The
Italian Resistenza and the anti-f
post-war composers see Luigi P
dopoguerra', Federico Garcia Lo
1990), 12-23.
On Manzoni's Cinque Vicariote and the influence of 7/ canto sospeso on this work see Noller,
Engagement und Form, 95-105.
Togliatti contributed to the debate under the pseudonym Roderigo di Castiglia and published
various statements in support of Italian neo-realism in Rinascita.
Manifesto published in the art journai Forma I (15 March 1947), signed by the artists Dorazio,
Perilli, Accardi, Attardi, Consagra, Guerrini, Sanfilippo and Turcato. Cited in Nicoletta
Misler, La via italiana al realismo: La politica culturale artistica del P. Cl. dal 1944 al 1956
(Milan, 1976), 39.
1 Nono, 'Intervista di Philippe Albera' (1987), Scritti, ii, 415-29 (p. 417).
THE SONG UNSUNG 97
For music, this mea

could be treated in
such a degree that it
function. Materials
ognition. In Nono's w
de Guernica, where
Internationale are c
victoire de Guernica
movement, Herman
ofthe young Nono. W
and speaking chorus
cially in Darmstadt.
Don't sell yourself in

Guernica . . . You have
Composizioneper orches
genuine composer, the
ion that you are . . . Sc
he is wrong to say tha
not be, men ofthe str
but all those like us . .
responsibility, someone
in objective but modes
1952 is one ofthe most
Perhaps it was this

Stockhausen's earlier
time between 1952
wrote his first strict
the all-interval seri
pieces up to Composiz
A Bl> Al? B G C F| C
materials of previous
remains of melodie or motivic characteristics are eliminated. Similar to the
62 ALN 08.03, fol. iov.

63 Maderna, letter to Nono, 11 March 1955 (ALN).
Nono later admitted: 'After all, at a certain point in time La victoire de Guernica represented a
flirtation' and 'a reaction against all that happened in Darmstadt: more and more repetitive
and sterile formulas, supreme exaltation of unifying "rationality"'. Nono, 'Un'autobiografia',
514.
65 In a letter of 9 May 1953 Stockhausen criticized Nono heavily for lack of attention to the serial
organization of dynamics and duration, but also to the 'significance of register proportions'.
The correspondence between Nono and Stockhausen is discussed in Veniero Rizzardi,
'Karlheinz Stockhausen e Luigi Nono: Teoria e invenzione musicale 1952-1959', Diastema, 3/7
(1994), 37-40.
98 CAROLA NIELINGER
series of Stockhausen's Kla

built of two chromatic hexa
opening pitch here also guar
schematic all-interval ser
II canto sospeso, among whic
the so-called 'tecnica degli
but better translated, perha
only in the first ofthe thre
nos. 8-9), where it is used f
erates the pitch structure o
Borio and Veniero Rizzard
sketches for Maderna's Im
orchestra (19 51). Its use in
Borio and Motz only in 199
undAusdruck. Motz subsequ
ment, while Borio explained
sion of this technique I w
movement, which has not y
The 'tecnica degli spostam
fascination with 'magic sq
versation with Restagno: 'Al
Maderna reduced his materi
relationships and combina
squares".'70 Magic squares
ence. Early in 1953 Madern
invented by Scherchen but
humanity and new commun
Nono briefly analysed this piec

seriale' (1956), Scritti, i, 9-14 (p
also found in Nono's copy ofth
The series is classified as the 'bas
Lehrbuch der Zwolftontechnik
not in very clear terms, in 'Sullo
nature of this row see De Ben
Konstruktion undAusdruck, 22?8
8 See Borio, 'Sull'interazione tra
"Nuova Scuola Veneziana" 1948-1
Rizzardi, 1-59. In his research o
excellent analysis of Maderna's u
flexibler Materialbegriff: Eine An
9/33 (2005), 30-47.
Wolfgang Motz, 'Konstruktive S
sospeso'; Borio, 'Sull'interazione
70 Nono, 'Un'autobiografia', 50
Franz Kafka di Bruno Maderna'
71 Maderna, letter to Nono, Rome
THE SONG UNSUNG 99
letter reveals: 'I found

The technique, which
19 51, uses the numbe
for a fixed number o
Nono's works to incor
the last three pitches
the politically sugg
movement ofthe Epi
two layers: one of fo
Sketches show that th
to this technique, ag
then applied to a 12-n
Fibonacci series. While
squares which govern t
ments 1 and 4 make
the numbers 1-12, the
sequence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
every fifth number.
from the sequence oft
2468 10 12 13579 11
returning to the begin
mutation, the series o
A-C. The pitch struc
Example 1, a transcr
sospeso. Each number
the pitch it applies to
tance between a pitc
tanzreihe, 'tone distan
the series has run thr
after five pitches, tog
then again after 10,
pitch follows the sam
72 Maderna, letter to Non

As mentioned by Rizzard
underlie the Monodia of N
rate the actual method of
orchestra n. 1 (1951-2). Fo
7 See Pascal Decroupet, 'No
Borio and Hermann Danu
posizioni seriali', 74, jj.
See Borio, 'Tempo e ritm
7 The original sketch and t
kompositorische Freiheit
the end of the article.
77 Ibid, 55.
100 CAROLA NIELINGER
TABLE i
IL CANTO SOSPESO: 'MAGIC SQUARE' USED TO GENERATE PITCH

STRUCTURE OF MOVEMENTS i AND 4
A 510 3816 11 4927 12

Bl> IO 8 6 4 2 12 5 3 I II 9 7
Al? 8 4 12 3 11 7 10 6 2 5 19
B 4376598 12 11 10 21
G 369121014758112
C 6 12 178239 10 45 11
F| 12 7 2 9 4 ii 6 1 8 3 10 5
C| 7 9 11 1 3 5 12 2 4 6 8 10
F 91 526 10 7 11 3 12 48
D 12 10 11 12 8956734
E 2 11 85741 10 12 963
El> ii 5 4 10 9 3 2 8 7 1 12 6
each series contains the same numbers 1-12 (adding up to 78), the a
series returns in its original form when the square has run full circle an
has occurred 13 times. As shown in Example 1, the result of this particu
square is a structure of SVi X 12 elements containing 0?5 pitches.
pitch occurs at equal measure, the pitch combinations are continuously
How this translates into composition is most clearly seen in mov
where the above pitch structure runs through as written. Like no.
purely instrumental. It ends the first part of the work and, with its v
of percussion (including vibraphone, xylophone, marimba, tubular
various untuned percussion), echoes the last words of no. 3: 'Your
ing, he will not hear the freedom bells.' In stark contrast to no. 1, wh
much of its expressiveness through the use of extreme registers,
oppressive confinement is here created by means of strict adherence t
middle register (e-d>")7s Quite unusually for Nono, the speed (J
remains fixed. Tempo change is achieved not by means of speed cha
alteration of duration value. Each of the 8V2 systems of the pitch stru
Example 1) is assigned one of four duration values (crotchet divided by
and each pitch element is assigned one of 12 duration factors. In order t
7 With the exception ofthe double basses, sounding an octave lower. The expressive
ter is one ofthe most fascinating aspects oi II canto sospeso. As Motz states at the en
lysis ofthe first movement: 'It almost seems as if the extremely high and delicate
strings attempt to go beyond the boundaries of musical space, like blades of gra
through tar. The conscious use of high registers for a utopia that is in contrast with dis
pervades the whole of 77 canto sospeso and becomes a hallmark of Nono's music rig
last compositions.' Motz, Konstruktion undAusdruck, 43.
THE SONG UNSUNG IOI
TABLE 2
IL CANTO SOSPESO, NO. 4: DISTRIBUTION OF DURATION VALUES,

DURATION FACTORS AND DYNAMICS
section bars value duration factors dynamics
I 240-6 3 11219712 634810 5 PPp-p

II 246-51 4 511219712 634810 p-mf
III 252-6 5 4810 511219712 63 mP~jff
IV 257-6 7 10 511219712 6348 mf~jff
V 260-3 7 9712 634810 51121 /jgf
VI 264-8 5 34810 511219712 6 mP~jff
VII 269-74 4 219712 634810 511 />-m/
VIII 275-81 3 810 511219712 634 ppp-mp
Coda 281-4 3 712 6 3 4 8 PPP~P
the duration factors, Nono reads his number

columns).79 The result is a clear division int
duration values accelerating in sections I-I
The resulting arch form is accentuated furth
Dynamics increase and decrease with the acc
and from section V the flutter-tongue sonor
In terms of duration and dynamics the mov
The beginning of the movement (bars 24
duration factors in Example 2. As regards in
in two. Wind, brass and percussion render
the most pointillistic fashion, with each pitch
according to the assigned durations. As m
ous change of instrumental colour, the ins
serialized, as shown in Table 3. l The seria
concordant with the pitch structure in Ex
tions ofthe original all-interval series (13 X
ferent rotation of his original series of inst
elements ofthe pitch structure that happen
untuned percussion (the first time this occur
79 This was brought to my attention by Angela Ida

80 The fact that Nono later condemned the term 'poi
German aesthetes' which is 'passively taken up by m
and studying music' should not prevent the use of t
all, in terms of serial organization // canto sospeso
move on to group composition later. See Nono, 'U
331-5 (P- 333).
81 This has been pointed out to me by Angela Ida De
to publish this table.
TABLE 3
IL CANTO SOSPESO, NO. 4: SERIALIZATION OF INSTRUMENTAL

COLOURS FOR WIND AND PERCUSSION
A Al B c Pk a D A
element of section II, with duration factor 8, is rendered by the 'alto' cymbal).
The result is a continuously mutating band of sound. The clear formal divisions
of this layer are then deliberately blurred by means of the strings. Their func?
tion is to double each pitch, hold it until the end of its next occurrence, pause,
then sustain the pitch again from its next entry, and so on (see Example 2). The
effect is highly textural and is accentuated by the use of dynamics. Wind, brass
and percussion are assigned even dynamics throughout. In this layer single
blocks of colour mark out the proportions of the duration factor series. In con?
trast, the sustained string sounds are marked crescendo and decrescendo and, on a
much larger scale, translate into sound (and silence) the proportions of the
number square that generates the pitch structure. Overall the music articulates a
gesture of resignation, but it is the subtlety of the interacting layers that creates
the extreme expressiveness of this movement.
Compositional layers of a much more complex nature interact in the third
movement. Three texts are set in this movement for soprano, alto, tenor and
orchestra:
. . . mi portano a Kessariani [per l'esecuzione] insieme ad altri sette. [Muoio per la liberta
e per la patria ...](... They are taking me to Kessariani [for execution], together with
seven others. [I am dying for freedom and for my homeland . . .]; sopr.)
82 Heinz Joachim describes the mood as follows: 'With its floating flageolet sounds and subtle
dots of colour, this movement almost conjures up a vision of cosmic rapture ("Entriickung").
Nono here achieves a purification of expression which artistically enhances the sinister image.'
Heinz Joachim, 'Luigi Nono: II canto sospeso', Neue Zeitschrift fiir Musik (1957), 103, cited in
Motz, Konstruktion andAusdruck, 72.
THE SONG UNSUNG 103
. . . oggi ci fucilerann
(.. . Today they will shoo
. . . m'impiccheranno [n
le campane della liber
patriot. Your son is leavi
The texts are merged
Mi portano a Kessarian
insieme ad altri
sette (so
(alto). Tuo figlio se ne v
According to Nono him

ations have in comm
parts with an instrum
158-76), Part I (bars 17
ists and additional st
tenor's final phrase, a
a compositional layer.
Layer 1 (ten.): c?c",

Layer 2 (alto): f?f"> c
Layer 3 (sopr.): c?c"1
All three layers are ge

using the all-interva
duration (semiquaver).
for pitch generation
layer 1 (tenor) and lay
uses only four numb
are shown in Table 4
mic and the method
position 12. The resul
of the different tota
different length. Wit
the longest. Layer 2
structure of layer
Duration factors are
the first series of dur
pitch A. The method
generation in movem
number). When applie
sequence is again palin
Nono, 'Testo-musica-cant
TABLE 4
IL CANTO SOSPESO, NO. 3: NUMBER SQUARES FOR GENERATION OF

STRUCTURES OF TENOR, ALTO AND SOPRANO LAYERS
THE SONG UNSUNG 105
TABLE 4 contin
shows the duration fac

in bold typeface). The
up to 64 ((2 X 1) + (2
60 ((2 X 1) + (2 X 3) + (
40 ((4 X1) + (4 X 3) + (2
value ofa semiquaver, t
and 20 quavers, all str
imented with the com
in schematic form in
different lengths inte
quavers; rests are mark
guarantees a multitud
duration value and ju
whole units of durat
thus take on a unifyin
example, the first elem
with the third elemen
on duration factor 3.
series of layer 1 (ten.)
second series of layer
Example 4 shows the
notated in this way,
84 Sketches 14.05/01, ALN.
TABLE 5
IL CANTO SOSPESO, NO. 3: DURATION FACTORS FOR TENOR, ALTO AND SOPRANO LAYERS
(repeated from line 2)
(all spaces in the pitch structures are realized as rests in this movement). Also
apparent from this example is the gradual displacement of the pitches of the all-
interval series in widespread registers. The speed is steady (J> = c.152), and the
mood is quietly contained with dynamics ranging between ppp and mf. The
musical fabric is driven primarily by the short values (duration factor 1), which
effectively punctuate the various pitch progressions, especially in the high regis?
ters. Real focus is given to the movement when the voices enter together with
the strings in Part I (bar 177). Details ofthe instrumentation and the mostly
syllabic text distribution are summarized for each layer in Table 6. The layers,
listed separately here, merge and overlap as shown in Figure 1. Most interesting
in Part I is the use ofthe sonority ofthe strings as an added compositional device,
against the grain ofthe underlying serial principles. As so often in Nono's work,
compositional freedom of this kind is symbolically linked to content. The
85 Veiy occasionally, a pitch is also replaced by a rest, e.g. at the beginning of layer 1 (ten.) in Part I
(bar 180).
THE SONG UNSUNG IO7
PRELUDE: wind (bar
PART I: soloists, strings, wind (bars 177-219)
S [ 40 140 [40 1 16 [40 (40) [fK)_| (40)

mi portano insieme ad
a Kessariani altri sette
A (56) [_50_|_60_|_50_\s0_|
oggi ci fucileranno moriamo da patria
uomini per la
T (27) |_64_|_64_|_64_| (77)

m'impiccheranno perche sono patriota
PART II: soloists and wind (bars 219-39)
S (35) [_40_[40_| 16 1 (14)

non sentira
A (26) [9_| (17) J_51_| (42)

se ne va le campane
T [26_| (54) I 31 I 34_|

tuo figlio della liberta
Figure 1. II canto sospeso, no. 3: overlap of tenor,

Numbers indicate the duration ofthe sections in sem
strings are coupled with the voices throughout this sec

of all three compositional layers. With all three voi
each leading part are doubled by at least one other s
86 Nono marks in the sketches: 'chi canta con archi - [?] altri fiat
all others wind') and 'dove canta armonie con archi - dove no
song, harmonies with strings - where there isn't, only wind'). A
I08 CAROLA NIELINGER
TABLE 6
IL CANTO SOSPESO, NO. 3: DETAILS OF TEXT DISTRIBUTION AND

INSTRUMENTATION FOR EACH COMPOSITIONAL LAYER
TENOR
bars text and instrument

Prelude
Ti 37M79975I73 158-66 ob., bsn, tbn.
T2 7597I33I7957 167-76
PartI
T3 J73I9779I357 181-9 M'im-pic-cher-an-no {+
T4 7I79355397I7 189-99 per-che
T5 I9537777359I 199-208 So-no pa-tri-o-ta
Part II
T6 9 3 7 7 219-22 Tu-ofi-glio (voices only)
5 11 5 7 7 3 9 230-5 del-la li-ber - th (voices, ob.)
T7 37I579975I73 235-8 ob., tbn., fl. 2, fl. 2/hrn i, fl. 4/hrn 2/
tbn. 1, trp. 4/tbn. 4, hrn 3/trp. 2/
tbn. 3, tbn. 2, fl. 3, trp. 3, trp. 5
T8 7597 238-9 merged with layer of Soprano
ALTO
Prelude
Ai 53I957759I35 158-66 cl., b. cl., hrn
A2 397î55M793 166-75
PartI
A3 9 5 5 1 7 3 3 7 1 5 5 9 185-93 og-gi ci fu-ci-le-ran-no (+ A, S, via, vln)
A4 5U7599573I5 193-201 cl., b. cl., hrn
A5 I7953553597I 202-10 mo-ria~mo da uo-mi-ni per la
(A, S, via only)
A6 75539H93557 210-19 pa-tria (A, S, T, vla,y?., trp.)
Part II
A7 5 3i 223-4 se ne va (A, S only)
.9 577 59 13 5 226-33 le cam-pa-ne (A, T, cl., hrn)
SOPRANO
Prelude
Si 1 7 1 3 5 3 3 5 3 1 7 1 158-65 fl., trp.
Si 7 3 3 51111 5 3 3 7 165-70
PartI
53 3 5 11 3 7 7 3 1 1 5 3 177-82 Mipor-ta-no a Kes-sa-ria-nl {+ voices,
vln)
54 5 1 7 3 1 3 3 1 3 7 1 5 182-8 fl., trp.
55 1 3 3 1 7 5 5 7 1 3 3 1 188-93 in-sie-me ad al-tri (+ S, A, vln)
56 315 7 194-6 set-te (S, vln only)
THE SONG UNSUNG IO9
TABLE 6 continued
Sib 733511115337 196-201 fl., trp., vln, thn., cl.

S2b 351137731153 207-13 fl., trp.
Part II
83b 517313313715 224-9 non sen-ti-ra (S, A, fl., trp.)
S4b 13 3175 5713 31 229-35 fl., trp.
S5b 315731137513 235-8 fl., trp., vln I.i/vla 5, vln II.2/vla i/vla 4,
vln I.2/vln 11.3/vla 3, vln ILi/vla 2/d.b. 2,
vlc. 3/d.b. 3, vln 1.3/d.b. 1, vln II
S6b 1713 238-9 vlc. 1 + 2, vla 1-3/hrn, d.b. 2, vln I
establishes itself as foreground over the strictly serial layers in the backgro
With a choice of pitches and durations from all three layers, soloists and str
thus merge together in their expression of hope for a better, i.e. non-totalita
society. Significantly, the warm string sonority is eerily absent again in the
more sinister Part II. This part is markedly louder; the joint fate of all
Greek resistance fighters is rendered by all three soloists in rhythmic unison
palindromic units of duration are split apart before coming together again,
the movement ends with an effective compression of all remaining pitc
gesture of utmost violence marked by flutter-tonguing in wind and brass.
The 'tecnica degli spostamenti' is employed with much greater composi
freedom in movement 1. Here the pitch structure does not run through as
erated by the number square, but serves merely as a reservoir from which
constellations are formed. The pitch structure is the same as that of m
ment 4 (see Example 1), but is read through three times, ending with th
enth element of the eighth series. The square of the duration fact
identical with that ofthe pitch structure: 5 10 3 8 1 6 n 4 9 2 7 12, permuta
4 6 8 10 12 1 3 5 7 9 11. A brief look at the beginning ofthe movement dem
strates the method of composition. The first of 13 sections (bars 1-4) for w
and timpani uses the first ten pitches (as far as the F of the ninth element
first series) and five duration values (crotchet divided by 2, 3, 4, 5, 7). Each
is multiplied with the first two duration factors, 5 and 10. Table 7 lists
instrumentation and values. However, as is evident from the annotated
(see Example 5), the order of the pitches does not coincide with that of
underlying pitch structure (see Example 1). As Motz has shown, their en
governed by another superimposed system of duration which regulates the
of rests. Rests are placed in front of each pitch and follow an independent s
tem of permutation.8 The duration factors ofthe rests are marked in paren
ses in Table 7 as well as in Example 5. The first pitch to enter, therefore, is
(G), and the last to sound in this section is no. 6 (C). Nono himself desc
this procedure as working with 'positive and negative':
87 See Motz, 'Konstruktive Strenge und kompositorische Freiheit im ersten Satz de

sospeso', 56.
88 This is explained in more detail ibid., 56-63.
CAROLA NIELINGER
TABLE 7
IL CANTO SOSPESO, NO. i: PITCH DISTRIBUTION FOR DURATION

FACTORS 5 AND 10 (BARS 1-5)
Note: Pitches are displaced by rests (duration factors marked in brackets).
bars 1-2 bars 3-4 ($)
Positive was the duration, negative was t

play with the displacement of the value
would mess up the mechanics ofthe serial
out how systematic elements could be tot
The following section, too, seems far

a ppp G major triad slowly descend
compositional method is rigorously
structure (ninth and tenth element
plied by the next duration factors: 3,
larly evident here. The blatantly tona
concealed in combination with other
was first intended), is used for max
block of structural importance fo
strings that marks this movement
in blocks to emphasize formal divisio
89 Nono, 'Un'autobiografia', 510. The tech

Stockhausen, too, spoke of the independen
that the idea goes back to Boulez. While c
Goeyvaerts: 'Very useful to me was somet
and "negative" rhythmic values, i.e. soundi
ning ofthe work I am telling you about [Schlag
are identical - they are therefore only to be
is a gradual displacement of the two princip
tive" absorbs the "positive", moving back to
sounding structure, rests and sounding valu
identity - obviously.' Stockhausen, lette
Decroupet, 'Developpements et ramificat
musicales de Pierre Boulez, Henri Pousseur
dissertation, University ofTours, 1994), 59.
90 For further details on composition and f
torische Freiheit im ersten Satz des Canto so
THE SONG UNSUNG III
Between the th
spostamenti' fa
is in two parts.
the second is a
from the Fibona
set of factors as
mic and permuta
5321 with the
factors are appli
parts (crotchet
band of sound, m
nations of pitc
effectively punc
text. It is on th
register and tex
ning wide inter
melodie fragme
organization, b
composition.93
movement. Wh
quintuplet, for
and malleability
ofa 'suono mobile .
With the reprise of the word 'muoio' ('I am dying') in bar 142 begins the
concluding prolation canon, in which the pitches of the all-interval series are
run through another four times. Duration factors are now reversed, moving
from the largest to the smallest and back: 13853211235813. The factors are
also no longer linked to the series, but to the layers of duration (see Example 6).
The text is also layered: 'Muoio per la giustizia' ('I am dying for justice') is
assigned to the quaver and triplet layers, 'Le nostre idee vinceranno' ('Our ideas
91 For duration factor and pitch distribution see Motz, Konstruktion und Ausdruck, Example 19,
p. 45, and De Benedictis, 'II rapporto testo musica nelle opere vocali di Luigi Nono', 235-7.
92 Bailey's term: 'Work in Progress', 289.
93 The most detailed analysis of Nono's use of text in this movement is that by De Benedictis, 'II
rapporto testo musica nelle opere vocali di Luigi Nono', 235-47.
94 On the serial organization of dynamics see Motz, Konstruktion und Ausdruck, 47-50, and De
Benedictis, 'II rapporto testo musica nelle opere vocali di Luigi Nono', 238. With the emphasis
on quiet dynamics, the series contains six simple and six compound dynamics ippp, p, mp, mf,
f, ppp I ppp?fi f-pppy ppp-mf, mf-ppp, p?f, f-p). The series is employed in order to guarantee
equal distribution of dynamics for each pitch. Some repetition is inevitable, however, as each
pitch occurs not 12 but 15 times in this part. The dynamic organization does not apply to Part
II of this movement.
95 One reason, perhaps, why Nono eventually decided not to change the dynamics in this move?
ment. That a revision was intended has been remarked by Motz, Konstruktion und Ausdruck,
47, note 61.
will triumph') t
this concluding
the two most es
had to admit that
In terms of tech
linked to the las
timpani. This mir
work. The forma
many ways the la
through the ser
canon. All the te
canon has no tex
chosen to effec
means of prime n
zation is underli
timpani. These si
as they almost in
they have been r
not to forget'.97
employed in th
intended to use t
different selectio
set for chorus. T
(see Table 8). The
the largest num
repeated in the s
the permutation
48576. The origi
tion. The factors
4, 5. The music
instead, the value
rus divided into 4
fluctuations of
Another definin
Stockhausen, 'Music
Motz, Konstruktion
98 The sketch is pub
The original texts,
will no longer be'; so
for life'; alto), and 'v
life for you'; ten.).
100 Density
text and
dictis, 'Gruppo, line
can also be seen in t
THE SONG UNSUNG 113
TABLE 8
IL CANTO SOSPESO, NO. 9: DURATION FACTOR SERIES
the syllables of the text meander through all parts, and are bundled up into
dense chromatic blocks of sound which break off simultaneously, mostly to
mark the end of a phrase or word unit. It is for this reason that throughout this
first part the pitches of the all-interval series are consistently read backwards.
The various strains of sound continuously merge into chromatic clusters of var-
ying density around the central pitch, A. The series of duration factors, too, are
initially read backwards. Nono begins with the retrogrades of rows 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,
but then continues with the original rows 10, 9, 8 . . . i.101
Dynamics, too, are organized serially, with a choice of two dynamics per
duration factor. The chart of dynamics which survives in the sketches reads as
shown in Table 9. Again, the choice of dynamics displays a tendency towards
quiet values. The method of rotation is also familiar. The pitches, however, are
arranged chromatically, not in the order of the series. Table 10 lists the dura?
tions and selected dynamic values for the opening two phrases. How the pitch
and duration structure evolves from back to front can be seen in the annotated
score (see Example 7). As regards the derivation of dynamics, it becomes clear that
they, too, are read backwards: the order of all compound dynamics is reversed.
This is also true for the phrases in which duration factors are no longer read
backwards. The final run ofthe series in this part, for example, is coupled with the
first line of the duration factor square. Notably, the system here allows for an
extreme reduction of dynamics, giving Nono the freedom to interpret his text.
Only three different values come into play in this section (see Table 11).
101 Sketches show that the idea of reading the pitch and duration factor series backwards was a
later one. A first draft (ALN 14.11/01) combines runs of the original series with the duration
factor series as written, beginning at the top ofthe square (line 1). Nono here makes use ofthe
fact that the last number of each duration factor series is the same as the first of the next: the
final Et> and initial A are merged and consistently given the same duration. The draft breaks
off with the comment 'proiezioni armoniche come?' ('harmonic projection how?'), but was
later used, virtually unchanged, in reverse, for the end of Part I.
102 This is the retrograde ofthe first run ofthe series in the first draft, ALN 14.11/01.
H i- ?;?, &V_ ?;Y <k^ i
t: ^ t- Y g-V
^ w V c_V ?^ ?^ <^
CQ
? V ^ V ?_ ^ ^
? ? V ?> ?: f< t-
*V ?:< ?-r X, r ?^ t: <-, r
Y ^V & ?. f,
Y ?_^ ^ ^ i*-
Y ?:V t: s. f.
^ f-V. Ûi^
cr\
Y ?^ f: f- f
S; t; ?v, rr^ ^< s-; r ?, r
THE SONG UNSUNG II5
TABLE 10
IL CANTO SOSPESO, NO. 9: DURATIONS AND CHOICE OF DYNAMICS FOR OPENING

TWO PHRASES, READ FROM BACK (SEE EXAMPLE 7).
'Non ho paura della morte' (bars 550-4$) 'Sarb calmo' (bars 555-50)
pitch duration dynamic duration dynamic
IL CANTO SOSPESO, NO. 9: LAST PHRASE OF PART I, READ FROM BACK
'(-ta) miglioreper voi' (bars 594?89)
A 1 (x 3) ppp
Bt 13 (x 4) f-ppp
Kl 3 (x 3) ppp
B 11 (x 3) f-ppp
G 5 (x 3) ppp
C 4 (x 3) f-ppp
Fft 13 (X 4) mp
Cit 1 (X 3) mp
F 11 (x 5) mp
D 3 (X 4) mp
E 7 (x 4) mp
El 5 (x 3) mp
The following prolation can

series is run through another
the duration factors are ord
back (13 11 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 1
duration within which ther
reads as shown in Table 12. D
The increasing and decreasi
Il6 CAROLA NIELINGER
TABLE 12
IL CANTO SOSPESO, NO. 9: CONCLUDING PROLATION CANON, TRIPLET LAYER
with a breath-like contraction and expansion of values. In addition, the

extremely slow speed, the final rallentando molto and the surreal bocca chiusa
sonority work together to make this a truly serene, almost other-worldly, ending.
A heightened concern for density as a structural device is also present in
movement 8. In terms of sound, this movement is one of the harshest. Like
movement i, it is purely instrumental, but scored for wind and timpani only.
Brass predominates, and its association with the military fanfare is alluded to by
the occasional use of note repetition. As in the final chorus, agglomerations of
sound build up, break off and dissolve. With the harsher instrumental sonori-
ties, however, the effect is completely different. In Nono's own words this
movement is 'a laceration of thought, music, and feeling which I feel is very
close to Varese'. Nono attended Varese's composition class at Darmstadt in
1950. After the premiere of Nono's Variazioni canoniche, Varese asked to see the
score of the work and analysed it thoroughly. Nono was clearly impressed:
'Instead of giving me his opinion, he confronted me with problems. He made me
understand the problems of this score by showing me what I had done, some?
times unknowingly.' Nono then began to study Varese and later commented
on the significance of his influence:
The lessons I learned from Varese, which I regard as fundamental, were completely
ignored until a few years ago because I was schematically aligned with the heritage of
either Schoenberg or Webern. In 7/ canto sospeso there is a section for solo wind and per?
cussion in which I think the influence of Varese is very strong. And this has been a lasting
influence: to this day I continue to study his scores, in which I find unique and, to me,
very interesting relationships with Scriabin and Schoenberg. The famous interval con-
stellation of fifth and tritone, which Scriabin uses in his sonatas, is also a typical chord in
Schoenberg and Varese. The octaves which are present in Varese, those superimposed
octaves reminiscent of the opening of Mahler's first symphony where they determine the
musical spaces, open up possibilities which now confront me in a decisive way.
103 Nono, 'Un'autobiografia', 512.

104 Ibid, 495.
105
' Ibid., 496.
THE SONG UNSUNG 117
In no. 8 of // canto s
attention to how sound
sis on strident brass so
most resemble the wor
tion, the incessant rep
of Varese's music. It
stripped bare of all r
this movement, howev
is used untransposed
displacement apply, am
no. 1. Duration factors
6 7. The permutation
tenth application of t
11, 10 ... 1, Nono uses
the pitches of the seri
rows 9-1 as written,
structural idea is to sp
four distinct groups
The four groups are id
A 3 trumpets
B 2 trumpets, 1 tr
C 3 trombones
D 6 horns (a 2)
(Trumpets may be replaced by flutes, trombones by clarinets and bass clarinet;
timpani are added independently of group divisions.)
Nono also uses four duration values: quaver divided by 3, 4, 5 and 7. Dura?
tion values are not linked to a specific instrumental group, however. Their allo-
cation changes from section to section. Neither do they evolve in continuou
layers. Instead, Nono works with a system that regulates the density of each level o
duration. This density (or number of parts per level of duration), as also the move?
ment's large-scale structure, is derived from the following simple sums:
12
While the numeric columns indicate the number of parts for each level of dura?
tion, their total determines the number of bars for each of the movement's
12 sections. The columns are reordered to form a balanced three-part structure.
Il8 CAROLA NIELINGER
Each column is then

and duration levels
dynamic series is split
three distinct categor
I ppp, p, mpy mfi

II PPP-3 fSf~PPP> P
III Tutto!
The combination of all parameters results in the three-part

Figure 2.
The finished movement adheres to this initial plan with astonishing accu-
racy. Only the last two sections (consisting of 6 and 12 bars in the sketch shown
in Figure 2) are merged into one of 14 bars, beginning with the density of 4 X 3
(bar 531). This point of highest density is represented in Example 8. Reordering
the score according to instrumental group and level of duration shows that
Number of bars per section (totals ofthe density factors):
3 || 4 1 6 12
Density, duration value, instrumental group:
WD 25C 37D
15C 15C 33A 14B 14B 33A
15B 35B \3B 35B 13B 17 A 17 K 17 A 35B
17A 23D 14Q \7k 34C 1 7A 13D 34C 13D 17A 23D 34C
Dynamics, note repetition (*):
THE SONG UNSUNG 119
Nono here strictly adh

is the method of pitch
by factors i, 2 and 3 t
7, the horns (group D)
group A follows with
ingly: 2 qu group B by
ment of entries with
Example 8). Coupled w
duration factor series,
tion and the finely g
sense of disquiet, wh
waves of constantly m
The central and emo
second, consisting of n
for chorus and low ins
double bass, two timp
le porte s'aprono. Ecc
goga' ('. . . the doors
drive us out ofthe Syn
structural idea is a ca
the Nazis and the Jew
used as central notes, 1
the central cross-over,
ral layer moves throug
form of the series. Ne
to the chromatic total
Ek-A in the instrumen
deliberate here.107 The
While the form of no
tion of duration and
sketches. Duration fact
the beginning of the
A sketch reveals the
set shows the order fr
but appears again as ro
and 4, now obeying the
7 5 3 i.1 9 Three durat
10 Nono marks in red: 'ne

the parts displacements of
published in Motz, Konstr
107 The symbolism was fi
108 The sketch is published
109 The permutation was
Monodia?Ritmica (1951).
CAROLA NIELINGER
I (bars 319-27) II (328^4) 111(345-52) IV (352-63)
Le porte s'apronoEccoli i nostri assassini Vestiti di nero Ci cacciano dalla sinagoga
chorus: El- E,D- F, a, F# C, G, B, A^
orch.: A,BÂKB G, C, Ft EkA- - B^
J = c.66 accel. c.16 rall. c.66 accel., c.$6
Figure 3. // canto sospeso, no. 6a: text division and p
TABLE 13
IL CANTO SOSPESO, NO. 6A: DURATION FACTORS
beginning of the movement, all instruments enter together, whereas the entries
of the chorus are staggered. Sketches show that the vocal parts were also initially
conceived to begin together. The decision to stagger the entries of the chorus in
order to achieve a simultaneous phrase ending was taken only after the composi?
tion of the choral block. Hence the serial mechanics of this layer are evident only
when all parts are moved back to their original position, as is done for the first
phrase in Example 9. It is then easy to see that durations are in fact distributed in
the same fashion as in no. 2.11 Linked to the factors of duration is the organiza?
tion of dynamics. As in all movements of a more violent nature, pp is omitted in
order to include^ With the usual six simple and six compound dynamics, the
series for movement 6a thus works with maximum contrast:
2 3 5 8 12 17 17 12 8 5 3 2
fff f mf mp p ppp mf-mp mp-mf f-p p-f fff-ppp PPP-fff
110 For a fuller analysis of durations in no. 6a see Motz, Konstruktion und Ausdr
THE SONG UNSUNG 121
Using the perm

the chart of dy
not linked to th
instrumental pa
duration factor.
a musically sensi
where the dynam
are generally used
parts. Only in s
the choral layer
With no. 6b the
register becomes
pets, while high
cello are consiste
II times, after w
syllabic choral t
ofthe text led by
to a softer range
is initiated by th
addio per sempre
life which is so b
voice of the vict
ment. Chorus an
the string parts
I/sopr., vln II/a
almost instrumen
which frame the
values: crotchet
move in triplets,
the second part o
is now reversed,
8 5 3 2 2 3 5 8 1
the number squa
The idea of con
importance, tho
distribution (the
seen as interlock
ofthe movement
the series. No choral blocks can be found here. The four voices interlock with
fluctuating density (2-4 parts). This is truly 'suspended' song. Twice the move?
ment builds up to four voices, the first time highlighting the word 'addio', the
second the word 'bella'. A similar concern for density applies to the small-scale
unit. With the exception ofthe ninth run, the pitches ofthe series are distributed
III The distribution of dynamics is detailed ibid., 177.
C/_
u
r ?: ^ rr^ ^ ?< r
O
*- 83 ?; ^ rr^ ^ ^< rr
rr^ ?^ <C< rr ?; ^
^ ^ ^CC; rr ?^ ^ rK o
6
o
MHm^-o-sÔtÔOCNoMN
?H M M
THE SONG UNSUNG 123
TABLE 15
IL CANTO SOSPESO, NO. 6B: DURATION FACTORS
Note: Exceptions are printed in bold typeface.
1 17 12 8 5 3 2 2 3 5 8 12 17
2 12 8 5 3 2 2 3 5 8 12 17 17
3 8 5 3 2 2 3 5 8 12 17 17 12
4 5 3 2 2 3 5 8 12 17 17 12 8
5 3 2 2 3 5 8 12 17 17 12 8 5
6 2 2 3 5 8 12 17 17 12 8 5 3
7 2 3 5 8 12 17 16 12 8 5 3 2
8 3 5 8 12 17 17 12 8 5 3 22
9 5 8 12 17 17 12 8 5 3 2 2 3
10 8 12 17 17 12 8 5 3 2 2 3 5
11 12 17 17 12 8 5 3 2 2 3 5 3
12 17 [17 12 8 5 3 2 2 3 5 8 12]
and coupled with the duration factor series in such a way that the shor
fall together. The result is a play with energy levels creating space fo
values. With the permutation of the duration factors, the phrase
symmetric contraction and expansion (from bars 364-70) to a con
short values at the beginning (see, for example, the fifth run, ba
sempre'), symmetric expansion and contraction (run 7, bars 392-
finally, a concentration of short values at the end (still evident in ru
407-51, where the last duration factor has been changed from 8 to 3)
ment ends on a single long ppp A in the first violins. While this seri
phrase construction provides a general framework, voice and text
again operates on a higher level, creating overriding pitch relation
the movement itself (compare, for example, ?per sempre' and '
sopranos, bars 381/401-2), as well as in no. 6a. This has been show
who sees a conceptual link between the centrally positioned trito
no. 6b (vla/vln I, bars 387-9) with the pitch constellation of the
words 'eccoli i nostri assassini' (C-G-Ftt, bars 330-7) in no. 6a.112 A m
allusion to the 'assassins', of course, is the isolated entry ofthe high t
112 Also first discussed by Huber is the structural use ofthe vowels U I E O A f
addiO vitA'. Huber, 'Luigi Nono: II canto sospeso Via, b', 72-9. If Stockhausen
seek out a serialization of vowel sounds he should have looked for it here.
si
00 ?
.2
4 6
r-
1I
8
CQ
V
J-l
THE SONG UNSUNG 125
the words 'addio per

distribution of dyna
Sketches reveal the c
two dynamics per du
ther by means ofthe r
This sixth movement
the text demands a r
means are radically r
in any of the other m
of each ofthe comple
as a transition to no.
ment of the work.
mamma, tua figlia L
your daughter Liubka
is a woman. The text
vocalise ofthe femal
thus beautifully weave
bocca quasi chiusa, boc
works, the individual
becomes one of many
registers as well as th
6b emerges a single s
supporting chorus. T
flutes, harp and a ra
phone, marimba and c
three dynamics (ppp
movement: factors 2 3
with the duration va
Of these, no. 6b uses t
value (4 = ty. Finally
entry of no. 7 reitera
same dynamic on gloc
however, is shared not
two movements in wh
series with the objecti
constellations. No. 7 u
notated in Example
based on a sketch that
of this sketch contai
which it is evident th
spostamenti' for this
113 The sketch is printed i

The letters match Motz's
1 ALN 14.02.07/08 R sup/
x<0*ft?wQUU??j
8<nc?UUQwrtii.*e;<
?_&<-. S-V . <te>fr

?ft- ^ "^
^ <; <: ^ s s ^^ s s <^, ?^
<^, <5l ?-1 <^, j^Vv , ^ S^

^ ^ <^ ^ ^ R R ^^ R R <^
U
<^^?^^?^?^^ S ^^ R* R*
__>i ^ & ?? <V ?^^- , ^
r* r* ^ ?_} ?| ?_}?_} <^ r* R* ^^
^ S S ?^^^?^?^c^^ S ^
^^ R R ^ -^ -C^ -C^ ^ <^ R R
^_*\ , ^ ^ ^ ?-! ?3 <^s _^

R ^^ R R <^ ^ ^ -C^ -^ ^ R
R* R* ^^ R* S c^?^?^?^?^^
R^Vv r ^ R^ ^ <5| ?1 ^
^ R R ^.^. R R -Cx, ^ ^ -^ -^
^ ^ R R ^^ R R ^ <^ -^ <^
?^ -^ -C^ R R ^^ R R ^ ^ ^
Figure 5. II canto sospeso, no. 7: generation of pitch series A and duration factor
series a from the all-interval series.
based on material that is serial but not 12-tonal. This material, which was later
discarded, consists of 12 series in which 2-4 pitches are repeated, i.e. series with
a maximum often pitches.11 As shown in Example 11, all of these series are dis-
tinguished by different interval structures. With the exception of the tenth
series, the repeated pitches of series 7-12 are in retrograde positions to the
repeated pitches in series 6-1. Although none of the series is itself 12-tonal, the
all-interval series is present in the first pitches of rows 1-6 and the last pitches of
rows 7-12. Each pitch is allocated one of three dynamic values (ppp, p, mf) in
rows 1-6.117 Independendy of pitch distribution, rows 7-12 then simply use the
retrogrades of the dynamic series 6-1. Using duration factors 1-12, Nono first
composed a version of the entire movement with this pitch material before he
abandoned it in favour ofthe 12 series shown in Example 10.118 It is fascinating
to see that, for the most lyrical movement, Nono seriously considered such a
deviation from integral serialism. The 12 series that were used later fall between
this type of aggregate composition and the extreme objectivity of the all-interval
series. Although now strictly 12-tonal, they, too, allow for a much more subjec?
tive choice and combination of intervals. The first series (Example 10, staff A) and
its corresponding series of duration factors are derived from the all-interval
series by means of mirror symmetric permutation of the two hexachords (see
Figure 5). The interrelations between the 12 series are complex and have been
discussed in great detail by Motz.119 The series are matched with the square of
duration factors shown in Table 17, derived by means of the familiar permuta?
tion 2468 10 12 13579 11.A sketch formerly in the possession of Luciano
Berio displays both duration factors and dynamics, as well as the method of
11 See sketch ALN 14.09/01 R sx. Numeric representations of this material and possible clues for
its derivation are found on sketch ALN 14.02.07/06.
117 The dynamic sometimes changes when the pitch is repeated.
118 Sketches ALN 14.09/01-03. The initial draft is in ten sections: two sections ai (rows 1/2), two
sections ai (rows 3/10 and 4/9), two sections a$ (rows 5/8 and 61 j), two sections ai (rows 7/6 and
8/5) and two sections ai (rows 9/10). The sections combine original and retrograde forms, and
duration factors follow the repetition patterns ofthe respective pitch series. The structural idea of
combining solo soprano with soprano and alto voices is already present, but contrary motion
is not yet a defining principle.
119 Motz, Konstruktion undAusdruck, 112-15.
fe fe <^ fe ?^?^^^?^?^<;c^
fe ?? fe c? -Sq -^ -c^ -Sq fe fe -S^^
?^^^-c^S <^ fe c^ ?^ -c^ fe fe
^ ?^^ ^^ ?!^ *"?> <!

<Î <^ fe <^ -^ -^ fe <^| fe ?^ fe ^J
^ ^ ^ ?:^> ^
U ?3 ?^V^ Si ?! ?1 ?1 ?^^ ?^
<^ -^ fe ^?^?f^^^^fe ^, <^3
Q
C^^^^-R^S fe S <^ ^ ^ -S^
Q
^ ?! & <! V> V> <^ ?^
^ fe ^ <; ?tj ?^ fe ?^s ^^^
P-1 ?
H Q
o
i
o
o
U
??I I?I
M M
i?f *h
O
a
a.
o
co ?> rtii ut3 u^ bQM 1H J4 ?i ?
THE SONG UNSUNG 129
reading the square. D

do not follow any obv
lower-case letters to co
The layout ofthe mov
voices. Although less
with particular chara
with the first flute an
second violins, the al
associated with high
instruments are emp
from Table 18, the lea
and simply runs thro
series (A/a, B/b, . . .
from the back, startin
rograde of series A. T
read accordingly, i.e
The combination ofth
the first draft, is sum
marked in bold. In add
ofthe text. Exceptions
None of the vocal p
almost continuous an
composition lies in the
highlights pitch corre
ing at the vocal parts
always put in the same
tions and thus a max
favoured, particularl
example, highlights tw
tone Ek-A (see Figure
correlations at the be
example, begins with
(alto) in the same reg
(solo sopr.), also in t
sopr.) and ends with
this movement, with
achieved through the c
If no. 7 has so far bee
tiated by nos. 6a and
which it shares the de
ferent pitch series. Th
anced, beginning wit
moving on to the gr
See ibid., 179?80, 207. For
TABLE 18
IL CANTO SOSPESO, NO. 7: SCHEMATIC SUMMARY
duration (text) instr. colour

112 2 8 3 5 112 2 8 3 5 (a) d.b. harm.
12 8 5 12 8 5 1 2 3 1 2 3 (b) vlnl
25251231231818 (<?1) vcl. harm.
5 5 3 3 8 8 2 2 12 12 [11] (<?m) fl.2
8 12 5 2 1 3 12 5 8 1 3 2 (c) fl. 1 flutter/vcl. harm.
Ad-di-o
12235128511283 (<?k) vla
12 2 3 5 1 2 8 5 112 8 3 (d) fl. i/vcl./vln I harm.
Mam- ma
8 12 5213 12 58132 (<? vln
i) II sord.
2 5 2 5 12 3 12 3 1 8 1 8 (e) vln 1
ad-
112 2835112 2835 (<?g) vln II
12851285123123 (<?h) vla
55338822 12 12 11 (f) fl. 1 harm.
di-o mamma
fl. i/vcl. harm.
5 3 8 2 12 1 5 3 8 2 12 1 (g)
d.b. harm./fl. 2
1112 12 22883355 (<?f)
vlnl
3 2 1 3 2 1 5 8 12 5 8 12 (h)
tu-afi- glia Liub-ka
81813123125252 (<?e) vln II
38121582153212 (<?d) vla
2 3 1 8 5 12 3 1 2 5 12 8 (i)
se- ne va
23185 12 3125 12 8 vln

(<?c)
II, fl. 2
3 2 1 3 2 [1] 5 8 12 5 8 vln
8! II, fl. 2
(<-b)
3 8 12 1 5 8 2 1 5 3 2 12 fl.
(k)i/vln I
se-ne va nel-Vu-mi-da ter-
5382 12 15382 12 1 (<? vln II a)
fl. 1 harm.
8 1 8 1 3 12 3 12 5 2 5 2 (1)
-ra
1112 12 22883355 fl. 1 harm.
elegiac and almost other-worldly calm of no. 7. No. 5, however, also represents
the centre of the work as a whole, and it is perhaps no coincidence that Nono
here chose a text which seems to assert Adorno's reservations regarding poetry
after Auschwitz. It is by the 14-year-old Polish farm-boy Chaim, and reads:
se il cielo fosse carta e tutti i mari del mondo inchiostro non potrei descrivervi le
mie sofferenze e tutto cio che vedo intorno a me. Dico addio a tutti e piango
('If the sky were paper, and all the seas of the world were ink, I could not
describe my suffering and all that I see around me. I say goodbye to all of you
and weep'). The sentimentality that could easily result from a statement of such
emotional directness is counteracted once again by means of the most rigorous
THE SONG UNSUNG 131
+C
+C#
+F B
+E +B^
E^ B
+D +GI
+C# G
+F#
+F
Figure 6. // canto sospeso, no. 7: pitch constellation in the vocal parts (bars
438-44).
organization of material. Apart from the organization of pitch, the movement is

in many ways similar to no. 3. Four palindromic series of just three duration
factors (1, 2, 7) are applied to three values of duration (crotchet divided by 4, 5, 6).
The permutation is the same as in no. 3 (every second number). All the series,
therefore, are palindromic:
(a) 1 2 7 1 7 2 271721
(b) 2 1 2 7 7 1 177212
(c) 1 7 1 7 2 2 227171
(d) 7 7 2 2 11 11 2 2 7 7
Each series adds up to 40. Multiplication by the values of duration results in

three units of different length: 10 crotchets for the semiquaver layer, 8 crotchets
for the quintuplet layer, and 6.4 crotchets for the sextuplet layer. The three con?
tinuous voices are layered symmetrically, with the longest layer (4) beginning and
ending the movement, and the entry and exit ofthe other two (5, 6) being stag-
gered. Ten units of duration per layer are coupled with five pitch series and their
retrogrades. The series and their interval structure are shown in Example 12.121
Apart from the first (the all-interval series), the common denominator is the
mirror-symmetric position of the tritones, which remains the same through-
121 On the derivation of series A-D from the all-interval series see Motz, Konstruktion und
Ausdruck, 80-1.
pitch D D(R) C(R) B(R) A(R) O(R) O
duration
text se il cielo fosse carta e tutti non potrei descrivervi le mie Dico
i mari del mondo inchiostro sofferenze e tutto cio che vedo tutti e
intomo a me
Figure 7. II canto sospeso, no. 5: tenor layer.
(4) Q(R) O D DfR) C(R) BfR) A(R)
d c c b a d
(6) Q(RD 0(1) Ad) B(I) Cfl) DQ) D(RI) C(RI) B(RI) A(RI)
(8)2+i- (6)3+T
dccdabcbad
Figure 8. Il ca
out.122 Each
in Example 1
manner in th
phone and m
(4 + 4 + 2) is
the Renaissa
apprenticesh
other in dimi
These two ou
duration fac
forms of the
inversions) of
The instrumentation of these two voices is less exclusive than that of the
leading tenor. In total Nono uses five solo strings, wind quintet plus bass clari?
net, three trumpets and two trombones, the vibraphone and marimba already
mentioned, and - for the first time in II canto sospeso - two harps. Throughout
the movement, the harps play the shortest values (factor 1) of the semiquaver
and sextuplet levels and beautifully carve out the symmetry of the palindromic
phrases, particularly when series d is in play and four short values are the central
122 As Rizzardi has shown, Nono had used such a constant once before. The Monodia of Poli-
fonica-Monodia?Ritmica (1951) uses 21 series. Of these, nos. 1-3, 5, 17-18 and 20-1 are simi?
larly marked by a mirror-symmetric position of the tritones. See Rizzardi, 'La "Nuova Scuola
Veneziana"', 29-30.
THE SONG UNSUNG 133
focus ofthe phrase (a

instruments render
pitches is ever doub
second trombone are
are allocated pitches f
which the leading pa
great clarity and cont
Dynamics are used n
structure. Five static
have been provided in
duration factors, onl
clearly linked to form
louder in the first fou
in the last two, to t
goodbye to all of you
cism of this movemen
subtle use of rests, a
Should one want to pi
cism of no. 7, with its
floating vocal lines,
bell-like percussion, it
In contrast, the lyri
tritone, the single voc
more akin to late Web
mate at the time no. 5
of these texts in the
later openly defended
This long and truly free

it is not surprising that
courage to express one's
ful than the preceding
gives way too much to
climate! In reality parts
this rediscovery of comm
At the centre of th
movement retraces th
overriding 4 + 4 + 2
123 Bailey, 'Work in Progr

1 The structural use of re
Ida De Benedictis, who c
unit of text. A large par
and expressive qualities o
125 Mila, 'La linea Nono',
receding into silence

canto sospeso. Sketch
4 + 3 + 5.12 As it beca
'freedom that did Mass
the idea ofa grand fina
ments, and settledfor
movements than the la
movements are manifo
are joined together in t
no. 5 also adds to the
regarding the overall f
right.128 The formal o
audible experience of
increases as far as no. 6
The proportions of thi
further structural link
sentation shown in Figu
In addition to the larg
between solos and tut
ized instrumental grou
istic of II canto sospe
work its intensely ref
the chosen texts is trea
with its subtle Webe
glass, directing the foc
of technique and sound
the all-interval series
and the occasional use
tonality, whereby its o
pitch constellation. Th
fields as well as the wo
sounding symbol for
made possible by mean
tion (which is often e
the serial organizatio
blocks, ranging from w
of duration in nos. 2
12 First drafts of the over

Two of these are published
texts indicates up to 15 m
127 Mila, 'La linea Nono', 3
128 See Motz, Konstruktion
129 The fastest speed is fou
in no. 8, where the slowes
overall is no. 7 (J = 40-66
THE SONG UNSUNG 135
III
Figure 9. Formal outlin
parts (no. 6a) and pitch

tion (no. 1). The freedo
expressive use of regis
ment from which the
orchestral dimension
for a better world -
beauty that my own
sospeso, after all, is a
Nazis, but specifically
ments, united in their
Among the most int
literature and its links
his first novel, The P
of Calvino's Resistenz
by Nono is the aspect
expression that follo
also briefly joined the
The explosive charge of

wish to document or to i
landscapes, shooting, pol
] Italo Calvino, Ilsentiero
were only colours on the pale

counted was the music and not
with content, there were neve
poets as effusive as those objec
extra-literary elements stood th
of nature; to us the whole probl
work that world which for us w
Calvino's point of view help

what obscure philosophical
probably have agreed at the t
express means to bring forth
whole and to transfer it into
Nono had not joined the Part
for his great admiration of t
shared the feeling of remors
have to face the struggle with
may have provided him with
the artistic treatment ofa sub
degree of abstraction of Non
age to express the seemingly
an anti-fascist work of art o
sive, yet free of sentimentali
memorating all those who die
ABSTRACT
Taking into account the sources now available at the Archivio Luigi Nono in Venice
article first looks at Nono's serial masterpiece 7/ canto sospeso (1955-6) in its histo
context, both in Germany and in Italy. Having outlined the political circumstances
aesthetic premisses, the article goes on to provide a detailed analysis of the serial
nique employed. Particular attention is paid to a technique of pitch permutation
explains the pitch structures of several movements, hitherto not fully understood.
the nine movements is examined in view ofa better understanding ofthe work's exp
qualities and in order to show the underlying formal and compositional relationsh
131 Calvino, The Path to the Nest ofSpiders, trans. William Weaver (Hopewell, 1976), P
vi-vii.
132 Maderna, 'Espressione', Nicola Verzina, Bruno Maderna: ?tude historique et critique (Paris,
2003), 63. Verzina dates the short text to 1952-3 because it was found among notes for the
ballet Das eiserne Zeitalter, on which Maderna was working at the time.
Calvino's preface describes the author's struggle to free himself from such experience: 'I tried
to narrate the partisan experience in the first person, or with a protagonist who resembled me
... I moved awkwardly. I could never completely stifle the sentimental and moralistic vibra-
tions. There was always a false note somewhere . . . As soon as I started to write stories in
which I did not appear, all went smoothly: the language, rhythm, shape were precise, func-
tional... I began to realize that the more anonymous and objective the story was, the more it
was mine.' Calvino, The Path, Preface, xix-xx.
THE SONG UNSUNG 137
Example i. II canto so
nica degli spostament
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 , 12
-w- u u -??#?*?$*?-^?-r1^-^^^
^ . # ^ >* # _, u_. ; ?____=
4 . ^ ^
________
I I
$n- lh - * ' .
i38 CAROLA NIELINGER
Example 2. 77 canto sospeso, no. 4: section I and beginning of s

240?6), annotated with duration factors in wind and percussion
cate elements of the pitch structure that contain more than one pi
fi. 1
cl. 1
b.cl.
hrn 1
trp. 3
tbn.
2
vibr.
xyl.
mar.
bells
vlnl 4
1/
3
vcl.
3
d.b.
4
THE SONG UNSUNG 139
Example 3. // canto s
degli spostamenti'.
(a) Tenor
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
^_U_\ut_? _
1
M- ?*?u?t,Us?-^?> ith'fc >
_ _1_
PE ^=> s HbJg l,^^ . ? ,. 1^
4--^-
Example 3 continued
(b)Alto
12 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12
[>j-?4E b*^ Lffia
4 * ^ ^ ^ " - * pe
a5--_
- _ t.si
"* l,h_. f? * =#*=

=**?=
Ê *- ,J, ? - ^
bfa ___
3W
ft?g > ' fl|k_ "; -fm ^ , I"* l?i *

^ _ It-
_-_ -___
jÊ -?t ^* ^S?
(c) Soprano
12 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 , 12
t>* l>b*# * -t-Ê- =fc*=
=#*= =#**=
^-^ r-i*^* 1^ f H^jy ?-#f
4 ^-? ttl''l.B? l>_ W*? l>_

5*
4 ik b'-; * H* ,. ^fe -ffm-

#
THE SONG UNSUNG 141
Example 4. // canto sospeso, no. 3: beginning notated in layers.
158
i=
? *
(fl./trp.) -^-^y-
?
1 7 1 3 3 3 5
j>?j? uw
(cl./b. cl./
hrn)
1 9
J.C 1
(ob./bsn/ ii
tbn.) ?NtJ
tP is
3 7 1 5 7
(fl./trp.)
(cl./b. cl./
hrn)
(ob./bsn/
tbn.) ^
Pf_f--f T
1 7 3
Example 5. II canto sospeso, no. 1: opening, bars 1-6. Four units

factors (5,10, 3, 8) and exposition of dramatic contrast between wind
displacement of pitches by means of 'negative' durations (superimpo
bars 1-4.
trp. 3
tbn.
trmp.
vln
vla
vcl.
d.b.
THE SONG UNSUNG 143
)?
2?
2?
=?x
L
>?
10 ? r >?
L
?? r
??
cm@ L
co(g)
3" ^?
-sr
<*?
-__
-eI -?
a
o ?? ^? r -?I
L
co0
G
O <?.
"3
a,
g ^?
_2
a
o .-
u
>?
00 @ f"
o
G L
I 2?
??
2?
3
S 2?
____
Example 7. II canto sospeso, no. 9: beginning (bars 545-59).

J = c.54
@ ? 0
7 11
13
1?5?11-5-1
2
ti
o
E
U
timp. 1
Pitch: A Bb G# B G C F# C# F D E Eb
Duration: 13 11 3 1 5 13 11 5 7 1 3 7 (<- 5)
THE SONG UNSUNG 145
Example 7 continued
timp.
(-4)
Example 8. // canto sospeso, no. 8: bars 531-2, notated in grou

placing the group entries are marked in square brackets, those
entries within groups in parentheses.
LOJ
531 ' k
1
hrn 2
^MM^ ?
^-7?, ^-7-
12
hrn 1 -^^r D7
^ ?
(2)
i^ Ss?= 2
hrn ^ y\)JS^L ?
[1]
? ^
11
trp. 4
? p r ?
(i)
fl. 1
^=S 3
?
A3
(2)
Pp
trp. 2
* ?
trp. 5
p
9
trp. 3
*' J j J?? ?
J2)
r~rwS:
5
tbn. 1
NfcJ
?
!_A_ [3]
8
i?m
tbn. 4
(15)
tbn. 2 C4
(2)
tbn. 3
?N?J
^P (12)
THE SONG UNSUNG H7
Example 9. Il canto sospeso, no. 6a: first choral phrase (six syllables per voice),
beginning simultaneously.
12
3 3
Al
mm -j j ^ j j ^
/ fff - ppp ppp
J^8 5 2 2 12 12
A2
j~JJiJi SP^f J AJ>
/ -?/ 8 flEP ,#f
_J 17 17
SI
f^# .-^
fff i^ J97
17
13] 12^
b^=
TI
_^
mp-?-= m/ mj_? ^.
2 5
ul I7" N L ^
B2 P Tfff 1
^? mp ?-= mf f PPP < fff P fff
2 3 12 3 3
S 1?-??1_1?-^?1_ 3?1
T2I r vr v r rg ^^
/ tf /: -_? mf PPP<fff P
12
Al
|Jj_J iw f
DR7
\fff
A2 :^=? DR*
7
5 3
-5?.I?5- 17
SI
i^jg DR9
f mfympmf
,/F : ? ppp
3 5
-3?, 1?3-
TI g=g ^^m DR10
/ p m mp
B2 DR11
T2
|lll?j DR12
(P)
I48 CAROLA NIELINGER
Example 10. 7/ canto sospe

Nono's
sketches.
=> A
=#*=
3- 2+ 3- 2- 3- 3+ 3- 2+ 3- 2- 3-
-?m-
3- 2- 3+ 3- 2+ 4 3-2+4 3- 2-
Ife ^=
2+ 2- 4 3- 3+ 2+ 2- 2+ 2- 3+ 3-
4"^ ? ^
3- 2- 4 2+
4^
2- 4+ 2-
* # * U ff*
2+ 4 2- 3-
m 3+ 2+ 3+ 3- 2+ 3+ 2+ 2+ 2-
4^
4
it* *
2-
$ 4
#
3- 3+ 2-
??^
3+ 2- 4
ti*
2+3+4 3+
*~
fiEr-t-r-
3+ 4 2+2+4 2- 3+ 2+
4?-k,
3- 3+ 3+
-
-\n
4*
4?
4 3+ 2+ 3+ 3+4 2+4 2- 2+ 3+
t? "# ?~
#* *
3+ 2- 3- 3+ 3+ 2- 2+ 3+ 3- 4 2+
->-*-'-
2- 3+ 2+ 2+ 4 3- 3- 2+ 3- 4 4+
#^ 3- 3+ 3+ 2- 3- 2- 3+ 3+ 4+ 4 3+
$* Im M
-& m |# ? ^
2- 3+ 2- 3- 4+ 2- 4+ 3- 4 3- 3
THE SONG UNSUNG 149
Example 11. II canto sospeso, no. 7: non-12-tonal pitch material later discarded.
1
PPP \ P P mf mf mf ppp ppp ppp p mf
(9)
pE_E =*?=
PPP P mf PPP P <rf PPP "f mf PPP P

=_. i.
=#-= (9)
=#?
mf P mf PPP P PPP mf PPP P PPP mf

4= *c (9)
=#?=
-?/ ppp p mf ppp ppp p mf mf p p p

_ 't? ~\,m _________________
^ (10)
=#?
j) ?pp j) mf ppp mf ppp mf mf ppp p

35 (10;
4^
ppp mf ppp ppp mf mf mf PPP PPP

_n
U <t? (8)
PPP PPP mf mf P mf PPP PPP <rf P P ppp
=#= ' . > . _ Im #?=

(8)
#?p m/ nf ppp mf ppp mf p ppp p
ft = -==^ (10)
mf mf p ppp ppp mf p ppp mf
l" P
^_P I.- *? (10)
m/ #pp 2> -W m/ i^Pi5 ? PPP mf P P ?f

=fr U "' %? 35 (8)
ppp mf mf ppp mf p ppp mf p ppp

zti
=#*=
^35 (9)
mf ___? PPP PPP P "f "f mf P PPP
(9)
Example 12. II canto sosp
~ m U |,# b? m ? ^ ^ ~ ? U = O
4+
3^
4+ 4+ 4+
4+ 4+ 4+
4+ 4+ 4+
_*_^_^
4+ 4+ 4+
Interval structure:
O 2- 2+ 3- 3+ 4 0 4 3+ 3- 2+ 2-
A 2+0 2+4 2+0 2+ 3+ 2- 0 2-
B 2+0 2+4 2-0 2- 3+ 3+ 0 3+
C 2-02-3+404 3- 2- 0 2-
D 4 [4+1 4 4 3- [4+] 3- 4 2- H 2-

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'The Song Unsung': Luigi Nono's "Il Canto Sospeso"

Author(s): Carola Nielinger

cThe Song Unsung': Luigi Nono's

A WORK by a dedicated Communist that dared to address N

The novelty and rigorous idiomatic originality of II canto sospeso . . . do

1 Luigi Nono's // canto sospeso (1955-6) was premiered under Scherchen in Co

which 7/ canto sospeso p

The composer, about

'Never before did I

5 Massimo Mila, 'La linea

left the most significan

the faith, the hope, the r

Some ofthe letters sele

1 Herbert Eimert, 'Urauffuh

texts are extracts fro

decay of loyalty and faith' seem

You shall know, my sons,

Mourn no more, my sons,

Earth shall smile, my sons,

Work and build, my sons,

18 Mann, 'Vorwort', 817-18.

Translating Rosenberg's 'song unsung', II canto sospeso thus also con

In setting text which no longer merely conjures up the image of a 'merrily

which serial technique is employed in 77 canto sospeso is hardly s

26 In addition to the analyses by Bailey, Motz and Feneyrou already cited, mu

In certain pieces of the

The thick walls of the t

readers and listeners! B

German culture had

All the worlds not a sta

The much-debated dic

3 Thomas Mann, 'Die Lag

Nono. As is evident fro

The difference betw

The letters on the Resist

2 Mila, 'La linea Nono', 311

The choice and juxtap

Gramsci's prison lette

47 Maderna, letter to Non

the fascists in powe

In post-war Italy music

Brigades during the Spani

Under the conviction that the

Nono himself later mention

Bruno and I joined the Comm

5 On the use of Bandiera rossa

For music, this mea

Don't sell yourself in

Perhaps it was this

62 ALN 08.03, fol. iov.

series of Stockhausen's Kla

Nono briefly analysed this piec

letter reveals: 'I found

72 Maderna, letter to Non

IL CANTO SOSPESO: 'MAGIC SQUARE' USED TO GENERATE PITCH

A 510 3816 11 4927 12

IL CANTO SOSPESO, NO. 4: DISTRIBUTION OF DURATION VALUES,

section bars value duration factors dynamics

I 240-6 3 11219712 634810 5 PPp-p

the duration factors, Nono reads his number

79 This was brought to my attention by Angela Ida

IL CANTO SOSPESO, NO. 4: SERIALIZATION OF INSTRUMENTAL

The texts are merged

According to Nono him