The poetic significance of Risonanze erranti (1985-87) should be interpreted in the light of the reflections developed since the summer of 1975 with the Venetian friend and philosopher Massimo Cacciari, to whom the work is dedicated. After 'Al gran sole carico d'amore' (In the Bright Sunshine Heavy with Love) (1972-74) Nono, obsessed by a sense of anguish owed to his solitude and his activism frustrated by the stagnation of Italian music institutions, felt the need to re-examine his work as a composer, in the Gramscian sense of an "organic intellectual in the society." His meeting with the philosopher revived his interest in the critical and artistic activity in the Vienna of Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico- Philosophicus, and more broadly in the Mitteleuropean culture between the 19th and 20th centuries, which he perceived as a 'higher' commitment to the quest for truth, as opposed to the falsehood of political, scientific, religious, logical-mathematical thought and the misleading implications of language.

This disc of chamber works by Luigi Nono is most definitely not easy listening, and will not fade quietly into the background. It is, however, a fascinating collection of works which owe at least some debt to Anton Webern in the composition of their sound worlds. The titles evoke the most basic elements of Western music: polyphony, monody, rhythm, songs. Yet none of these appears in its traditional sense in the music--Nono is more interested here in suspended or fractured songs, rather than a style of sustained lyricism. 'Polifonica-Monodia-Ritmica' begins with echoes of unheard pitches which coalesce into undulating almost-harmonies before breaking into a halting movement forward.
Peter Hirsch and his Ensemble United Berlin have mastered this music and found Nono's broken and echoed melodies along with his polyphony, monody, and the rest. Whether a group of seven or of thirteen or of only two, they play with excellent ensemble. Soprano Angelika Luz gives the haunting, stratospheric 'Canciones a Guiomar' appropriate voice, giving beauty and life to "un-pretty" vocal writing.

WER 6038; WERGO - Germany; Contemporary classical Cameristica. Composed in 1964, this recording for female voice and tape is presented by Luigi Nono. An adaptation of Giuliano Scabia and Cesare Pavese (from "Two poems in T" for the final) created for Soprano on a Four-track magnetic tape. Luigi dedicated it "for the workers of the Italsider of Genoa" released as a Ricordi score 131242 (1967) on tape #131321. The original firs took place as a world premiere in Venice, Teatro La Fenice, Italy on15 September 1964. The Venice Biennale, XXVII International Festival of Contemporary Music recorded by Carla Henius, mezzo - on Magnetic tape made at the studio of phonology of the Italian Radiotelevisione of Milan with the participation of the Choir of the RAI in Milan directed by Giulio Bertola. - Luigi Nono, sound direction. Artist: Carla Henius: soprano / Choir of RAI Milano / Guilio Bertola: conductor / Marino Zuccheri: engineering / Barbara Miller: soprano / Sopranchor der Schola Cantorum Stuttgart / Clytus Gottwald: conductor / Stefania Woytowitz: soprano / Children's Choir of Piccolo Teatro, Milano.

Intolleranza 1960 was Nono's first work for the opera stage, and is a flaming protest against intolerance, oppression and the violation of human dignity. Premiered in 1961, the premiere night was interrupted by neo-facists shouting "Viva la polizia!" during the torture scene.