Week 3

Luigi Russolo’s Intonarumori (Noise Intoners, c.1916)

In 1913, Italian Futurist artist Luigi Russolo published his manifesto The Art of Noises, arguing that modern life had outgrown the traditional sounds of the orchestra. He believed that the industrial age, with its machines, engines, and urban noise, demanded a new musical vocabulary (Russolo, 1913). To realise this vision, he created the Intonarumori (“noise intoners”), a family of experimental instruments built around 1916.

The Intonarumori were wooden boxes with mechanical parts and levers attached to large horns, designed to produce sounds such as roars, whistles, and hums. Russolo classified these noises into different categories, showing his systematic attempt to expand music beyond conventional harmony. The instruments were used in Futurist concerts in Italy, where they often provoked controversy. Some audiences were fascinated, while others reacted with hostility to the intrusion of noise into the concert hall (Kahn, 1999).

This invention is significant because it connects directly to modernism. Modernist art was defined by innovation, the rejection of tradition, and a desire to respond to social and technological change. Russolo’s embrace of noise challenged the boundaries of music and reflected the modernist spirit of experimentation. His work also anticipated later practices in sound art, musique concrète, and electronic music, making him an important precursor for 20th-century sonic experimentation (Tate, n.d.).

Although most of the original instruments no longer survive, Russolo’s ideas remain influential. Reconstructions of the Intonarumori have been built in recent decades, allowing contemporary audiences to experience the sounds that once shocked early 20th-century listeners. Today, Russolo’s project is recognised as a key step in establishing sound as a legitimate artistic medium (Kahn, 1999).

• Kahn, D. (1999) Noise, Water, Meat: A History of Sound in the Arts. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
• Russolo, L. (1913) The Art of Noises. Futurist Manifesto.