L’idéal qui donne sa lumière au silence : Antonio Gramsci et la culture musicale italienne de l’après-guerre

Abstract

This study addresses the influence of Gramsci’s work on five Italian composers of the second post-war period: Bruno Maderna, Luigi Nono, Luciano Berio, Sylvano Bussotti and Giacomo Manzoni. Based on their writings, their works and their activist and artistic careers, we will try to show how Gramscian thought has penetrated their discourses and practices. To this end, we will first study philosophical and sociological questions (the relationship between theory and praxis, superstructure and infrastructure, etc.), then linguistic issues (the “language question”, the dialectic of cosmopolitanism/national-popular, etc.). Finally, we will make some observations concerning the musical and political use of Gramsci’s work and its role in Italian culture, especially in relation to Adorno’s thought.

Keywords

• Luigi Nono
• Antonio Gramsci
• 20th century music
• Bruno Maderna
• Luciano Berio
• Sylvano Bussotti