Luigi Nono

Italian composer Luigi Nono was one of the most influential members of the post-war avantgarde. He would have celebrated his 100th birthday in 2024 – a good occasion to perform a selection of his most important works. »Il canto sospeso«, for instance, conveys a political message of great urgency: in this intense and timeless piece, Nono sets to music the last letters written by young men and women from the European resistance movement who were sentenced to death during the Second World War. For the other concerts, the Elbphilharmonie was able to enlist the cooperation of the SWR Experimental Studio, which it’s fair to say is following in Nono’s footsteps: it was here that Luigi Nono spent years exploring the potential of electronic music. In the vocal composition »Quando stanno morendo« from his »Polish Diary No. 2«, loudspeakers set up in the auditorium supply one new spatial effect after another. The French Quatuor Diotima takes its name from the only string quartet written by Nono – which they now present at the Elbphilharmonie.