ABSTRACT
When Giacomo Manzoni began writing in the 1950s Manzoni's work, like that of Berio, Nono, and Maderna, was rooted mostly, but not exclusively, in a Marxist ideology. Residing in Milan where he was born in 1932, Manzoni's formal musical education began at the age of sixteen when he became a student of composition in Messina, and later at the Conservatory of Milan. Poems set to music, throughout his entire oeuvre, include those by Eluard, Holderlin, Bachmann, Cuney, Tsvetaeva, Rilke, and Emily Dickinson. Other literary influences have been Thomas Mann, Francesco Leonetti, and, of course, Samuel Beckett. Parole da Beckett was composed in 1970, first conducted by Bruno Maderna at Rome with the Rai orchestra and chorus, and awarded a UNESCO prize in 1973. The major contrast between Manzoni and Beckett lies in the way in which both artists use stark, austere techniques, but for very different reasons.
