Marino Zuccheri, Roland Kayn, Coro da Camera della RAI, Roma & Nino Antonellini - Kayn: Cybernetics III / Nono: Contrappunto Dialettico Alla Mente (Avantgarde series) (2026) [Hi-Res]

Luigi Nono (1924–1990) was widely celebrated for his entire career. A central figure in post-war serialism, the Venetian composer emerged during the 1950s as one third of the “avant-garde trinity”, alongside Karlheinz Stockhausen and Pierre Boulez.

“Contrappunto” was composed for 2-channel magnetic tape in 1968, during a period when Nono was deeply committed to the international student struggles, as well as opposition to the Vietnam War. In basing the work on an early 17th century madrigal-comedy by Adriano Banchieri, Nono explained that he was “seeking to reflect the type of musical process used by Banchieri: the focus on the voice, introduction of sound material of the time, humorous and parodic distortion especially in the lyrical and dramatic elements … but in today’s actuality”.

Roland Kayn’s Cybernetics III poignantly anticipates advancements in synthesis, computing and recording technology, as well as the development of samplers and sequencers. How these tools would be embraced by generations of artists who followed in Kayn’s wake, entirely re-formed the frameworks of electronic music. As such, Cybernetics III anticipated vast shifts in creative thinking.

Mastered & cut from the original analogue ¼ inch 2-track master tapes by Rainer Maillard and Sidney Claire Meyer at Emil Berliner Studios.