Giacomo Balla, “Noise-Making Onomatopaeia Typewriter” (1914)

Composed in 1914 by the Italian Futurist poet, painter, and musician, Giacomo Balla, “Noise-Making Onomatopaeia Typewriter” was a performance piece which required a “rhythmical repetition of sounds” that were “accompanied by mechanical movements that integrate[d] the twelve performers into a single machine.” When performed, the singers’ voices were blended into “an explosion of noises that mime[d] the modern city’s assault on the senses.”¹

The following is a recording of a contemporary performance of Balla’s 1914 composition.

1. “Noise-Making Onomatopaeia Typewriter,” in Christine Poggi, Laura Wittman, Lawrence Rainey, eds., Futurism: An Anthology (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009), p. 559.