The challenge to preserve the Sylvano Bussotti’s Heritage
The issue of archives and intangible heritage is an evolving one, involving both the preservation of traditional documentary material and the protection of immaterial artistic practices and knowledge.
The concept of ‘archive’ has expanded to include not only written and physical records, but also digital, video, audio and even oral practices. Contemporary archivists are faced with the challenge of managing this kind of content, which is not simply physical material, but information that is part of a living cultural fabric. The UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, adopted in 2003, contributed to protect not only tangible heritage, but also those testimonies of artistic practices that are in danger of being forgotten.
The state of the art on archives and intangible heritage is characterised by an increasing focus on digitisation and an awareness of the technical and ‘philosophical’ challenges that arise when trying to preserve the intangible.
My proposal focuses on some aspects of cataloguing, preservation and dissemination of contemporary music heritage through the figure of Bussotti, a unique personality of the Italian 20th century and particularly complex due to the co-presence and interaction of different materials in his work. The NoMus archive had to deal with this complexity when acquiring the Bussotti Fund between 2019 and 2023, with the recognition of the Italian Ministry of Culture.
This Fund represents an interesting corpus for understanding his approach to the performative and visual dimension of art, including materials of various kinds: manuscript scores, sketches, preparatory notes, stage materials, audio-video, correspondence and a collection of drawings.
One of the most fascinating aspects of Bussotti’s work is his focus on performance practice: his works are thought of as true multidisciplinary spectacles. He explores the relationship between body and sound.
Bussotti’s musical notation consists of actual ‘instructions’, where the bodily gesture is indicated along with the music. This makes his works as much visual experiences as they are aural and demands interpretative sensitivity from performers: the concept of the ‘open score’ is central to his production, in which performers have the freedom to interpret and contribute to the work. How can the memory of this specific performative aspect be preserved?
NoMus has within it funds concerning veritable artistic-musical institutions on the national scene and beyond: the first example is that of the Studio di Fonologia Musicale della Rai. This will be the occasion to briefly present the differences and similarities in the management of two funds, more or less contemporary, so important and so different.
More generally, the NoMus collection includes scores, audio and video recordings, but also documentation related to musical and cultural life, such as interviews, theoretical writings and archive materials that testify to the context in which the works were created.
The archive is also a place for research and training: it organises workshops, seminars and meetings with composers and musicians. Although the NoMus archive stands out for its cultural offering and archival activity, some of its weaknesses may be limited financial resources, long-term sustainability and international visibility.
Keywords: preservation, cataloguing, Sylvano Bussotti, performativity
Biography
Sofia Weck (b. 1993, Florence (Italy)
She is a musician, educator and researcher in performance and music studies.
She graduated in Contemporary Italian Literature at the State University of Milan in 2020 and in 2024 in Jazz Trumpet at the Scuola Civica Claudio Abbado, Milan Foundation.
Since 2019 she has been studying opera singing at the Claudio Abbado Civic School.
In 2023 and 2024, she twice won the ‘Life is Live’ call for proposals from the Cariplo Foundation to promote live culture with original musical projects.
She has performed as a singer and trumpetist in concert halls and theatres in Italy and abroad, in small and large ensembles.
She teaches trumpet at the Ottavanota School (Milan)
Since 2022 she has been a collaborator at NoMus (Milan), a research centre on 20th century and contemporary music, and is currently working on the Sylvano Bussotti Fund, focusing on the relationship between music, musical gesture, movement and dance in his works.
NoMus, Italy
nomus@nomusassociazione.org