Luciano Chessa: PP. G to N from Piedigrotta (2008), from a 1913 poem by Francesco Cangiullo

Luciano Chessa: PP. G to N from Piedigrotta (2008), from a 1913 poem by Francesco Cangiullo
Luciano Chessa: Spoken words

On Francesco Cangiullo's Piedigrotta (1913).
Here's what I consider the pinnacle of Futurist sound poetry: Cangiullo's epic poem about the yearly Neapolitan street party dedicated to the Madonna di Piedigrotta. The explosions of firecrackers, the cries of street venders, the tenori battling at the annual song competition and, more in general, the sound of an entire city presented as a living organism, all reach a sudden jolt when the procession of the Black Madonna takes over the stage. By brilliantly hijacking onomatopoeic techniques typically found in Futurist poetry to mimic the explosions of mortars and shrapnels, and by forcing them to recreate the complexly articulated noise of a wild street party, Cangiullo truly succeeds here in celebrating-and synthesizing-life.
Luciano Chessa