Art of Noise, The

The Art of Noise composed by Janice Misurell-Mitchell
Written for Flute, Voice, and Percussion (flutist doubles on voice)
Includes score and parts

The Art of Noise, for flute and percussion, was commissioned by flutist Meerenai Shim as a piece she could perform in a variety of venues. Ms. Shim has been a major supporter of my music.  Considering her interest in working with text and flute, I thought that it would be significant to use a text that also complemented her interest in progressive politics.  I found a strong musical connection of the two in Luigi Russolo's L'arte dei Rumori (The Art of Noises), written in 1913 as part of The Futurist Manifesto: 
   “At first the art of music sought purity, limpidity and sweetness of sound.  Then different sounds were amalgamated, care being taken, however, to caress the ear with gentle harmonies.  Today music, as it becomes continually more complicated, strives to amalgamate the most dissonant, strange and harsh sounds.  In this way we come ever closer to noise-sound.”