Mapping Musical Practices in/for Underground Experimental Film (1960-1979)

The chapter outlines the framework in which Italian experimental cinema emerged and presents a variety of film and music practices between art and independent films in the 1960s and 1970s. The identification of local art scenes and their connections with the Italian and transnational contexts is the starting point for a thorough investigation of the uses of music in these films. The essay studies, among others, the Rome scene of Mario Schifano, Franco Angeli, Franco Brocani, Carmelo Bene, Alberto Grifi, Gianfranco Baruchello and Massimo Bacigalupo, the Florence scene of Superstudio and UFO, and the work of independent filmmakers (e.g., Andrea Granchi, Tonino De Bernardi, and Ugo Nespolo). Such contexts as art galleries (e.g., L’attico by Fabio Sargentini in Rome), night clubs (e.g., the Piper in Rome and Turin), film cooperatives (e.g., the Cooperativa Cinema Indipendente and the Studio di Monte Olimpino) are also considered. A number of musical practices emerges to be placed in the continua between composition and improvisation, original and pre-existing music, film synchronization and live sonorization, authorial and collaborative dimension. Composers, musicians and improvisation groups involved in these practices include Luciano Berio, Giuseppe Chiari, Vittorio Gelmetti, Pietro Grossi, and Musica Elettronica Viva.