In 1897 Pietro Acciarito, a Florentine anarchist, attempted to stab King Umberto I. He was arrested, put on trial, and condemned to a life of imprisonment. Later, after being put in solitary confinement, he went mad and ended his days in a prison mental asylum.

When, in 2009, the Venice Biennale commissioned a new work from Mauro Lanza, the composer drew inspiration from the figure of Acciarito, creating the piece I funerali dell’anarchico Acciarito for intonarumori (experimental musical instruments invented by Luigi Russolo) and sound objects.

The piece will be performed for the first time in Belgium on March 3 at the Kaitheater in Brussels by the percussionists of Ensemble Ictus under the direction of Georges-Elie Octors.

I funerali dell’anarchico Acciarito has also been performed several times since October 2014 as part of a tour of Ballet Mekanique, a choreographed ballet conceived by Tom Pauwels (Ensemble Ictus’s guitarist) together with the dancer and choreographer Inga Hákonardóttir. As of February 2015, the ballet has been performed in Lisbon, Antwerp, Brussels, Gent and Lille.

Lanza: works