Guglielmo Marconi

The official application of the "G.Marconi - Listening to the World" exhibition curated by the International Museum and Library of Music of Bologna

I will build a network that will connect the world: Guglielmo Marconi has nurtured this dream throughout his existence. This exhibition-dossier, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of his birth, talks about Marconi, the brilliant inventor of wireless telecommunications, pioneer of radio, as well as an enlightened entrepreneur who influenced both communication and music.

His invention of radio waves transformed the way music was transmitted and listened to, making it possible to listen to concerts and music broadcasts remotely. Before radio, music was a local experience, accessible only live or via rudimentary phonographs. Thanks to Marconi, melodies and performances began to travel, starting an unprecedented cultural diffusion: radio stations began to broadcast music,
creating new ways for artists to reach wider audiences and fundamentally changing the relationship with music. For the first time in history you could enjoy famous orchestras and solo artists from the comfort of your own home!

The exhibition is divided into thematic sections that retrace Marconi's "adventures", starting from the first transoceanic signal in 1901 and the establishment of the first companies for the production of radio equipment. Among the most significant moments, the birth of Marconi Velvet Tone records in 1906, the result of an agreement with Columbia, which attempted to compete with traditional cylinders and records.

1909 marked the recognition of the Nobel Prize for Physics for Marconi; at the time his company now had 24 radio stations in England, 12 in Italy, 4 in the United States and 2 in Canada and several others in Europe. Radio proved crucial in events such as the sinking of the ocean liner RM Republic in 1909 and also in the Titanic tragedy in 1912, where the presence of the transmission system saved many lives.

After World War I, in 1922, Marconi founded the Marconiphone department to design and sell radio equipment, and in 1924 he ventured
also in record distribution thanks to an agreement with Pathè. His contribution in the context of the constitution/foundation of the
first radio broadcasters on a national and international scale: on 13 October 1922 the British General Post Office and a group of telecommunications companies, including the Marconi Company, founded the BBC British Broadcasting Company Ltd, which became the exclusive concessionaire for the public service broadcasting in the UK.

In 1924 the Società Anonima Radiofono (founded by Marconi) established the URI Unione radiofonica italiana in Rome, which in 1944 became the RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana: the first real broadcast was on 3 January 1954. The exhibition itinerary closes with another fundamental " adventure” by Guglielmo Mar-
cones: the first Vatican Radio broadcast on 12 February 1931 carried out at the request of Pope Pius XI.