A determined anti-fascist, Nono joined the resistance in World War II and fought with the Partisans. After the fall of Mussolini, he went to Padua and took a law degree at the university. At that time, Nono met the Italian modernist Bruno Maderna, who was to have a decisive influence on Nono's musical life. Following Malipiero's recommendation, Nono began studies in 1948 with the theorist and conductor, Hermann Scherchen , and became Scherchen's assistant in Zurich. By 1950,...