You are on page 1of 8

)UHQFK6SHFWUDO0XVLF$Q,QWURGXFWLRQ

$XWKRU V 9LYLDQD0RVFRYLFK
6RXUFH7HPSR1HZ6HULHV1R $SU SS
3XEOLVKHGE\&DPEULGJH8QLYHUVLW\3UHVV
6WDEOH85/http://www.jstor.org/stable/945265
$FFHVVHG

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless
you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you
may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup.

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed
page of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Cambridge University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Tempo.

http://www.jstor.org
VivianaMoscovich
French SpectralMusic: an Introduction

The composersbelongingto whatwouldlaterbe research,the impactof electroacousticson musical


calledthe 'spectralmusicmovement'startedtheir thought,and,aboveall, the collapseof the socialand
careersin an unstablepoliticalperiodin France. mentalbarriersunderwhichthe [musical]profession
Between 1962 and 1974, underthe presidency was becomingossified.1
of Charlesde Gaulle and GeorgesPompidou, Another reason for this change in aesthetic
France(the 5th Republic)was whatwe can call thought was related to the notion of timbre, for
a 'GaullistRepublic'.But in the middleof the since the beginning of the 20th century, two
1960sthe economicpolicy of the government correlated factors have influenced the aesthetics
arousedthe hostilityof the Frenchpeople.The of the musical world: the emergence of timbre
'Stabilization
Plan'of 1-963inducedunemploy- as a fundamentalfactor in composition, and the
ment for the first time since 1945, and the development of new materials such as elect-
authoritariancharacterof a governmentwhich, ronics, transmission, recording, computers and
in 1967, legislatedin the form of ordonnances,data processing. The use of timbre - instead of
turnedthe peopleagainstthe presidentialpolicy tones - is a choice based on technological and
in every domain. cultural parameters.
In May 1968 the crisis became a cultural The beginning of this change in musical
revolution.The maingroupsinvolvedwere the language and perception began in the 19th
studentsand the workers.Immensemanifest- century with the appearanceof Fourier'ssound
ationswere organizedfollowingrepressionsby analysisof any continuous sound
signal, giving a
the police.On 13Mayredflagswiththe insignia physicalcharacterizationto each and
every signal.
'Tenyearsis enough!'(Dixanscasuffit!)were raised Sound is not a nucleus but a whole, composed of
againstthe Gaullistgovernment.The objectives different parts.A signal is therefore decomposed
of the movementof 1968(the 'soixante-huitards') in series of harmonics and sound is represented
were: I. the revoltof the people; 2. to free the in the form of a mathematicalformula. Sound as
individual;3. to reversethe sodal order; 4. to a whole - and not only as a definite pitch -
changethe way of life. On 30 May, de Gaulle becomes the composer's raw material, involving
announcedthe dissolutionof the Assembly,and also factors such as the acoustic phenomenon of
on 30 June, in the parlimentary elections,the physical sounds, the human perception of these
Gaullistpartyobtaineda vastmajority. sounds, the psycho-physiological response to
After this period of crisis, and during the sound stimulus, and the choice of sound sources.
presidencyof GeorgesPompidou,thereemerged This kind of compositionalwork called also for a
- mainly in France- a generationof young
change in such notions as melody and musical
composersbornin the 1940s.Themostimportant timing.
were JohannesFritschand MesiasMaiguashca The forerunnersof this
composition technique
fromGermany,JonathanHarveyfromEngland, in music are, in
chronological order: Debussy,
GillesTremblay andClaudeVivierfromCanada, Varese, Scelsi and Messiaen.
and Gerard Grisey, TristanMurail, Hugues
Debussy revolutionized the musical world by
Dufourt,HoratiuRadulescufrom France. introducing two major changes in the linear
Afterthe eventsof 1968,recoilingfromwhat
organizationof melody:
seemeda dead-endin the evolutionof contemp- 1. By thinking of sound as a perceived object,
orary music, these young composersgathered and using it to evoke an image, a colour or a
togetherto open a new way in musicalcomp- feeling by choosing to mix the sounds into
osition.Theybeganto createin a periodof great sound-fields of different lengths.
instrumentaldevelopment,or, as Dufourtput it:
1 H. Dufourt, Auto Portrait,extract from the file on spectral
theprominentpheonomenaof thisdecade[thedecade music (Centre de Documentation de la Musique Contemp-
of 1967-1977][are]:the developmentof instrumental oraine), (Paris, La Villette: 1977), p.3: Orientations.
22 FrenchSpectralMusic:an Introduction

This new approach to sound was also made


possible thanks to the evolution of technology,
and, especially, of computerized sound analysis
which enabled composers not only to modify
already existing sounds but to create new and
unknown ones as well.
J.C. Risset - who, in 1969, published a
'catalogue of synthesized sounds through
computer' - described this interaction between
composer and computer in an article of 1977,
saying that
thanks to the control of timbre by analysisand
synthesis, composers can not just compose with
timbresbut alsocreatethe timbres... in thisway the
controlof timbrecanbringaboutthe creationof new
[.. .] Thiswill requirefromthe
musicalarchitectures
musiciana subtlehearing,but also a backgroundin
psychoacousticsanda good interactiveenvironment.3
In spectral music, the spectrum - or group of
spectra - replace harmony, melody, rhythm,
orchestrationand form. The spectrum is always
in motion, and the composition is based on
spectradeveloping through time and exerting an
TristanMurail (photo:United Music Publishers) influence on rhythm and formal processes.
2. In his use of time, focussing on the notation As to spectral music composition techniques,
of the instant and on its acoustic qualities. two main streams may be perceived: that of
In Edgard Varese's works we find the next Dufourt and Grisey, and that of Murail and
stage in the evolution towardsspectralmusic. For Risset.
Varese,sound is an essential structuralelement in Tristan Murail has given a picturesque
music. Varese wanted to liberate sound from its description of his work as a composer:
scholastic rules. He invented the 'ionisation': a I imaginemyselfas a sculptorin frontof a stoneblock
technique in which different elements of sound whichconcealsa hiddenform;a spectrumwill thusbe
are projected into a dynamic acoustic space. For able to concealformsof differentdimensionswhich
him, tomorrow's music should be 'spatial', thus we can reveal accordingto certain criteria- and
involving the movement of areasand resounding with the help of certaininstruments: activefiltering,
masses varying in intensity and density.2 selectionof temperedpitches,spectralareas,spectral
Giacinto Scelsi considered sound as an entity exploration.. . this compositiontechnique,from the
whole to the unit, is opposedto the classicalcellular
we have to explore and compose with, to feel its
constructiontechnique.4
pulse at every instant of the piece. He spoke of
density, dynamics, spatial position, smooth or According to Murail, if a composer wants to
rough particles, spectral composition before the belong to the spectral universe, he has to accept
appearanceof the computer generation. five essential precepts:
Oliver Messiaen,named professorof composi- 1. to think of the continuum before thinking
tion in the Conservatoirede Parisin 1942, had as of the discrete.
his students composers such as Pierre Boulez, 2. to have a global approachand not a cellular
KarlheinzStockhausen,and in the 1960s: Tristan or a sequential one.
Murail, Gerard Grisey and Michael Levinas. In 3. to use logarithmic/expositionalmethods of
his work he used the parameter of Acoustics, organization instead of linear ones.
specially in what he called: 'the resonancechord', 4. to build in a functional way.
as for example in his transcriptionsof birds' songs 5. to be concerned with the relation between
- each with its exact timbre. In these transcript- conception and perception.
ions we find one of the first examples of a fusion
between harmony and timbre.
3 J.C. Risset, 'Exploration du timbre par analyse et synthese',
2 After A. Castanet and Odile Vivier in A. Castanet, in Le timbre,mdtaphore
pourla composition,
eg. J.H. Barriere
(Bourgois/Ircam, 1991), pp.125-126.
'Musiques Spectrales: nature organique et materiaux sonores
au 20e siecle', in Dissonanz (Dissonance)no.20, p.5. 4 T. Murail, 'Questions de cible', in 8, p.154.
Entretemps
FrenchSpectralMusic:an Introduction 23

George Benjamin has written about Murail's Afterwards,the frequenciesobtainedare approx-


work: imatedto a quarterof a tone so theycanbe playedby
musicalinstruments,whichresultsin:*
Murail'smusic is based on the physical,acoustic
propertiesof sounditself,ratherthanon anyartificial Additionals Differentials
abstracttheory. The most immediatelynoticeable H1=599,65 : D +4 H-1=184,35 : F# 2
features of his music are its unbroken continuity. . . it H2=807,30 : G +4 H-2=23,30 : F# -1
is aboveall musicfor the ear,invitingthe listeneron a H3=1014,95: B +4 H-3=230,95 : A# 2
journeyto new,undiscovered worldsof soundandthe H4=1222,60: D +5 H-4=438,60 : A 3
imagination. H5=1430,25: F +5 H-5=646,25 : D# +4
H6=1637,90: G# 5 H-6=853,90: G# +4
Murail dreamed of composing with the H7=1845,55: A# 5 H-7=1061,55 : C 5
computer (in French, CAO) and worked side by H8=2053,20: B +5 H-8=1269,20 : D# +5
side with the programmers of the IRCAM to H9=2260,85: C# +6 H-9=1476,85 : F# 5
develop the Patchwork programme. With this Thischordconstitutestheharmonicstructureof the
programme composers can finally create their firstchordof Gondwana (3rdbar):
own tools which are immediately perceived
add.
either graphically or as sounds. According to
Murail, these changeshad an enormous influence
on the compositions of the whole spectral
movement, for in the early 1980s the evolution
from one harmonic spectrum to another was 8+ -
slow, and the music was static. In the 1990s, one 9: >1 Os
can instantaneously hear complex transform-
ations. This has affected the form of the pieces,
which became more whole and contrasting,
instead of linear and progressive.5 think
Thischord'ssoundmakesus instantaneously
In Entretemps8, Marc-AndreDalvabie analyses of a bell. It has an amplitudesenvelope whose model is
at length the beginning of Murail's Gondwana the percussion/resonance.In the orchestration,we see
(1980). Some of the main points of his analysis that the medium and low sounds are played by the
will serve to illustrate Murail's compositional brass, that the modulant is played by the tuba, which
has the largest mass, and that the high frequences are
process in this work:
played by the woodwind instruments with a certain
Thewholeharmonicgeneratingprinciplein Gondwana imbalance: the first clarinet is placed above the first
is basedon a techniqueof soundsynthesisstartedby two oboes in a very resonantregister (Arb5), while the
John Chowning. This technique is based on an oboes are in their weak register (F+5 and Eb 5).
algorithmthat generatesthe partialsas well as the Next, thecomposerstartsa processof interpolation
whichconstitutethe basicstructureof the which consists in a continuous evolution from an
amplitudes,
timbre. The frequenciesresult from an algebraic object A to an object B. The above-mentioned chord
operation: will be repeated 12 times. The first, second, fourth,
HARMONICS = CARRIER (porteuse) + fifth and eighth chords are frequence modulations
[MODULANT x INDEX] whose pitch relations become more and more
The index of the modulation representsthe harmonical harmonic. The last chord is a superposition of two
density. harmonic spectra: G# 1 and F# 2.
In the beginning of the score, (for example) if we The intermediate chords (third, sixth, seventh,
have as carrier sol(G)3 i.e. 392 Hz, as modulant ninth, tenth, eleventh) are each one made of the
sol(G)#2: 207,6 Hz and as index of modulation 9, resulting interpolation of the two surroundingchords.
according to the algorithm exposed before we obtain The third chord, for example, is the result of the
the followingharmonics: interpolationbetween the second and fourth chords....
This progressionprocess has as its model the trombone
Hi = P + (Mxl)
sound in the eleventh chord. ... It is interesting to
H1=392 + (207,65xl)=599,65
H2=392 + (207,65x2)=807,30
noticethe strongrelationexistingbetweenperception
and writing procedures ... This kind of sound control
etc
could not have been achieved without the timbre
Hi=P - (Mxl)
torsion procedures available in electroacoustic music
H-1=392 - (207,65xl)=184,35
and those of the orchestra,which induce the division of
H-2=392 - (207,65x2)= 23,30
etc. parameters. [...] Transposingstudio techniques to the
orchestracorresponds to a synthesis. Spectral music is
but the continuation of this synthesis.... TristanMurail
perceived this need, and Gondwanacorresponds to a
5 After Marc Texier, 'L'univers de Tristan Murail', in
RisonanceNo. 1, IRCAM, Mars 1992. * Note thatin this table the
plus sign representsa quarter-sharp.
24 FrenchSpectralMusic:an Introduction

kindof ultimatepointof whatcanbe realizedwith a About his own work, Dufourt has written that
symphonicorchestrain the utilizationof a highly there are six basic precepts in spectral music:9
permeatingtimbremodel.6 1. The piece is conceived as a synthetic
J.C. Risset represents the most scientific point whole;
of departurewithin the spectral movement. His 2. There is a basic congruencebetween the
basic interest is in the discovery and the creation whole and its inner division;
of new sounds, distorting sound, and obtaining 3. The manner in which the piece is
unknown sound illusions with the help of organized coincides with the manner in
which it evolves through time;
computerized sound analysis. In Musique,calcul
secret,he explains that: 4. Spectralmusic is founded on a theory of
functional fields and on an aesthetics of
Mathematics seemsproperto throwthe lighton many unstable forms;
musicalphenomenae.[...] It give us generatingor 5. This music marks a progress towards
explanatory musicalmodels- but it does not seemto
immanence and transparence;
giveus thekey, themodel.... Thelongdistancemodes
of arrangements,of musical equilibrium,remain 6. The renewal of the traditional instru-
mysterious, the senseof the 'bigform'seemsto escape mental practice, that of string and wind
any explanationbasedon models.The validity,the instruments.
musicalsenseof a formalism,of a syntaxdependson In his Auto portraitfrom 1977, in his own
the context and even more on the compositional analysis of his work Erewhon (Symphony for
purpose- and as to the creativeprocess:does it not percussion, written between 1972-1976) he
consistin creatingand elaboratingnew rules rather explains the following:10
thanin exploitingexistingones?
[...] The computerseemsto ascribeto the role of a Whatcountsin the percussionis not the impact,it is
notes'mill,a musicalrillingmillto theKm,betterthan the resonance'sdynamicspectrum.Accordingto the
the synthesizersand their sequencers...There is natureof the sticksand to the playingquality,we
-
nothingfatalin thatthe computerwill be used in a obtainfromthesameinstrument gong,cymbal,tam-
to to
normative,oppressivesense, codify, homogenize. tam - a multitude of unstable and very varied
... Thecomputeris notthereto makemusicprofitfrom resonances:quickor slow developments,oscillations
the prestigeof science...it is not unimportant to show ... Percussionmodifies profoundly the relations
that the computercan be turnedinto a tool to the betweenproductionand soundperception.
serviceof the musician- a multipletool in favourof [...] Percussionchangesareperceptionof duration
individuality, of the difference,helpingeachmusician ... by carryingus to extremes, it intensifiesthe
to make his own musicalinstrument,to evoke and contradictions - it is the conflict of these dynamic
transform soundsto hiswill.... Itis essentialto makeit systems that decides of the temporalform. A flow
[thecomputer] work in synergywith man - the human (flux) for example, is but a wayof oscillating,without
interventionhas to inflector directthe implemented deciding,betweentwo antagonizingTempi.All my
processes.... At eachstage,at eachlevel, the musician writingprinciplesrely on opposingandcomplemen-
will be able to keep control(or not). tarydetermination systems.
[...] The computer'ssynthesizedsound material In his preface to L'orage- d'apresGiorgioneof
presentsa malleability withoutprecedent,it lendsitself
1976-1977, Dufourt explains:
to new modesof arrangement, to new architectures.
But we have to 'clarifythis material'in the light of the bassregisterof wind instruments - flute, double
perception.7 bass,clarinet,coranglais(tenoroboe)andtrombone-
unfold in a very slow time, of heaviness and
Hugues Dufourt has written that: sluggishness.
Fromthe workof Jean-ClaudeRissetwe concludeto The emissionis ample and enables the mutual
thecertitudethatthefundamental conceptsof thenew recoveryof the masses,the somewhatatmospheric
musicalacousticshave an intercategorical status,that treatmentof timbre.Thistreatmentis emphasizedby
theyproceedby differentation andintegrationof the the utilizationof electronicinstruments thatset up, in
variousinformationcategories.Psycho-acoustics will the background,a field of tensionalvalues.
have the task of identifying the constraintsof The sonorityof the vibraphone,of the guitaror of
coherenceand assemblingthem into an ensembleof the electricorganis notdiffusedin the space,it would
conditions.8 rathertendto be contracted. Fromherewe cometo the
somewhatparadoxical interestthatcouldrepresentthe
confrontationbetweenall theseinstruments.11
6 Marc-Andre in Entretemps
Dalbavie,'NotessurGondwana',
No.8, Paris,Sept. 1989. 9 H. Dufourt, 'Musiquespectrale',in No.7,
Consequences
7Jean-ClaudeRisset,'Musique,Calcul secret?',in Critique 1985-1986,pp.114-115.
No.359, 1977. 10H. Dufourt, Auto Portrait,extract from the file on Spectral
La 1977.
8 H.
Dufourt,'Ladialectiquedu son usine',in ConsequencesMusic, CDMC Library, Villette, Paris,
No.7, automne85-printemps86, p.199. 11H. Dufourt, Preface to the score of this work.
FrenchSpectralMusic:an Introduction 25

Dufourt's composition technique is thus based


on sound fields manipulated by the composer.
For Dufourt, variation and movement are the
elements upon which the structureof the piece is
based.There is no preconceivedgeneralstructure.
The movement of the different sound masses
(resoundinginstruments)and the piece's structure
form one interactive entity (as in Erewhonor in
his work L'Orage).
Gerard Grisey has largely exposed his
aesthetical points of view - as well as his
compositional techniques - in his article: 'La
musique:le devenirdessons' (Music:the becomingof
sounds).For him, the piece's form is determined
by the evolution of the sounds. The music is the
sounds, their changes, their differentiations,their
history, or as Grisey puts it in the title: le devenir
(thebecoming) of the sounds. The questions asked
by the listener are: where does this sound come
from? Where does it go to? What is its way
between the manifold?What sense does it have in
this place, and in that one? The apprehensionand
the assessment of the difference between the
different sounds at every given moment become
GerardGrisey(photo:Guy Vivien,courtesy
of Ricordi& Co.
the real material of musical composition. (London)
Ltd.)
Sound parameters determine the fluctuating
and ambiguous characterof the fields, as in the Modulations: composedas a piece that can be played
alone (see recordingby Erato).It is partof the cycle
case of the work on the contrast 'luminosity/
shade' of each sound or group of sounds. It is the Espaces designedas a crescendoof timbre
Acoustiques,
anddensitythatprogressesfromthe solo piece to the
distribution of the harmonics, the relative largeorchestra.
intensity of the partials,the combination sounds,
and the different fluctuations, that give to each Prologue for viola solo (1976)
sound or group of sounds a specific aura, and Periodes for 7 musicians(1974)
Partiels for 16 or 18 musicians (1975)
by selecting one of the potentialcomponentsand Modulationsfor 33 musicians (1976-77)
bringingit out, it will then become a new radiant Transitoires for orchestra(1980-81)
object. Out of this soundwe can againchoose and Epilogue for orchestra(1985)
updatethis or thatcomponent,and so forth.12
We remarkthatthe chronologyof the pieces'creation
In this composition process - which Grisey does not correspondto the cycle'sorder...
calls 'le principede la generationinstantane'e(the Modulationsmergesthetraditional senseof modulation
principle of the instantaneousgeneration) - each and the acousticones that serve as a beaconfor the
modulation and frequence
gesture determines the next one as in a chain- composer: amplitude
modulation.Even if these are not equivalent,at the
reaction and the composer has to control its
moment of putting the parametersinto music the
power and effects. Furthermore, sound has a composeruses only the part of the mathematical
birth, a life and a death, and the time in which it formula that gives the additionaland differential
evolves is both its atmosphere and its territory. sounds.The composercan alsointerpretthe resulting
Musical form becomes the projection of a natural sounds as generatingsounds, and so exploit the
microphonicspace onto an artificialscreen which sonorous extension.
serves to deform, to focalize, to multiply, to In this work I considerthe harmoniclevel in a
select, and so on. traditionalsense.... Thereis, in the partI shallcallA -
As an example of Grisey's composition fromthe beginningto rehearsalnumber22 - a series
of pertinentpolarizations:E, B, and F which cor-
process, we could consider his work Modulations,
respond to the Tonic note, the Dominantand the
analysedat length by M. de la Cruz PadronLopez
second, as in classical harmony. These harmonies are
Le Dilly in her DEA paper. She writes:13
frequently present. If we try to approximate the
12 G.
Grisey, 'La musique: le devenir des sons', in
No.7/8, p.128.
Consdquences
13Mariade la CruzPadronLopesLe-Dilly, 'Aspectsde la de DEA de 1'Ecoledes HautesEtudesen SciencesSociales,
"musiquespectrale": de GerardGrisey',Memoire 1993, pp.93-109.
Modulations
26 FrenchSpectralMusic:an Introduction

micro-intervals to their nearest tempered sounds, we - vertical crossing-over


shall see that their utilization serves to muddle the - cellular crossing-over
traditional sense of the modulation. Duration: A=424 seconds, B=397 sec, A'=224 sec
On the other hand, it is important to remark the This shows a progressive diminution in the total
crossingsof different naturethat are an integral part of durations' trajectory.
this work.
I found in Modulationsa form divided into various Grisey himself wrote about Modulations:14
sections. ... These sections shall be assembled into a In Modulations, the materialdoes not exist anymore, it is
global tripartiteform: A (from the beginning up to the sublimatedin a pure, never-ending mutating sonorous
number 22); (transition:number 22 - last bar before evolution (becoming) imperceptible in the instant;
23); B up to the fourth barbefore 43); A' (to the end)... everything is movement. The only beacons in this
A' is a kind of mirror of the first part. The composer simultaneously slow and dynamic drift: a harmonic
uses as the bass for this piece a spectrum on an E 41,2 spectrum on E (41'2 Hertz) and periodical durations.
Hertz, but he uses approximationsand not the precise The form of this piece is the history of the sounds
correspondencesthat could be given by the computer. that compose it. The sound parameters are oriented
To show this point, I join a spectrum in quartersand and directed to create many processes of modulation,
eighths of tones of an E 41,2 H obtained with the processes that largely require the discoveries
Patchworkprogramme.In the analysiswhich appeared of acoustics: harmonic spectrae, partials spectrae,
in the review Melos,Peter Niklas Wilson gives us the transitories, formants, additional sounds, differential
spectrum used by Grisey; this spectrum does not sounds, white noise, filterings, etc ... On the other
correspond to the one we have just examined: hand, the analysis of the brass instruments' sona-

1/4

I _ I
v..-

1/8
I
4 4J ? *,,*,
'
J~a I^ J . ^ M?

". - .2

At the beginning, we can note that the wood and grammes and of their mutes enabled me to rebuild
brass instruments use tempered sounds, and the the their timbre synthetically or, on the contrary, to
non-tempered sounds are reached by the strings.These distort them.
sounds, mostly in harmonics, will slowly give place to By the attention brought, constantly, no longer on
harmonic sounds throughout the piece. the material itself, but on emptiness, on the distance
[...] a process of continuity directs the major part of which separates one perceived instant from the next
Modulations. one (degree of change or evolution), I think I have
The idea of crossing-over is represented in many come a little closer to the fundamentaltime, no longer
different ways of writing: chronometricaltime but the psychological one and its
- formal crossing-over, relative value. Despite the continuity in evolution, we
- block crossing-over
- instrumental crossing-over 14AfterM. de la CruzPadronLopezLe-Dilly,idem.,pp.75,et
- linear crossing-over 79-81.
FrenchSpectralMusic:an Introduction 27

can distinguishand summarize andone sound was no longer a specific musical note,
five processes
breaking-upofthediscourse,
whosedurationsareproportionalneither was musical composition expected to
to theoddharmonics'spectrumintervals. show the contradictionsbetween different pitch
areas. Sound, considered as a whole integral
Maria Padron Lopez Le Dilly summarizes
entity, is decomposed into its different com-
Grisey's cycle EspacesAcoustiquessaying that: ponents to show - by achieving a hearing
In the whole cycle there is a growth in sonorous synthesis - the real essence of each and every
density. There is an omnipresentuse of micro- sound complex.
intervals, noise, beats, harmonic and inharmonic
spectrae,differentialandadditionalsounds.Thereis a
processof continuity,andtwo commonlandmarks: the
spectrumand the periodicity.The idea of human (I wouldlike to thankmy familyandNefer, without
breathingis one of the key parametersfor the whose assistanceI would not have arrivedthis far.)
composer.15
Thus, in conclusion, we can see that there is a
subdivisionof the Frenchspectralschool into two BIBLIOGRAPHY
aesthetic groups: - Barriere J.B. ed., Le timbre, metaphorepour la
1. The group of Grisey and Dufourt, who composition,editions Bourgois/Ircam, Paris, 1991.
believe that the musical piece is built from - Castanet P.-A., 'Musiques spectrales: nature
within, by sound-entities that are formed, organique et materiaux sonores au 20e siecle', in
transformed and transmuted. These sound- Dissonanz(Dissonance)no 20, Mai 1989.
- Castanet P.-A., Hugues Dufourt, son oeuvreet ses
entities thus become the nucleus from which the
Doctorat Sciences Humaines - Musique,
prealables.
piece develops over time. Universite de Tours, 1992.
2. The group of Murail and Risset, who - Dufourt H., Auto portrait,extrait du dossier sur la
represent a compositional tendency in which musique spectrale, La Villette, Paris, 1977.
science and psychoacousticsare essential to the - Dufourt H., 'Musique spectrale', Consequences
compositionprocess.The quest for new formulas, No.7/8, 1985-86.
and the use of the computeras an essentialtool in - Dufourt H., 'Hauteur et Timbre', Inharmoniques
the composition process, are also specific features No.3, Ircam/ChristianBourgois, Paris,Mars 1988.
of this group. The piece is considered to be a - Entretemps:musiquecontemporaine, No.8.
whole, in which different events come one after - Grisey G., 'La musique: le devenir des sons',
the other but preserve its global structure. Consequences No. 7/8, 1985-86.
- HumbertclaudeE., 'Le reflet d'une oreille', in 20e
Spectral music seeks to exteriorize the inner siecle:imagesde la musiquefrancaise,Sacem/Papier.
realityof sound, to projectits inner dynamicsinto - ImbertyM., 'Le temps(musical)retrouve',Esprit
an acoustic space and time, and to transmitto the No.99, Mars 1985.
public the reality of sound in all its complexity. - Les cahiersde l'Ircam:compositionat environnements
Another feature is the use of acoustic suggestion Ircam/CentreGeorges Pompidou,
informatiques,
and perception, as we have seen in Grisey's Paris, automne 1992.
descriptionof spectralmusic; in Murail'sprecept - Moscovich, V., L'esthetique de la musiquespectrale-
that the composer has to be concerned by the est-elleimpressionniste?,
Memore de DEA de l'Ecole
relation conception/perception of a piece; and in des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris,1994.
- Padron Lopez-Le Dilly, M., Aspectsde la "'musique
Risset, who wrote that the composer of spectral
music should have some knowledge of Psycho- Modulations
spectrale": deGerardGrisey',Memoire de
DEA de 1'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences
acoustics.
Sociales, Paris, 1993.
To conclude: Spectralmusic, with its ideal of a - Risset J.C., 'Musique, calcul secret?', Critique
spatialsound - achieved by the decomposition of No. 359, 1977.
sound - that shows its components on a large - Risset J.C., 'Perception, environment, musiques'.
scale, found its aesthetic sources in the music of Photocopiede l'articletrouveea l'Ircam,dansle
Debussy, Varese, Scelsi and Messiaen, for whom service de Pedagogie.

15 Ibid., page 83.

You might also like