# Spectral Music



## Guest (May 6, 2015)

OK I'm starting this thread cos Haas has a thread already and unfortunately has limited "product" in the market place as far as I can tell.

So,_ in vain_ I am creating a home for *all things spectral.*

It's a whole new area to me, I'm simply starting from the point that Haas' Limited Approximations is, to my ears, GARGANTUAN. In places, it's so tense, it's almost unbearable. Or maybe I just need to adjust my meds.

Feel free...

:tiphat:


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## Guest (May 6, 2015)

Putting my money (OK voucher plus money) where my mouth is, I've just ordered Haas


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## Guest (May 6, 2015)

and Murail









now come on, postie!


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Interesting that you mention Haas! I really love his music, but he's not often a composer whom many people would first think of when the topic of _spectral music_ springs up actually. Gerard Grisey and Tristan Murail, you mentioned the latter in the post just above, have written much fantastic spectral music to start exploring.

However, two of my favourite spectral compositions are....

Per Nørgård's _Voyage into the Golden Screen,_ which I believe the first ever spectral composition purely for acoustic instruments. A more electronic work of which I am a great fan is _Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco_ by Jonathan Harvey.

Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco contains eight sections. Each of the sections is announced by and based on one of the eight lowest partials from the bell's harmonic spectrum (Harvey 1981, 22). Modulations from one bell transformation to another are generally achieved by sine-tone glissandi and/or tacet pauses. The partials present are related to the following pitches and corresponding frequencies rounded up to the nearest whole number; example 1 shows C3=138Hz, C4=261Hz,Eb4=311Hz, F4=349Hz, C5=523Hz, F5=698Hz, G5=784Hz and A5=880Hz
http://cec.sonus.ca/econtact/9_2/dirks.html


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

I tend to agree with those who think that the first piece of spectral music ever written is






Anyway, this is one of my favorites










and it's #11 in our post-1950 works list.


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

There's also Hugues Dufourt, the guy that coined the term, who is also an influential composer that heavily uses spectral techniques. Formerly 'spectralism' is only Grisey and Murail.


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## Guest (May 6, 2015)

And here is the guy who 'wrote the book' so to speak on spectromorphology: *Denis Smalley*.
The link hereafter is to his personal website at City University, London and gives a fuller account of his works, discography and publications.
http://www.city.ac.uk/arts-social-sciences/academic-staff-profiles/professor-denis-smalley


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Here is a wonderful landmark classic of the music.


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## Guest (May 6, 2015)

Perhaps for ignorants like me, a little background.

Thanks for the posts so far!

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectral_music


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## Guest (May 6, 2015)

Haas has said that he has not performed spectral analysis, even though he enjoys making use of the harmonic series. Just a tidbit of info, really, because to me, it's all about how it sounds.

Anyway, I guess I like...

Grisey
Murail
Radulescu
Dumitrescu
Avram
Dufourt
Haas
Saariaho
Hosokawa
Lopez Lopez
Posadas
Harvey
Levinas

And then I guess I'm just not sure who else to tag as spectral anyway. Manoury is one, for instance, that seems spectral. And then Norgard has that one piece and a few others, but I don't see it as his main thing. A lot of composers like Michael Jarrell and Bruno Mantovani are integrating spectralism into their styles, but it's more of a hybrid thing.

TL;DR: long live spectralism


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## Guest (May 6, 2015)

Er, so what would be the listening features that tag something as "spectral"? Is it the microtone thing?


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## Guest (May 6, 2015)

From a layman who doesn't understand this music stuff, my attempt at an answer to your question, dogen, would be a rough definition along the lines of "_the use of harmonics, microtones, and extended techniques in search of new timbres and textures_"

As such, this results in a whole host of other attributes: for instance, the fact that spectralism typically favors tuned percussion instruments even more than other genres.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

^I think more strictly it has something to do with the spectral analysis of certain sounds and the application of it somehow in composition. The Harvey piece I mentioned above, for example, uses pitch material derived from a spectral analysis of a particular church bell.


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

Here's an interview to Murail that, naturally, touches on the topic: http://www.musica-ukrainica.odessa.ua/i-rovner-murail.html


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## Guest (May 7, 2015)

Richannes Wrahms said:


> Here's an interview to Murail that, naturally, touches on the topic: http://www.musica-ukrainica.odessa.ua/i-rovner-murail.html


Thanks that an enlightening interview. Interesting to see what he says it developed in reaction *to* :

"These techniques form an attempt to rebuild a coherent sound world, which was destroyed due to many many destructive experiences, such as generalized serialization on one hand and the aleatory experiments of John Cage, on the other hand."


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

This disc of orchestral works by *Tristan Murail* is recently released and is a superbly performed and recorded example of 1st rate spectralism:


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## Guest (May 8, 2015)

GioCar said:


> I tend to agree with those who think that the first piece of spectral music ever written is


Wagner?! How's that work then?


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## Guest (May 8, 2015)

i listened to Désintégrations (Tristan Murail) last night. What a great piece of music!


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

dogen said:


> Wagner?! How's that work then?


Well, not all Wagner's music but the prelude of Das Rheingold possibly is the first example of (proto)spectral music. 
Just think on how the piece develops from the Eb pedal by gradually adding/exploiting all its overtones (i.e. by using its spectrum) not only in terms of harmony but also, more interestingly, from a timbrical point of view (i.e. from the point of view of the *Sound* - the Godspel for the spectralists).


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I had thought Ligeti was part of the spectralism movement/genre, but now I see he is considered "proto-spectralism." Whatever that means.


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## Guest (May 9, 2015)

Weston said:


> I had thought Ligeti was part of the spectralism movement/genre, but now I see he is considered "proto-spectralism." Whatever that means.


The Murail interview linked previously: Murail namechecks Ligeti and Xenakis. Both pioneers into sound manipulation presumably?


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## Guest (May 9, 2015)

Random thought: is there going to be a restriction on live performances, perchance? (Thought probably based on defective understanding).


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

Joshua Feinberg is an American spectral composer; Marilyn Noken did a great recording of many of his piano works called Veiled Voices.


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