Opus (Sep 2015)
Following the traces of spectral music: genetic analysis of compositional models in Périodes, by Gérard Grisey
Abstract
First developed in the mid-1970s, spectral music represents one of the main genres of contemporary French music. In Périodes (1974) for 7 instruments, Gérard Grisey (1946-1998) sets the foundation of this new approach to music composition, which explores both the acoustical properties of sound and specific features of the auditory system. Gérard Grisey’s archives at the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel contain, among other things, musical manuscripts (drafts, autograph notes, drawings, etc.) of each of the composer’s works, as well as manuscripts of his writings, lesson notes, and books from his library. An examination of these documents, in addition to information gained from interviews with some of the composer’s close friends, allow us to understand better how Grisey imagined, developed, and brought to fruition his spectral approach to composition. In this paper, we begin by describing the composer’s education and explore his particular investigation of musical acoustics between 1972 and 1974 by studying the work of Émile Leipp and Fritz Winckel. We then look closely at two models (the respiratory cycle and the harmonic spectrum built on an E1 fundamental) that lie at the heart of the piece and underscore both their structural and auditory influence. Finally, after conducting a detailed analysis of the last section of the piece where Grisey uses instruments to recreate a sound spectrum, we question the existence of a trombone’s spectrogram that the composer himself claims to have used as a model. Through this genetic study of Périodes, we seek, in general, to document the construction of the cycle entitled Les espaces acoustiques (1974-1985) considered emblematic of the spectral aesthetic.
