HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS FOR THE

DEVELOPMENT OF SPECTRAL MUSIC

Christopher Gainey

Although spectralism is a relatively new compositional trend, the roots of its

development may be traced to historical models. This paper will discuss how spectral music was

influenced by the writings of music theorists throughout history, as well as the music of earlier

composers. Spectral music will then be considered as one reaction to the prevailing musical

avant-garde of the 1960s. These discussions will reveal the impetus for the aesthetic concerns

and technical resources that are central to the compositional attitude of spectral composers.

Theoretical Developments that Foreshadow

the Development of Spectralism

In 1863, Hermann von Helmholtz published his treatise, On the Sensation of Tone as a

Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music, which included a scientific justification for the

understanding of sonic phenomena. Ross writes that Helmholtz "had explained the physics of

the natural harmonic series1 and attempted to define human perceptions of consonance and

dissonance in relation to it. As the waveforms of any two simultaneous tones intersect, they

create 'beats,' pulsations in the air."2 Helmholtz proposed that these beats were a primary

determinant of perceived levels of consonance and dissonance in the interaction between two

sounds.

Although Helmholtz’s scientific scrutiny of sonic phenomena, and in particular their

1. This series is referred to by many names including "harmonic series," "overtone series," "overtone spectrum,"
and "harmonic spectrum." In addition, its components are referred to as "overtones," "partials," or "harmonics." In
this paper, as in the existing literature on spectralism, these terms will be used interchangeably to refer to the same
concept.

2. Alex Ross, The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century (New York: Picador, 2007), 46.
 2

influence on perception, was groundbreaking, the principle of the natural overtone series was by

no means a new idea. If a vibrating string is divided in half, then the shorter lengths of string

vibrate at twice the speed (frequency) of the vibration of the full string, producing a pitch one

octave higher than the original (i.e., the first partial above the fundamental pitch in the overtone

series). These divisions, and the series of partials they produce, caused Jean Philippe Rameau,

the eighteenth century music theorist and composer, to propose a method of organizing harmony

in music that is derived directly from the innate properties of the overtone series. Clearly, the

overtone series (or spectrum) was already influencing musical developments long before the

advent of spectralism.

Figure 1 shows three approximations of the first 24 partials3 of a harmonic series. The

fundamental pitch is A14 whose frequency is 55 Hertz (cycles5 per second, abbreviated "Hz").

The overtone series is derived by the multiplication of the fundamental frequency by each of a

rising series of integers.6 The integer denotes "rank" as well as its mathematical relation to the

fundamental frequency. Therefore, multiplying the fundamental frequency by two produces the

first overtone, whose rank is two and whose frequency is twice that of the fundamental. The

resultant frequencies derived from the multiplication of the fundamental frequency are shown

below the noteheads of Figure 1a. The three different levels of approximation of this overtone

series demonstrate the challenge of translating frequential calculations into discrete musical

3. In theory, the partials of the harmonic series go on infinitely; however, the first 24 partials will suffice for the
purposes of this discussion.

4. In this paper, the octave location of pitches will be indicated according the assumption that "middle C" = C4,
C3 = one octave below middle C, and C5 = one octave above middle C, etc.

5. "Cycles" in this context refers to how many times per second a vibration traverses its entire range of motion.
Sound waves are periodic, in that they are repetitions of a single cycle of vibration. The higher the number of cycles
per second, the higher the frequency (in Hertz), and therefore the higher the resulting pitch.

6. Hz = r * f (Hz = frequency of partial, r = partial rank, f = fundamental frequency in Hz)

 3

{
a) Harmonic Series: Fundamental = A1
20 2 21 µ22
7 8 9 10 11 12 µ˙ ˜2˙ #˙
µ ˜ ˙ ˙
(approximated to nearest eighth-tone)
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ #
µ
˙ 2 23 24

µ2˙
˙ # ˙
17 18 19 2
˙
˜2 ˙ ˙ ˙ 550 605 660 715 770 825 880 935 990 1100 1210 1320
15 16
˙
13 14

& 1045 1155 1265

˙ µ2 ˙*330
5 ˙
6 440 495
385
? ˙
4
1*** 2 3
˙ 165 220 275
˙ 110 * microtones are notated as follows:
2 = 1/8 sharp #2 = 5/8 sharp
µ = 1/4 sharp ˜ = 3/4 sharp
55**

2µ = 3/8 sharp ˜2 = 7/8 sharp

# = 1/2 sharp
** Frequency in Hertz
*** Rank (partial number)

{
b) Harmonic Series: Fundamental = A1
20 21 µ22 ˜
˜
(approximated to nearest quarter-tone)
˙ ˙
µ ˜
˙ # ˙ ˙ ˙
#˙ µ˙ ˙
˙
23 24
˙ ˙ #˙ ˙ # ˙
17 18 19

˜˙ ˙ ˙
13 14 15 16
7 8 9 10 11 12
&
5 ˙
4 #˙
6

? 1 2
˙
3 ˙
˙
˙

{
c) Harmonic Series: Fundamental = A1
(approximated to nearest semitone)
˙ ˙ # ˙ ˙ # ˙ #˙ ˙
22 23 24
˙ #˙ ˙ # ˙
19 20 21
˙
17 18
˙
15 16

& ˙ ˙ ˙ #˙
7 8 9 10
#˙ 11 12 13 14

5 ˙
4 #˙
6

? 1 2
˙
3 ˙
˙
˙
Figure 1. Harmonic series calculated based on A1 fundamental. Three different levels
of approximation are shown.
 4

pitches.

Arnold Schoenberg, in his Harmonielehre of 1911, mentions the perception of

consonance and dissonance in relation to the properties of the overtone series, echoing the earlier

ideas of Helmholtz. Schoenberg writes:

"In the overtone series, which is one of the more remarkable properties of tone, there
appear after some stronger sounding overtones a number of weaker-sounding ones. In
other words: the overtones closer to the fundamental seem to contribute more, or more
perceptibly, to the total phenomenon of the tone, while the more distant seem to
contribute less, or less perceptibly. It is just as certain that the world of feeling somehow
takes into account the entire complex, hence the more dissonant overtones as well."7

With this statement, Schoenberg is attempting to justify an "emancipation of dissonance" by

recognizing the importance of exploiting harmonic structures that do not only explore the

relatively consonant harmonic structures implied by the lower partials of the overtone series. In

fact, he states that the partials’ relation to a fundamental is perceived in a subconscious way

regardless of the complexity of the harmonic structure. The distinction between consonance and

dissonance lies in how easily the relation to a fundamental is perceived. More dissonant

harmonic structures, blurring the perceptible relationship to a fundamental, are comprised of the

higher partials of a tone. In contrast, more consonant structures, strongly supporting the

perception of a fundamental, coincide with the lower partials of a sound. This property of the

overtone series is evidenced by the fact that the major triad is implied by the first five overtones

of any harmonic series, while more dissonant intervals (e.g., the tritone in relation to the

fundamental) inhabit the higher regions of the overtone series. These ideas foreshadow the

spectral preoccupation with acoustic science and perception that guides the use of spectra as a

compositional basis.

Further developments relevant to spectralism may be traced to 1919, when Henry Cowell

7. Arnold Schoenberg, Theory of Harmony, trans. Roy E. Carter (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978),
20.
 5

wrote his treatise New Musical Resources. This treatise, unpublished until 1930, proposed new

ideas of musical organization based upon the proportions of the overtone series. Cowell writes:

"The result of a study of overtones is to find the importance of relationships in music and
to find the measure by which every interval and chord may be related. It is discovered
that the sense of consonance, dissonance, and discord is not fixed, so that it must be
immovable applied to certain combinations, but is relative. It is also discovered that
rhythm and tone, which have been thought to be entirely separate musical fundamentals
(and still may be considered so in many ways) are definitely related through overtone
ratios. Therefore the theory proposed may be termed a theory of musical relativity."8

As the frequency of a sound gets lower, the sense of pitch becomes less prominent than the sense

of a rhythmic pulse due to the periodic vibration of the sound. Cowell proposes a method of

exploiting this effect by calculating a proportional series of simultaneous rhythmic pulsations.

These rhythmic pulsations are proportionally related in the same way that overtones are

proportionally related to a fundamental in the overtone series, thereby forming a connection

between rhythmic textures and harmonic content.

Figure 2 shows a harmonic series based on the fundamental A1(55Hz), which is then

used as the basis for the composition of three bars of music according to the techniques proposed

in Cowell's New Musical Resources. The harmonic series forms the basis for the pitch content of

these three measures. Three overtones are selected from the overtone series (indicated on the

smaller, fourth staff in the example) and their proportions, in relation to the fundamental, form

the basis for the rhythmic construction of the music. Each of the three upper lines in the example

explores the overtone series using one of the three selected partials as an upper limit. The

proportion of the overtones to the fundamental dictates the proportional rhythmic subdivision of

the measure in each part. In this case, the fundamental rhythmic "frequency" equals the amount

of time (i.e., 6 seconds) it takes to play each measure. The tempo of every measure is adjusted in

order to ensure that each measure has the same duration, regardless of meter. As the overtone

8. Henry Cowell, New Musical Resources (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1930), 46.
 6

{
a) Harmonic Series: Fundamental = A1

˜ ˙ µ˙ ˜˙ ˙
(approximated to the nearest quarter-tone)
µ ˜
˙ # ˙
˙ #˙ µ˙ ˙
21 22 23 24

˙ ˙ #˙ ˙ # ˙ ˙
17 18 19 20
14 15 16

˙ ˜˙ ˙
10 11 12 13
44
6 7 8 9

&
˙ #˙
4 5
? ˙ 44
1 2 3

{
˙

b) A possible realization of Henry Cowell's

idea of a polyrhythmic texture based on
overtone proportions.
œ #œ œ #œ˜œµœ œ
µœ œµœ #œ ˜œ#œ œ 43
œ # œ œ # œ œ # œ n œ #œ˜œ œµœ
#œ µœ œ œ œµœ œ
#œ œ
q = 40 e = 60

& 44
6 6

µœ œ #œ œ œ µœ 3 µœ #œ
œ œ ˜œ œ œ ˜œ µœ
6
11
4œ
˜œ œ ˜œ ˜œ œ
3 3

& 4 œ #œ 4

{
3 3

˜œ # œ ˜œ
4
&4 œ œ 43 œ
œ œ œ #œ œ œ #œ
œ
34 µ˙ 1811
˙˙ 16 ˙
& 44 ˙ 128 ˙ 6

µœ µœ œ˜œµœ œ#œµœ œµœ˜œ#œ

# œ œ# œ n œ
q = 40
4
&4 #œ
17

& 4 #œ œ ˜œ œ œ #œ ˜œ œ œ œ
4
5 5

& 4 ˜œ ˜œ
4 7

#œ œ œ #œ
œ
# ˙ 17
& 44 ˜#˙˙ 107

Figure 2. A possible realization of the idea of a polyrhythmic texture based on

overtone proportions as put forth in Henry Cowell's 1919 (pub. 1930)
treatise New Musical Resources
 7

proportions become more complex, the complexity of the polyrhythmic texture increases. Thus,

the first measure exhibits a fairly simple rhythmic relation between the parts, since the overtones

have simple 4:3:2 relationships with one another. The power of this technique comes from the

fact that rhythm and harmony work together to reflect the increased tension created by the

musical exploration of frequential relationships among components of the harmonic series.

Although Cowell’s technique tends to result in music that is difficult to perform, it is the

composer’s challenge to realize the technique in a practical manner. Cowell's work is unique in

that he goes significantly further than other theorists of the time towards the establishment of a

complex rhythmic system based on the relationships inherent in the overtone series.9 Cowell, in

essence, opened the door for spectral composers (such as Jonathan Harvey and Gérard Grisey)10

to explore the possibilities of basing parameters other than pitch on the spectral models of the

natural behavior of sound.

There were certainly theorists who did not whole-heartedly support a system of harmony

based on the properties of the overtone series; however, even in their objections, there is

evidence of the need for the advancements made later by spectral composers. In his 1941

treatise, The Schillinger System of Musical Composition, Joseph Schillinger writes:

"Facing facts, we have to admit that all the acoustical explanations of chord structures -
to the effect that they are developed from simple ratios - are pseudo-scientific attempts to
rehabilitate musical harmony and give the latter a greater prestige. Though the original
reasoning in this field resulted from the honest spirit of investigation of Jean Philippe
Rameau, his successors overlooked the development of acoustical science. Their
inspiration was Rameau - plus their own mental laziness and cowardice."11

9. Julian Anderson, "A Provision History of Spectral Music," Contemporary Music Review 19, no. 2 (2000): 9.

10. Harvey's Mortuos Plango Vivos Voco (1980) uses selected partials from a bell spectrum as harmonic "pivots."
The proportion of these pivot frequencies to the fundamental is used to calculate "pulsation speeds" that drive
different rhythmic textures during the piece. Grisey's Periodes (1974) features polyrhythmic textures that are
constructed using the proportional relationships between the partials in the overtone series.

11. Joseph Schillinger, The Schillinger System of Musical Composition (New York: Carl Fischer, Inc., 1941),
359.
 8

Harsh words indeed, but this statement demonstrates the need for the development of technical

resources that facilitate acoustic research before acoustic science was fully developed. With the

word "pseudo-scientific," Schillinger may have been responding to the fact that the observation

of the behavior of sonic phenomena was somewhat limited prior to the advent of computers and

computer software. This later technology made possible a more complete characterization of

acoustic information beyond the relatively simple idea of the harmonic series. Since the

advancement of acoustical science through new technologies, spectral composers have been able

to conduct more focused research from which to derive their harmonic/timbral processes.

However, spectral composers are still indebted to the research and ideas of those same theorists

and composers whom Schillinger accuses of “mental laziness and cowardice.” Without their

exploration of the properties of the overtone series and its relation to harmony, spectral

composers may not have had the impetus to explore the theoretical and scientific avenues that

have guided the development of spectralism.

In 1942, composer and theorist Paul Hindemith published The Craft of Musical

Composition, in which he articulated his ideas concerning the relation of overtones to the

perception of timbre. He used the analogy of the properties of light, and its component colors, to

explain the concept of overtones. When light passes through a prism, it is separated into its

component colors, just as a tone may be separated into its component overtones. Conversely,

just as the colors red and yellow may be combined to create orange, so overtones may be

combined to create different timbres. Hindemith writes:

"Every tone-color [i.e. timbre] corresponds to a certain grouping of overtones. The ear
hardly hears them separately; it only perceives the disappearance of some or the addition
of others as changes in tone-color."12

12. Paul Hindemith, The Craft of Musical Composition Book 1: Theory, trans. Arthur Mendel (New York: Schott,
1942), 17.
 9

This idea of overtones as components that contribute to a sound’s overall timbre was central to

the development of the instrumental synthesis techniques employed by spectral composers.

Furthermore, the concept of fusion between spectral elements foreshadows the use of different

levels of fusion by spectral composers as the basis for the control of harmonic tension in their

music. Hindemith goes on to derive scales not only from the harmonic spectrum, but also from

sum and difference tones.13 These sum and difference tones are produced when two frequencies

are added to and subtracted from one another. This idea forms the basis for the technique of ring

modulation that has become an essential technique in the music of many spectral composers.

In Olivier Messiaen's 1944 treatise Technique of My Musical Language, the composer

outlined the derivation of harmonic and melodic ideas from the overtone series - an idea that

proved vital to the development of spectral music. The most direct example of this derivation

would be what Messiaen referred to as the "chord of resonance," in which eight distinct pitches

from the overtone series are sounded together. This "chord of resonance" forms the foundation

for a technique of harmonization that seeks to enhance a timbral effect.14 This technique is one of

the first instances of the fusion of harmony and timbre into a single construct.

Figure 3 shows how a harmonic series with a fundamental of C1 relates to Messiaen's

"chord of resonance" and "third mode of limited transposition." Assuming the octave

equivalence of pitch classes,15 Messiaen derives the third mode of limited transposition from the

notes of the chord of resonance. An E-flat has been added to the mode in order to complete the

interval pattern, a major second followed by two minor seconds, implied by the notes of the

13. Anderson, "A Provisional History of Spectral Music," 10.

14. Olivier Messiaen, Technique of My Musical Language, trans. John Satterfield (Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1956),
50.

15. A "pitch class" refers to all notes that carry the same letter name and accidental. For instance, all the notes
referred to as "A-sharp" or "B-flat" are considered functionally equivalent, regardless of their octave location.
 10

{
a) Harmonic Series: Fundamental = C2
(approximated to nearest semi tone)
˙ #˙ ˙ # ˙ ˙ ˙
19 20 21 # ˙ #˙ ˙
22 23 24

# ˙ ˙
17 18
˙ #˙
16
7 8 9 10 #11
˙
14 15

b˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
12 13
4 5 6
& ˙ ˙ ˙

? ˙˙
1 2 3

b) The "chord of resonance" and its

{
relation to the harmonic series

##nww
w
w ˙
9 #˙
11
#˙
13 n15˙
&

bw ˙ b˙
4 5 6 7
& w
w
w ˙ ˙

c) The "third mode of limited transposition:" all pitches except for E-flat are derived
(assuming octave equivalence) from the overtone series via the "chord of resonance."
The seemingly incongrous E-flat is added to complete the interval pattern of a whole
step followed by two half steps.

& ˙ b˙ b˙ n˙ ˙
˙ ˙ bœ n˙ #˙
M2 m2 m2 M2 m2 m2 M2 m2 m2

Figure 3. Messiaen's "chord of resonance" and "third mode of limited transposition" as

detailed in his 1944 treatise, Technique of My
My Musical
Musical Language,
Language, and their
relation to the harmonic series
 11

chord of resonance.

The theorists reviewed thus far based harmonic and scalar derivations on the

approximation of overtone frequencies to the nearest semitone. This idea, along with the ideas

of octave equivalence and pitch class, was later eschewed by many spectral composers in favor

of a much more precise, micro-intervallic approach to working with frequential information.

However, Messiaen's ideas of combining timbre and harmony surely influenced the early

spectral composers, and it is no coincidence that many of the pioneers of spectral music studied

under Messiaen at one time or another.

The equal-tempered tuning system reduced the domain of frequency into evenly spaced

divisions of the octave that became the prevailing conception of pitch. The composer and

theorist Harry Partch challenged this notion in his 1945 treatise Genesis of a Music. Ross

describes Partch's inspiration for experimenting with tuning systems other than equal

temperament by writing:

"[Partch] buried himself in a study of the history of tuning paying particular attention to
Helmholtz's On the Sensations of Tone. He emerged with the conviction that the modern
Western system of equal-tempered tuning had to go. In its place, Partch would revive the
tuning principles of the ancient Greeks, who, at least in theory, derived all musical
pitches from the clean integer ratios of the natural harmonic series."16

Partch's idea of the inadequacy of equal temperament opened the door for the later exploration of

micro-intervals; Partch himself advocated dividing the octave into forty-three parts. Spectral

composers, although forced to approximate pitches based on instrumental limitations, use micro-

intervals as a way to more accurately reflect the frequency content of spectra.

Partch's abandonment of equal temperament may have had little direct influence on the

central elements of a spectral approach to composition, but his advances showed the necessity of

16. Ross, The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, 523.
 12

a more scientific approach to music. According to Partch, investigation in other art forms such

as poetry may "take an entirely intellectual path, but in music, because of the very nature of the

art, it must also take a physical path."17 Although the results of Partch's scientific research were

different from those of spectral music, his assertion that the physical properties of sound should

provide the basis for musical thinking, and his rejection of the necessity of equal temperament

surely proved valuable to spectral research. The most valuable aspect of Partch's work, from the

point of view of a spectral composer, may be Partch's hope that his work will "stimulate creative

work by example, to encourage investigation of basic factors, and to leave all others to individual

if not idiosyncratic choice."18

Spectral music has synthesized the ideas of the theorists and composers described above

into a new basis for compositional technique. Cowell's work shows the possible isomorphism of

rhythm and frequency, while Schoenberg and Helmholtz illustrate the effect of the overtone

series on different aspects of perception. Messiaen highlights the possibilities inherent in

blurring the distinction between harmony and timbre, whereas Hindemith demonstrates the

overtone series’ relationship to timbre, and Partch urges future generations of composers to take

inspiration from the physical properties of music. Even the complaints of Schillinger, despite

their negativity concerning the relation between harmony and the overtone series, illustrate the

need to constantly refine the study of acoustics in order to fully exploit the musical application of

natural sonic phenomena. Each of these composers and theorists contributed to the eventual

development of a spectral attitude towards composition.

Examples of "Proto-Spectral" Elements in the

Music of "Pre-Spectral" Composers

17. Harry Partch, Genesis of a Music, 2nd ed. (New York: Da Capo Press, 1974), xv.

18. Partch, Genesis of a Music, xviii.

 13

Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss, and Gustav Mahler

Although spectral composers have most fully developed the use of spectra in their

compositions, the application of spectra in some form has precedent in the music of composers

that pre-date the development of spectralism. Two early examples can be found in the music of

Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. Wagner's opera Das Rheingold of 1869 opens with an

extended orchestral passage that gradually reveals a massive orchestral texture built on the

harmonic series of E-flat1. The basses play this note insistently during the entire 136 measures

of the opening section, forming the basis for the gradual accumulation of a unified, expository

statement that establishes E-flat major as the primary tonal center of the opera. This passage can

also be considered as a large orchestral crescendo setting up the first entrance of the singers.

A similar, if much more brief, effect occurs in the opening of Richard Strauss's 1896 tone

poem Also sprach Zarathustra. Ross provides an elegant characterization of this effect

demonstrating how Strauss uses the overtone series to evoke a powerful connection to nature:

"The passage ["mountain sunrise" opening of Also sprach Zarathustra] draws its cosmic
power from the natural properties of sound. . .These [the intervals of the octave and
perfect fifth] are the lower steps of the natural harmonic, or overtone series, which
shimmers like a rainbow from any vibrating string. The same intervals appear at the
outset of [Also Sprach] Zarathustra, and they accumulate into a gleaming C-major
chord."19

Ross is careful to point out the primal effect of this gesture. By remaining faithful to the

properties of the overtone series in the opening, Strauss successfully gives the impression of a

primitive, yet powerful gesture that evokes the semiotic appeal of the beauty of nature. Both

Strauss and Wagner use the overtone series as an expository device to evoke a relation to nature

that is central to these compositions.

While Wagner and Strauss make use of the overtone series in a single gesture, they do

19. Ross, The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, 7.

 14

not use it as the basis for the harmonic content of their music beyond the gradual establishment

of a tonal center. However, Gustav Mahler, in the first movement of his unfinished Symphony

No. 10 of 1911, uses the overtone series as a way to support a large-scale harmonic gesture.

Although Ross points out the presence of specific instances of a harmony built on the overtone

series in this piece,20 he does not acknowledge the "imperfections" in each presentation of this

harmony that show Mahler's manipulation of the overtone series to enhance the perception of a

tonal center.

Figure 4 shows a harmonic series, approximated to the nearest semitone, which is used as

the basis for two harmonies from the climax of the movement in measure 206 of Mahler’s

symphony, and just before the final cadence of the first movement in measures 267-271. In

examples "b" and "c" of Figure 4, notes contained in the harmonic series are portrayed by empty

noteheads and are accompanied by a number showing their overtone rank. Notes foreign to the

harmonic series are portrayed by filled noteheads. The climactic chord in example "b" of Figure

4 shows the addition of B2, D3, and D4. These notes serve to increase the dissonance by

undermining the perception of a clear C-sharp1 fundamental, despite the overall adherence of the

sonority to the harmonic series. The addition of these dissonances decreases the sense of

consonance that would result from a fusion of the elements of the harmonic series, and supports

the climactic role of the sonority.

Example "c" of Figure 4 shows a chord built on the same harmonic series; however, the

dissonances added to this sonority are much less harsh and support its functional role as an

extended dominant harmony. This chord sets up the eventual resolution to an F-sharp-major

triad. The B2 that is added to this chord functions as the seventh of a dominant seventh sonority,

as well as the subdominant scale degree of the overall tonal center. The F-sharp4 and A-sharp4

20. Ross, The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, 7.

 15

{
a) Harmonic Series: Fundamental = C#1
(approximated to nearest semitone)
˙ #˙ ˙ # ˙ ˙ ˙
18 19 20 #˙ ˙ #˙ ˙
21 22 23 24

˙ ˙ #˙ ˙ ˙
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
&
8 #˙
7 #˙
6 ˙
9
? ˙ #˙
#˙ #˙
1 2 3 4 5

#˙
#˙

b) Climactic Chord from m. 206:

{
This happens as a simultaneous sonority Fl. I, II,
in the piece, but here it is spelled out Ob. III, Fl. III, Vln. II
Tpts., Vla., Cl. II, III, Cl. I Vln. I
horizontally to clarify the relation to Ob. I, II
˙ b˙
30 34
˙
˙
harmonic series. 27
˙
24
˙
20
˙
14 17
&
Hns.

œ ˙
10

? ˙ #˙ ˙7
œ* œ
2 3 5 6

#˙
#˙ Vc. + Tbns.
Cb. + Bsns.
* The notehead of notes oustide the harmonic series
are filled. Notes contained within the harmonic
series have empty noteheads and are accompanied
by numbers showing their harmonic rank.

c) Sonority spelled out by harp and strings, over sustained

{
trombones and bassoons in mm. 267 - 271. Notes outside
the harmonic series destabilize the sonority and reinforce
its dominant harmonic function.
#˙ #18˙
#œ #œ
16
&
˙7 # ˙8 # ˙9
? ˙ #˙
6
œ #˙
1 2 3 4 5

#˙
#˙
#˙
Tbns.
Bsns.

Figure 4. Influence of harmonic series in chords from the first movement of Gustav
Symphony No. 10 (posthumous)
Mahler's Symphony
 16

serve as non-harmonic anticipations of the eventual resolution of this harmony. Beyond the

basic implications of the pitches in this chord, the orchestration also supports the perception of

this chord's dominant harmonic function. The harp and strings spell out this chord one note at a

time, while the bassoons and trombones sustain the notes of a dominant seventh chord in F-

sharp-major.

The use of the overtone series in the work of Wagner and Strauss serves to evoke a sense

of primordial sonic evolution, whereas Mahler uses the overtone series as an extension of tonal

harmonic relationships. While these composers use the overtone series to achieve different

goals, their exploitation of this natural phenomenon opened the door for the further exploration

of the possibilities for the musical use of the natural properties of sound. However, all three

composers used the overtone series to produce a harmonic effect rather than a timbral one. For

them, the evocation of the natural properties of sound is a momentary artifact that results from

the enhancement of traditional harmonic content.

Claude Debussy, Edgard Varèse, and Pierre Boulez

Many scholars view Debussy as a major figure in the elevation of timbre to the level of a

primary compositional component. Cornicello states that Debussy used timbre to "amplify

musical devices,"21 while Moscovich states that Debussy used timbre to "evoke an image, a

colour [sic], or a feeling."22 To evaluate the validity of these statements it is useful to look at an

example of how Debussy uses timbre, through orchestration, to help guide the dramatic profile of

his music. In Debussy's Prelude à L'Après-midi d'un faune of 1894, the opening gesture played

by the flute forms the basis for a relationship between timbre and motivic ideas. This opening

21. A. Cornicello, "Timbral Organization in Tristan Murail's Désintégrations," (PhD diss., Brandeis University,
2000), 31.

22. Viviana Moscovich, "French Spectral Music: An Introduction," Tempo 200 (1997): 21.
 17

gesture is played by the flute throughout the beginning of this piece, before being taken over

(primarily) by the oboes in the middle sections. Debussy signals the end of the piece by

returning the motivic ideas in the opening gesture to the flute. The horns, up to this point, have

provided support for this gesture, which has been passed around among the woodwinds. The

ending of the piece fuses these timbral associations by breaking up the motivic elements of the

opening gesture between the flutes, oboes and horns. Thus, Debussy has elevated orchestration,

and therefore timbre, to a driving force in the establishment of the formal structure of the work.

With this piece, there is evidence of the seeds of timbral thinking. Furthermore, the use of

orchestration as a device to develop musical ideas is present in the music of Debussy's

contemporaries as well. For example, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherezade of 1888 makes

use of a relatively limited number of melodic ideas whose variety of presentations throughout the

work rely primarily on different orchestrational contexts.

The elevation of timbre to a primary compositional element in the music of Debussy and

some of his contemporaries may be seen as a natural progression of musical possibilities

discovered through the study of orchestration. Edgard Varèse took the elevation of orchestration

even further through the creation of static harmonic fields that highlight the overall timbre of an

individual sonority as a referential point for the music. Moscovich describes Varèse's general

conception of sound by writing:

"for Varèse, sound is an essential structural element in music. Varèse wanted to liberate
sound from its scholastic rules. He invented the 'ionisation:' a technique in which
different elements of sound are projected into a dynamic acoustic space. . .thus involving
the movement of areas and resounding masses varying in intensity and density."23

The static pitch fields created by the "ionisation" technique allow for the perceptual focus on

global sound color due to a drastic slowing of the harmonic rhythm of the music. In this way,

23. Moscovich, "French Spectral Music: An Introduction," 22.

 18

sonorities very similar to the harmony/timbres of spectral music play an important

developmental role and contribute to the formal construction of the music. By slowing down the

rate of harmonic change in favor of the exploration of sound colors inherent in static harmonic

fields, Varèse makes the perception of timbre a vital contributing factor to the perception of

formal construction.

Using timbre to create unity and coherence within a composition is evident in Pierre

Boulez's choice of instruments for his chamber work, Le marteau sans maître, completed in

1955. Boulez outlines the rationale for his selection of instruments in the preface to the score,

writing:

" What is the link between the various instruments, which seem outwardly to be so
disparate? I think it should be enough for me to explain certain linking devices which
reveal a continuous passage from voice to xylophone, absurd as this may seem at first
sight. The connection between voice and flute is obvious: human breath, and a purely
monodic power of elocution. Flute and viola are linked by monody, if the viola is
bowed. On the viola, the notes can be "rubbed" or 'plucked:' in the latter case, it connects
with the guitar, also a plucked string instrument, but one with a longer resonance time.
Considered as a resonating instrument, the guitar with the vibraphone, which is based on
the prolonged vibrations of struck metal keys. The keys of the vibraphone can also be
struck without resonance, in which case they relate directly to the keys of the xylophone.
A chain is established from one instrument to another, with one common characteristic
being conserved each time."24

By establishing a timbral continuum that links all the instruments used in this piece, Boulez has

made timbre a definitive compositional element in the shaping of the overall form of the piece.

All three of these composers show a great concern for controlling how timbre is involved

in the construction of their music. Although timbre is important to their work, it should be noted

that it is still secondary to pitch and rhythm. Varése, with his isolation of chords as "sound

objects," goes the furthest towards elevating timbre to the role of a primary compositional

element. Spectral composers, through further refinements of orchestrational technique,

24. Pierre Boulez, Le marteau sans maître (London: Universal Edition, 1954), v.
 19

eventually established timbre as the primary dramatic thread in their music, often eclipsing

melody and rhythm as factors in the overall perception of musical form.

György Ligeti and Giacinto Scelsi

Although Varèse's ionisation technique drastically slowed the rate of harmonic change

and made density a perceptual focus of the texture, two later composers took the idea of slowly

evolving musical textures even further. Specifically, some of the music composed by György

Ligeti and Giacinto Scelsi shows a preoccupation with slow, almost imperceptible change caused

by the continuous evolution of dense, complex textures.25

In his Atmosphères of 1961, Ligeti creates a musical structure that is entirely dependent

on the perception of sound as texture. To bring texture to the forefront of the music, Ligeti

employed a technique that he has since dubbed "micropolyphony."26 This technique uses tightly-

packed polyphonic statements together with an emphasis on sustained sounds in order to obscure

individual instrumental parts and eliminate all sense of rhythmic pulse. In addition, the harmony

is obscured through the use of dense clusters of closely spaced pitches. These aspects of the

construction of the individual elements of the music create a texture that is so dense and

complex, that the perception of individual layers of activity becomes nearly impossible. Thus,

the perceptual focus is shifted from the individual elements of melody and rhythm to the sense of

slowly evolving masses of sound.

While Ligeti chose to overload the music such that the perception of individual elements

became impossible, Giacinto Scelsi instead reduced the amount of information presented to the

listener in order to focus their perception on the properties of the sounds themselves. The irony

is that the overall result in the music of both composers was, in a certain sense, similar.

25. Anderson, "A Provisional History of Spectral Music," 12.

26. Glenn Watkins, Soundings: Music in the Twentieth Century (New York: Schirmer Books, 1988), 576.
 20

Anderson writes:

"Scelsi's sequence of radically focused works composed after the late 1950s [e.g.
Quattro Pezzi per Orchestra (sur una nota sola) of 1959] reduced pitch content so
completely that the listener is forced to examine otherwise unnoticeable minutiae of
sound, such as harmonics, beats, and difference tones. The extremely sustained texture
of his later music sometimes resulted in a fascination with gradual, continuously evolving
processes which would prove suggestive to Murail amongst others."27

Scelsi's approach to the creation of gradually evolving textures, unlike Ligeti's approach, relied

on artifacts of the sound itself. By focusing the pitch content, slowing down the rate of change in

the music, Scelsi has forced listeners to focus primarily on timbre as an autonomous

phenomenon. Murail writes that "minute sonic fluctuations (vibrato, glissandi, spectral changes,

tremolos) become not mere ornaments to a text, but the text itself."28

These two composers created music that deemphasized the dimension of harmony in

order to enable the perception of a gradual musical evolution. The idea of composing continuous

musical processes had a profound influence on spectral composers’ development of formal

construction. As Ligeti wrote, "It seems to me it would be much more worthwhile to try and

achieve a compositional design of the process of change."29 Although spectral composers

eventually re-integrated harmony into this type of textural music, the efforts of Ligeti and Scelsi

provided a model for enabling a synthetic rather than analytic perception of music. Scelsi, and to

a lesser extent Ligeti, also demonstrated how different dimensions of the musical discourse (e.g.,

melody, form, orchestration) could be reconsidered as supporting elements of a musical rhetoric

based on the interaction of global timbres.

Minimalists: La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Steve Reich

27. Anderson, "A Provisional History of Spectral Music," 12.

28. Tristan Murail, "Scelsi, De-composer," trans. Robert Hasegawa, Contemporary Music Review 24 (2005): 176.

29. György Ligeti, "Metamorphoses of Musical Form," trans. Cornelius Cardew, Die Reihe 7 (1965): 19.
 21

Reducing the complexity of musical ideas in order to highlight the gradual evolution of

musical textures is also central to the compositional approach of American minimalist

composers. La Monte Young, a close friend of Scelsi's, was interested in composing with

sounds of extremely long duration. The resultant music exhibits a rate of change that is so slow

that it seems almost immobile at times. In addition to his preoccupation with long sounds,

Young was interested in the advantages of micro-intervals and their use in the evocation of the

harmonic series.30 For instance, in his Well-Tuned Piano of 1965, Young uses a piano that is

tuned according to the overtone series with an E-flat1 fundamental.

Another characteristic of Young's music is the avoidance of the interval of a major third

(implied by the fifth partial of the overtone series) and the favoring of the perfect fifth (implied

by the third partial of the overtone series). In contrast, Terry Riley’s In C of 1964 purposefully

incorporated the major third as a basis for the entire piece. By adopting a focus on or avoidance

of particular intervals throughout a piece, the harmonic content of minimalist music is greatly

simplified. This simplification enabled the focus of the musical discourse to be shifted from the

domain of complex sonorities and melodic ideas to the gradual evolution of a repetitive musical

texture.

Steve Reich foreshadowed the formal thinking of many spectral composers when he

characterized music as the realization of a gradual, perceptible process. Reich writes:

"What I am interested in is a compositional process and a sounding music that are one
and the same thing. I am interested in perceptible processes. I want to be able to hear
the process happening throughout the sounding music."31

In Reich's music (e.g. his Piano Phase of 1967) timbre and harmony are neutralized to make way

30. Anderson, "A Provision History of Spectral Music," 9.

31. Steve Reich, "Music as a Gradual Process," in Writings on Music 1965-2000, ed. Paul Hillier (New York:
Oxford University Press), 34-35.
 22

for the perception of evolving rhythms. These rhythms form the basis of perceptible musical

processes that determine the overall form of the music.

Although Reich's idea of clearing a path for the perception of a gradual musical process is

similar to spectral composers’ preoccupation with enabling perception, many spectral composers

resent any association with the minimalist aesthetic. Murail, who has acknowledged being

influence by Scelsi's music, writes:

"Posing sonic material, simply offering it to the listener's hearing, is the primordial sonic
gesture, the om of the yogi. The American composers Terry Riley and La Monte Young
have tried to recapture this gesture (in my opinion, naively and without success)."32

Murail grudgingly acknowledges a similar aesthetic concern in the music of Scelsi and the

minimalists, although his contempt is made clear. In fact, the contempt many spectral composers

have for minimalist music may be due to the fact that minimalism relies on a harmonic language

based in the traditions of tonal music. Spectral composers may have a similar approach to the

formal construction of their music, but they have also focused on introducing an innovative

approach to harmony.

All the composers mentioned above, from Wagner to Reich, have had an influence on the

compositional attitude of spectral composers. However, developments in computer technology

and electronic music were necessary for the integration and refinement of the techniques used by

these spectral predecessors. In essence, the work of the composers and theorists of the past

showed spectral composers possible avenues for research using the new technologies at their

disposal.

The Development of Spectralism as an

Aesthetic Reaction to "Structuralist" Music and the

Prevailing Avant-Garde of the 1960s

32. Murail, "Scelsi, De-composer," 174.

 23

In the 1950s and 1960s, the “avant-garde” composers were modernists who adhered, for

the most part, to the serial manipulation of musical parameters. Murail states that "at a certain

point the 'spectral' movement was seen as a reaction against certain composers who believed that

they were the avant-garde."33 Specifically, Murail and others were frustrated by the lack of

concern, on the part of some modernist composers, for the listeners’ ability to perceive the

interplay of musical forces. Grisey, pointing out the barriers to perception inherent in serial

music, writes:

"The series had disassociated the parameters, turning upside down the concepts of
verticality and horizontality, of harmony and melody. But in serial music, the interplay of
permutations becomes an obstacle to memory, it forbids radical renewal along with all
types of surprises, excesses and deviations that tonal music offers to its listeners."34

The series alleged to provide music with a fundamental sense of unity, but the results of the

serial manipulation of the musical ideas was a music whose structure was so complex as to

inhibit the perception of that structure. Therefore, there was very little relation between the

music conceived by the composer and the music perceived by the listener.35 The music’s

complexity was a barrier to perception of the interaction of musical parameters, effectively

neutralizing melody, harmony, and rhythm as arbiters of musical form. Due to the inherent

difficulty in perceiving the interaction of musical parameters according to a serial framework,

these parameters became less important to the musical structure than did textural density.36 The

identification of the exact relation between the pitches and rhythms became less central to the

overall effect of the music than the number of musical elements making up the global texture at a

33. Tristan Murail, "After-thoughts," Contemporary Music Review 19, no. 3 (2000): 6.

34. Gérard Grisey, "Did You Say Spectral?," trans. Joshua Finberg, Contemporary Music Review 19, no. 3
(2000): 1.

35. Tristan Murail, "Spectra and Sprites," trans. Tod Machover, Contemporary Music Review 24 (2005): 138.

36. Ligeti, "Metamorphosis of Musical Form," 5-19.

 24

given moment in the music.

This idea of texture being the most perceptible element of musical form in the serial

aesthetic led Ligeti to purposefully isolate texture as the driving force behind his orchestral work

Atmosphères. However, this piece and spectralism were by no means the only reactions to the

dominance of serial music.37 Minimalism, for example, was a style of composition that,

according to Ross, "broke all the modernist taboos at once."38 The modernist aesthetic of the

time, taking the form of a serialist approach to composition, did not allow for the repetitive

rhythms and tonal harmony that formed the basis of minimalist music. Postmodernism and

neoclassicism were two other compositional responses to modernism that relied on references to

the music of the past.

Murail argues that "post-modern"39 composers, utilizing what he calls "disguised

academicism," share with spectral composers a desire to enable the perception of their musical

ideas by even the most inexperienced audience. However, he feels that their response to

modernism is inadequate because it takes refuge in music of the past.40 This is not to say that

spectral music is without historical precedent, but that spectral music synthesizes elements of

past musical thought into the foundation for a new musical discourse. Spectral music and “post-

modern” styles differ in their use of historical models primarily in how directly they incorporate

these influences: the effect is largely indirect and subtle for spectral music, which, borrows

37. Many scholars debate whether serial music was truly dominant during the 1950s and 1960s. Nonetheless, the
fact remains that serialism, in all its forms, was a prominent school of compositional thought during this period,
whose powerful influence is still felt by current composers.

38. Ross, The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, 573.

39. Murail uses the term "post-modern" to refer to all compositional styles that use techniques of the past,
specifically tonal harmonies and classical forms. These styles would include neoclassicism, post-modernism (in the
form of a return to the aesthetic of the romantic music of the 19th century), and minimalism.

40. Murail, "After-thoughts," 6.

 25

piecemeal from many different sources and includes new advancements in the studies of acoustic

and psychoacoustics.41 "Post-modern" styles, on the other hand, directly incorporate entire

aspects of past musical styles (e.g., tonal harmony, established musical forms, traditional

melodic development, etc.).

Among the responses to the modernist avant-garde of the 1950s and 1960s, spectralism is

unique in that it features a renovation of harmonic and timbral thinking that necessitates a

revision of compositional technique. The study of acoustics and advances in technology have

given composers access to aspects of sound that were previously unavailable. While serialism

was a revolution of musical grammar, spectralism has been a revolution of sound. Serialism

describes sound by separating various parameters (e.g., pitch, rhythm, dynamics etc.) and

treating them as independent musical forces. Spectralism, conversely, considers sound to be an

ensemble of cooperative musical elements that contribute to the perception of an overall timbral

gesture.42 In essence, the two approaches to composition are concerned with different sets of

basic compositional material; serialism deals with the permutations of independent musical

parameters, whereas spectralism is concerned with the physical properties of sound and how

these properties evolve over time.43

In addition to revolutionizing the palette of sounds available to the composer through the

study of acoustics, spectral composers have also developed a more fluid approach to form.

Murail writes:

"Musical structures of the past fail to account for intermediate categories because they

41. The study of psychoacoustics is the study of how sound is perceived. It can be seen as the psychological
correlation of the physical aspects of the study of acoustics.

42. Tristan Murail, "The Revolution of Complex Sounds," trans. Joshua Cody, Contemporary Music Review 24
(2005): 122.

43. Murail, "Spectra and Sprites," 137.

 26

force acoustical reality through inexorable sieves. We must, in fact, work with precisely
those areas that have been neglected, and use their specific qualities, exploiting the
imbalances of their internal energies and flowing dynamism, even drawing from them
new structures of order that might apply to both the micro and the macro level of the
score."44

Murail's argument is that just as equal temperament reduces the domain of frequency into the

pitches of the chromatic scale, other musical structures such as form have reduced the properties

of sound into manageable chunks. Spectral composers reject this perspective in favor of an

attempt to reflect the continuous nature of sonic phenomena. Although an exact imitation of the

physical properties of sound is impossible, the very act of attempting to realize the interplay of

all the acoustic properties of sound enables the perception of a unified and organic evolution of

sound over time.

The idea of enabling perception without taking refuge in past musical styles separates

spectral music from other responses to musical modernism in the 1950s and 1960s. In addition,

spectralism allows for a flexibility that is necessary when attempting to realize acoustic models.

Anderson shows the historical basis for this flexibility when he writes:

"There is no real school of spectral composers; rather, certain fundamental problems

associated with the state of contemporary music, since at least 1965, have repeatedly
provoked composers from widely different backgrounds into searching out some
common solutions involving the application of acoustics and psychoacoustics to
composition."45

This lack of strict aesthetic dogma ensures the continued development of a spectral approach to

composition. Composers wishing to incorporate spectral elements into their music are

encouraged to seek out idiosyncratic methods of realizing their acoustic research. In fact, the

only ideological constant in spectral music lies in maintaining a faithful adherence to aspects of

natural phenomena and how the application of these aspects might enhance a listener's overall

44. Murail, "The Revolution of Complex Sounds," 124.

45. Anderson, "A Provisional History of Spectral Music," 7.

 27

perception.

Statements Concerning the Future of Spectral Music

In the 1970s, spectral composers were faced with the challenge of incorporating timbre as

a central component of their music and developing compositional techniques for working with

the previously inaccessible acoustic resources made available through technological

developments. However, since the 1970s, spectral composers have evolved along many different

paths. Pousset generalizes the compositional approach of current spectral composers by writing:

"It is no longer a question of establishing the notion of process, or integrating timbre into
compositional technique, as it was at the start of Grisey and Murail's production. Instead,
it is the search for original solutions for the formal organization of these new sound-based
materials (timbre and process)."46

Early spectral composers were faced with the justification of their attitude towards composition.

However, since the practical application of their techniques has proved to be a tenable basis for

composition, younger composers are instead focused on searching for new ways to use the

resources made available by the efforts of spectral pioneers.

Unlike their predecessors, younger spectral composers need not reject aspects of serial

composition or other compositional techniques thought to be incompatible with spectral

composition. In an interview with Guy Lelong, Philippe Hurel describes a common aspect of the

compositional attitude of current spectral composers by saying:

"If there is a musical consensus to be found, today, amongst composers of my generation,

it is less based on questions regarding spectrum and series, but rather on the means of
controlling heterogeneity."47

46. Damien Pousset, "The Works of Kaija Saariaho, Philippe Hurel, and Marc-André Dalbavie - Stile Concertato,
Stile Concitato, Stile Rappresentivo," trans. Joshua Finberg and Ronan Hyacinthe, Contemporary Music Review 19,
no. 3 (2000): 68.

47. Guy Lelong, "Entretien avec Philippe Hurel," in Philippe Hurel (Paris: Éditions Ircam-Centre Georges
Pompidou, 1994), 11-12, quoted in Damien Pousset, "The Works of Kaija Saariaho, Philippe Hurel, and Marc-
André Dalbavie - Stile Concertato, Stile Concitato, Stile Rappresentivo," trans. Joshua Finberg and Ronan
Hyacinthe, Contemporary Music Review 19, no. 3 (2000): 68.
 28

Hurel's observation shows the desire of the next generation of spectral composers to deal

specifically with the formal issues of spectral composition. As many spectral composers have

stated, the idea of continuous musical processes has given spectral music an undesirable degree

of predictability. Younger composers are now faced with the challenge of re-introducing

surprising musical events into a continuous formal construction. In addition, spectral music had

previously abandoned melody and counterpoint as central musical elements. It is up to future

generations of spectral composers to incorporate polyphonic and melodic interest in a way that is

consistent with a spectral framework.

Spectral composers synthesized the work of past composers, theorists, and scientists into

the foundation of a new musical rhetoric. Thirty years after the initial spectral explorations,

current composers continue to synthesize the resources discovered by early spectralists in

combination with the technical advances of other compositional trends into a fresh application of

spectral ideas. Grisey writes, looking back on the development of spectral music, that "it is no

longer time for the terrorism of utopias" but rather, the "renovation, without imitation of the

foundations of occidental music."48 Rather than adhering to a set of principles, future

generations of composers are urged to use the discoveries of spectral music as a basis for the

refinement of their own attitude towards composition.

48. Grisey, "Did You Say Spectral?," 3.