Pousset The Works of Kaija Saariaho, Philippe Hurel and Marc-André Dalbavie

Contemporary Music Review 9 2000 OPA (Overseas Publishers Association) N.V.
2000, Vol. 19, Part 3, p. 67-110 Published by license under

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The Works of Kaija Saariaho,

Philippe Hurel and Marc-Andr4
DalbaviemStile Concertato, Stile
Concitato, Stile Rappresentativo
D a m i e n Pousset
Translated by Joshua Fineberg and Ronan Hyacinthe
A trend is interesting not only because of the cohesion of the individals

who give it life, but also because of those latter's differences and
peculiarities.
Guy Lelong
KEY WORDS: between spectrum and series, computer music, form and material, systems
and languages.
1 Post-spectral music
In this article, I hope to define the historical context of Kaija Saariaho,

Philippe Hurel and Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie's music, and determine to what
extent the trends they express, however independent and different those
might be, are the manifestations of common attitudes towards musical
composition. Though independently, these three composers have arrived
at a similar set of techniques and points of view. Although their composit-
ions do tend to veer towards musical idiosyncrasy, a rather healthy phe-
nomenon in itself (cf. Anderson, in Entretemps n ~ 8), it doesn't prevent each
individual work from forming part of an inalienable 'collective content.'
Thus the idiosyncratic behavior itself - - by virtue of its pre-individual,
mimetic moment - - is placed in a collective dynamic most often
67
68 DamienPousset
unnoticed. 1As Adorno points out: "any isolated sound already says We. "2
I is another. The creator is not of an individual nature. He is an individual
whose work, through the contingency of its personalization, brings forth
a latent collectivity. Having undertaken distinct compositional projects,
and notwithstanding the differences between their individual procedures,
Kaija Saariaho, Philippe Hurel and Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie belong to the
group of composers who attempt to reconcile aesthetics by assuming a
basis built upon the gains made by spectral music as a base of possible
development for their language. Having been trained and having started
composing in a post-serial manner they have created a trend which differs
significantly from that of their elders. They produce no manifestos. The
father has already been killed. 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). The work, thereby created, bears
witness to a profound mutation where the spectral material's functional
incidences are substituted for the isolated struc~tres of the series; without
neglecting, however, their advantages. Kaija Saariaho, Philippe Hurel
and Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie even show a sort of fondness towards some of
the organizational principles used in serial or intervaUic music. This is
a sharp contrast to the preceding generation's conflictual attitude
(cf. Dufourt, 'Musique Spectrale,' 1979).
I am convinced that if we aren't in a classical period of contemporary music, it is at least one of
cautious construction, whereby a consensus regarding language is established. Ideas spread
far more than we think, and the serial contribution isn't necessarily in contradiction with
timbre-oriented music. Even compositional principles thought incompatible, not so long ago,
are now being used together, without contradiction (...) But especially, this distinction doesn't
mean much anymore since many composers of my generation-- like Dalbavie or Lindberg - -
have realized that it is possible to integrate in a so-called 'timbral' musical discourse with
contrapuntal, polyphonic or structural elements like those Stockhausen, Boulez and Berio
developed in the heroic age. All of this to say that if there is a musical consensus to be found,
today, amongst the composers of my generation, it is less based on q~iestions regarding
spectrum and series, but rather on the means of controlling heterogenei~. 3
1. "In effect, the idiosyncratic behavior, at first inconsistent and theoretically not the least
bit self-transparent, is a sediment of collective reactions."; Adorno, Theodor, Th~orie
esthdtique, Editions Klincksieck, Paris, 1982, p. 55.
2. ~jeder Klang allein schon sagt Wir~; Adorno, Theodor, Gesammelte Schriften. 16
Klang]iguren. Musikalische Schriften L Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt/M., 1973, p. 18.
3. Philippe Hurel, quoted by Guy Lelong; ~Entretien avec Philippe Hureb~, in Philippe
Hurel, Les cahiers de l'Ircam, Collection ,~Compositeurs d'aujourd'hub~, t~ditions Ircam-
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1994, pp. 11-12.
The Works of Kaija Saariaho, Philippe Hurel and Marc-Andr~ Dalbavie 69
The aims and m e t h o d s of research have most certainly changed since

the first attempts at m o d e l i n g timbre (cf. Malherbe in Entretemps n ~ 8).
A n d some people, indeed, speak of a Second generation of spectral music.
However, it seems to us rather arbitrary, if not incorrect, to label this
trend today as 'spectral music' which, although u n d e n i a b l y d r a w i n g on
the same sources as spectral music, differs significantly in its contrapun-
tal re-appropriation of timbre. That is w h ~ temporarily at least, the term
'post-spectral' music will be used as the implicit designation for these
changes which are taking place.
It was quite late w h e n Kaija Saariaho became acquainted w i t h the n e w
French music. The training she h a d received in Finland w i t h Heininen
(who represents that country's leading figure in post-serial music) led
her to compose works that conformed to serial orthodoxy. For example,
Nej och inte 4 (1979) and Preludi-Tunnustus-Postludz ~ (1980) arose out of mere
compositional exercises given b y the latter. While on the one h a n d
Philippe Hurel and Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie willingly speak of the 'shock'
that was caused by the arrival of spectral music in France, 6 for her part,
Kaija Saariaho confesses that hearing it for the first time was a 'revela-
tion.' It was in 1980 that Saariaho first attended, in Darmstadt, a perform-
ance of the works of Tristan Murail and G6rard Grisey. Clearly, these
ideas could not help but influence her compositions; this seems to have
been the motivation for her decision to attend the courses in computer-
music given by IRCAM in 1981. For the rest, ...sah den V6Igen 7 (1981)
already shows indications of w h a t will become her future direction, in
spite of the fact that it was composed while working with the serial com-
poser Brian F e r n e y h o u g h . s Unlike Kaija Saariaho, Philippe Hurel and
Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie were effected relatively early by spectral music. 9
Although originally, as with all the others of that generation, steeped in
4. For women's quartet.

5. For soprano and prepared piano.
6. "In this environment, hearing G(~rard Grisey's Partiels was a shock. This work finally
returned sound to the center of music, and perception to the pinnacle of the composer's
concern."; Dalbavie Marc-Andr4, quoted by Texier, Marc, ~Entretien avec Marc-Andr(~
Dalbavie~, in Marc-Andr~ Dalbavie, Les cahiers de l'Ircam, Collection ~Compositeurs
d'aujourd'hui~, i~ditionsIrcam-CentreGeorges Pompidou, Paris, 1993, p. 13.
7. For soprano, ensemble and electronics.
8. Kaija Saariaho spent two years in Freiburg, studying with Brian Ferneyhough.
9. It must not be forgetten that since 1973, the ensemble "l'Itin~raire' formed by Roger
Tessier and Tristan Murail, played works of the spectral movement's main composers.
70 Damien Pousset
post-serialism, 1~their work with Tristan Murail seems to have been criti-
cal in this regard. As we shall see, Philippe Hurel and Marc-Andr6
Dalbavie were able to use the notions of timbre and process from early
on. With T r a m e s 11 (1982), Philippe Hurel already tried to write object-
transforming processes. As for Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie, with Po~me n ~ 112
(1982), he m a d e his first attempt at integrating spectral techniques into
his music. Both Philippe Hurel and Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie studied pri-
vately with Murail. It was in this context that they were introduced to
computer-assisted composition environments; later at IRCAM, all three
composers were exposed to the different techniques of s0und-synthesis.
Moreover, it was the study of those synthesis techniques that made them
realize clearly the many resources that were available through work with
timbre and perception.
2 Learning about timbre
"Synthesis', with all this term's m a n y implied meanings, was the keynote
for Kaija Saariaho, Philippe Hurel and Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie's early
works. At first, their efforts were directed towards integrating spectral
materials into personal languages already completely distinct, while still
continuing to study advanced sound-synthesis technologies. These latter
enabled them to go far beyond the previous interests of their writing.
However, whereas Philippe Hurel and Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie concen-
trated on using those synthesis models for the frequency-computation of
their harmonies, Kaija Saariaho, for her part, handled timbre and
h a r m o n y separately. She used synthesis techniques - - e s p e c i a l l y the
program Chant 13 - - mainly as tools for the slow transformation of
timbres. Synthesis and sonic manipulation techniques, such as interpola-
tions, became stimulation for all three composers.
10. Philippe Huret and Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie both studied at the Conservatoire National
Sup6rieur de Paris. Philippe Hurel was in the classes of Ivo Malec (composition) and
Betsy Jolas (analysis). Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie was in the classes of Michel Philippot
(composition), Betsy Jolas (analysis), Guy Reibel (electro-acoustics) and Marius
Constant (orchestration).
11. For string orchestra.
12. For fifteen instrumentalists.
13. A sound-synthesis program developped by Xavier Rodet and Yves Potard at l'Ircam in
1979, a program originally designed for the simulation of singing voices, then extended
to simulate instruments and create abstract sounds as well.
The Works of Kaija Saariaho, Philippe Hurel and Marc-Andrd Dalbavie 71
With Vers le blanc (1982) for solo tape, her first composition with a com-
puter, Kaija Saariaho sought to create the illusion of a bodiless, eternal,
and 'unbreathing' voice whose timbre changes continuously: notably
through the use of interpolations between different phonemes. She suc-
ceeded in creating this effect by progressively modifying the values of
various parameters, such as the amount of random modulation in the
formant's central frequencies, the formant's bandwidth, the central fre-
quencies' coefficients, and the formant's amplitude. It was globalizing
musical thinking which led to the realization of the piece, the full p o w e r
of a single computing instrument allows the control of every aspect of
the music: whether harmonic, timbral or temporal. Even when comput-
ers were not being used to generate the harmonic material, they never-
theless controlled all the developments. The piece's basic idea is a simple
evolutionary process: a fifteen minute glide from one three-note chord to
another. This movement is so gradual that the changes of the individual
pitches is imperceptible to the ear. This idea was inspired by the com-
puter and only computers could allow her to realize it.
~-Ikt v
2,a" ~ ~~ , ,
Figure I The 'harmonic' progression of the piece Yers le blanc, for tape
It was also as a musical experiment that Philippe Hurel imagined com-

posing his first piece with computers, Opcit 14 (1984). Restricting himself
to a single instrument, clearly allowed him to test his programs both for
controlling formal proportions and working out rhythmic structures.
This strengthens the work's didactic aspect. In the third movement of
Opcit, for instance, a melodic sequence is reflected within itself several
times, in the manner of the fractal objects which inspired him. Here
Philippe Hurel seeks to establish a stronger relationship between the dif-
ferent structural levels, where the overall melody is made up of melodic
subsections which reproduce it on a smaller scale. Furthermore, the fact
that the management of control parameters affecting different levels is
14. For saxophone.

72 Damien Pousset
performed with the continuity offered through using a computer, and

eventually using of the same descriptive structures for each level, notica-
bly helped promote this idea. In this fairly radical and theoretical piece,
as was also Kaija Saariaho's Vers le blanc, Philippe Hurel tried more to
resolve problems relating to compositional technique than to explore
instrumental specificities - - especially regarding polyphonies of
processes. Moreover, one must also note that Marc-Andr~ Dalbavie's
Interludes is (1987), just a few years later, was composed in the same spirit.
For both Philippe Hurel, during his initiation to computers, and for
Marc-Andr~ Dalbavie, at the end of his training, the really important
question was h o w to filter through compositional technique all of the
materials calculated thanks to computer-assisted composition environ-
ments (sound objects, formal paths, processes b y interpolation, etc). Kaija
Saariaho, on the other hand, believed that the 'extremism' of her first
experience wih the computer helped to purge her of previous
influencesJ 6 N e w ones were, however, to make themselves felt, particu-
larly that of spectral music. That influence could also be seen strongly in
the music of Marc-Andr~ Dalbavie.
Dalbavie's Les Paradis M~caniques (Editions Jobert, Paris), a fifteen
minute work, first realized for brass sextet and piano in 1982, and then a
second version was written in 1983 with 4 additional instruments
(2 flutes and 2 clarinets). Although Marc-Andr~ Dalbavie considers it an
immature work, it contains, nonetheless some of the characteristic fea-
tures of his more recent works.
The spectral influence is clearly felt. The composer uses these tech-
niques for both the progressive transformation of sonic objects b y inter-
polation and also for the harmonic treatment the chord/timbres which
had been calculated using the model of frequency modulation. Working
with timbre mainly consists of performing deviations relative to syn-
thetic models which, to a certain extent, go b e y o n d the limits of what
might have been done with natural ones (cf. Murail, 1982). It was Murail
who, with Gondwana 17 (1980), introduced FM-synthesis procedures as a
basis for instrumental harmonies in France. Thus, it isn't a coincidence if
15. For violin.

16. "Vers le blanc, was a sort of point zero : I had to reach this extreme to re-think, completely
in my own way; to truly 'purify' myself from influences...'; Saariaho, Kaija, quoted by
Michel, Pierre, ~Entretien avec KaijaSaariaho~>,in Kaija Saariaho,Les cahiers de l'Ircam,
Collection ~Compositeuxsd'aujourd'httb~, i~ditions Ircam-Centre Georges Pompidou,
Paris, 1994,p. 16.
17. For orchestra.
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74 Damien Pousset
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the introduction to Paradis m~caniques bears some similarities with that of

Gondwana. In the latter, an initial chord is progressively disintegrated
through a series of processes played by the ensemble. For Dalbavie, the
interpolation process is considered as material in its own right. The
strength of this procedure lies in its operative nature. The realization of
this process is always presented - - and this is typical of Dalbavie's work
- - with successive sonic fields whose fine variations allow a complete
use of the harmonic field in which they are organized. There are, roughly
speaking, two main types of processes in Paradis mdcaniques which allow
and, in a certain sense, legitimize the clear cut segmentation into distinct
periods. The first is a timbre/chord which we begin progressively to hear
as a polyphonic structure, leading to the gradual appearance of rhythmic
relations (see Figure 2).
We see here the resurgence of the model phenomena referred to else-
where as 'biomorphic writing' (cf. Wilson in Entretemps n ~ 8) and
already seen in the music of G6rard Grisey and Tristan Murail. This
consists of contrasting movements: acceleration-deceleration, synchro-
nism-asynchronism, compression-dilation applied not only to duration,
amplitude and spectral contents, but also to the 'harmonic', instrumen-
tal, or event density. The second one, based on repetition (in the sense
of minimalist music), is treated, here, more as echoes and allows
the listeners' attention to be focused on the various stages of the
interpolation (see Figure 3).
Computer technology's main contributions to Marc-Andr6
Dalbavie's language was, thus, both harmonic (linking the harmony to
the synthesis procedures of frequency modulation) and formal (com-
puting different processes of interpolation and their successive order-
ings). This clear segmentation between different sections, however, isn't
so important to Philippe Hurel and Kaija Saariaho; at least during this
period.
What finally emerges from those early works of Kaija Saariaho,
Philippe Hurel and Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie is the unbreakable link
between spectral techniques and computer technology. This technology
has held a truly key position in the development of their musical
thought. Technology allowed these three composers to explore the
sonic dimensions to which their personal preferences led them and sug-
gested formal process or additional directions for research, which, in
all probability, they would not have been able to conceive in another
way. At the end of their two years of training, Kaija Saariaho, Philippe
Hurel and Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie were able to create a more long term
relationship with IRCAM as members of the 'Recherche musical'
research group.
76 Dam~nPous~t
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! L
The Worksof KaijaSaariaho,PhilippeHureland Marc-Andr~Dalbavie 77
3 Working with timbre
A n especially i m p o r t a n t choice the c o m p o s e r has to m a k e concerns the

relation b e t w e e n f o r m a n d material. As M a r c - A n d r d D a l b a v i e h a s
r e m a r k e d (1986), there n e v e r is a s i m p l e relationship b e t w e e n the two.
O n the contrary, there are c o m p l e x relations w h i c h m a y place t h e m in
o p p o s i t i o n while still a l l o w i n g t h e m to c o m p l e t e one another. A striking
aspect of spectral m u s i c is the c o m m o n l y felt n e e d for a p r i n c i p l e of
internal c o h e s i o n linking the f o r m a n d the material. E x t e n d e d u s e of
processes b y interpolation offers a v a l u a b l e illustration of this idea; 18 a n d
the process is a l m o s t an a r c h e t y p e for f o r m / m a t e r i a l congruences. The
e v o l u t i o n f o u n d in Vers le blanc, controlled b y a single, u n i q u e h a r m o n i c
c u r v e linking the t w o e n d points, is a sufficiently e l o q u e n t e x a m p l e . This
principal of cohesion, a k i n d of relic of structuralist utopias, is f o u n d at
all stages of the m u s i c a l text a n d s e e m s to participate in a g r e a t s y n t a g -
matic teleology linking the i n d i v i d u a l c o m p o s i t i o n s to a global c o m p o s i -
tional project. C r e a t i n g a w o r k , in this case, is to create a basis for a
s y s t e m a t i c - t y p e i n t e g r a t i o n of the n e w aspects of a language. We h a v e
entered into a p h a s e of slow m u s i c a l construction, w h e r e the a d o p t i o n of
the principle of c a u s a l i t y is the clear m a n i f e s t a t i o n . M o r e o v e r , a n e w
d e t e r m i n i s m has entered the c o m p o s i t i o n a l process. As Leibnitz w o u l d
say, it is as if there w e r e m a n y different universes w h i c h w e r e no m o r e
than different p e r s p e c t i v e s of a single universe. 19 And, finally, the pieces
o n l y a p p e a r a n d s u c c e e d o n e a n o t h e r as iterations of a m e t a - p r o c e s s
w h i c h creates and gives m e a n i n g to, b u t ultimately is b e y o n d them. T h e y
can n o longer b e restricted to the limits of their finite r e p r e s e n t a t i o n ,
since e a c h lays a p a t h for t h o s e w h i c h are to c o m e a n d b e a r s the
r e m i n d e r of those w h i c h h a v e past. Philippe H u r e l s e e m s to be the m o s t
clearly a w a r e of this idea a n d it r e t u r n s frequently t h r o u g h o u t his opus.
I don't think one can judge a composer's work without considering its context, and more
specifically his other works. As far as I'm concerned, I like my works to form a whole. I
want the listener to be able to grasp the trajectory that leads from one towards another. I
enjoy going from one to another. A single piece is, at best, successful. But what is really
important to me, on the contrary, is that my entire opus appears composed, in the way that
a concert program can appear composed. These links which I create between my works is
also a way for me to re-integrate the material which I manipulate, and abandon it only
18. Philippe Hurel's references to fractal objects are another, no less telling, example of his
concern for correlating different linguistic orders.
19. Leibnitz, La Monadologie, Delagrave, Paris, 1880, p. 173.
78 DamienPousset
with complete consciousness. Thus, the new stages to which I proceed only seem to
contradict their predecessors.It is almost an ethical stance.2~
Through technique, ideas and systematization, Philippe Hurel's works

are intertwined and respond to one another. For instance, the extremely
developed polyphonic work found in his most recent pieces, from Pour
l'image 21 (1986-87) to Pour Luigi 22 (1994) was already present in germinal
form in Opcit which itself refers to an earlier piece for flute, Eolia (1984).
From one work to another, Philippe Hurel exports mainly the organiza-
tional ideas of his discourse (process and polyphony). By focusing on the
principle of double writing which, since Pour l'image (see Figure 4), has
allowed Hurel's works to be approached as both continuous progres-
sions and as a set of variations, it quickly becomes clear that this idea
was already at the root of his earlier work.
With Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie, one finds the same desire to have compo-
sitional concerns converge and form a genre which subsumes them.
Hence his deliberate effort to gather together his most recent vocal pieces
into a cycle made up of almost his entire vocal production since
Impressions-Mouvements 23 (1989). Already pointing toward Seuils 24 (1991)
and Offertoire 25 (1995), Impressions-Mouvements, later re-written and re-
titled Instance 26 (1992), introduces Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie's Logos cycle
which is planned to ultimately contain five parts going from orchestral
ensembles to solo voice.
The continuity of the creative process is built on the organizational and
systematic aspect of these inter-piece links for Philippe Hurel and Marc-
Andr6 Dalbavie, Kaija Saariaho, on the other hand, privileges the broad,
over-determinant dimensions of musical material (harmonic and rhyth-
mic) and, especially, timbral material. The need to learn h o w to use these
materials, as well as the repeated use of the same computer programs
for several pieces, led her to draw on a principle of a musical replication
for her material. It is worth noting, in this regard, that an identical group
of computer programs, developed b y Kaija Saariaho for three of her
20. Philippe Hurel, quoted by Guy Lelong, op. cir.,p. 41.

21. For fourteen instruments.
22. For ensemble.
23. For fourteen instruments.
24. For soprano, ensembleand live electronics.
25. For male choir and orchestra.
26. For choir, orchestra and live electronics.
The Works ofKaija Saariaho, Philippe Hurel and Marc-Andr~ Dalbavie 79
tt6
dl
Pour l'image, page 5. 9 G~rard Billaudot Editeur, Paris.
Pour l'image, page 29. 9 G~rard Billaudot Editeur, Paris.
Figure 4
80 Damien Pousset
works, caused her to group these pieces under a generic title: respect-
ively Jardin secret 127 (1985), Jardin secret I/28 (1986) and Nymphea (Jardin
secret Ill) 29 (1987). In terms of the actual use of material, common struc-
tural links can be found between several of Kaija Saariaho works as well,
for example Lichtbogen 3~ (1986) and Stilleben 31 (1988). The harmonic struc-
ture of Petals32 (1988) is derived from Nymphea; most of the material of
PrOs33 (1992) comes from Amers 34 (1992); and finally, the two pieces of the
orchestral diptych Du cristal ... ~ la fumde 3s (1990) create two representa-
tions of the same compositional ideas. Effectively, ... ~ la fumde re-states
the propositions first made in Du cristal. It is, for example, the same trill
in the cello which ends Du cristal that opens ... ~ la fum~e; this trill is
also found as the beginning of her next two pieces Amers and Pr~s. Re-
starting is seen here as a heuristic strategy for composition (see Figure 5).
By working with the holistic and structuring dimensions of timbre, the
post-spectral composers, incidentally following the example of their
elders, have undeniably made this notion the axiomatic basis for devel-
oping their systems. Here, talking about the problems of material always
leads back to the notion of timbre. And understanding this notion, of
course, is first to perceive its specific characteristics (the structures and
envelope), but is, additionally, hearing it be actually (re)written through-
out the work. For indeed, what is composition but the concretion of one
mode of sensory reception into another, going from the objectivation of a
sensorial reality to notation, from the notional to the functional and
looking for layouts that allow both to be grasped at once? To compose is
to recompose the complexity of the sonic world, it is bringing the work
on material into the logic of an art of substitution (as understood by
Dufourt, 1991). Composition, inasmuch as it synthesizes and coordinates,
implies its o w n readjustment of the different imperatives of coherence
27. For tape.

28. For harpsichord and tape.
29. For string quartet.
30. For ensemble and electronics.
31. For tape.
32. For cello.
33. For cello and electronics.
34. For cello, ensembleand live electronics.
35. Respectivelyfor alto-fluteand orchestra, and celloand orchestra.
TheWorksofKaijaSaariaho,PhilippeHurelandMarc-Andr~Dalbavie 81
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82 DamienPousset
a n d requires, for this reason, an effort at b o t h theoretical a n d critical

elucidation. Additionally, c o m p u t e r s - - b y allowing a m o d e l to be
abstracted from a sound, b y giving it a structuring d i m e n s i o n a n d
deducing formal fields from it m allow composers to perform all sorts of
transfers a n d to establish n e w w a y s of thinking. T h r o u g h concepts,
analogies and also through pure arbitrariness, musicians, using this n e w
t y p e of rationalization of the sonic domain, could try to connect the
generic discontinuity of the parameters and correlate t h e m a n d create a
coherent network. As Francis Ponge said (1965): writing is more than
k n o w i n g , k n o w i n g in an analytical way: it is re-forming. Also, as we
shall see, rewriting is as m u c h the result of an inductive behavior
t o w a r d s the material as it is the act which creating the conditions of its
format.
T h r o u g h the notion of a 'timbral axis', Kaija Saariaho has w o r k e d to
create a logical timbral organization before starting the actual writing.
B u i l d i n g u p o n the qualitative differences of the sonic material, this
concept allowed the creation of dialectic poles in the very materiality of
the sonic phenomenon: b e t w e e n 'sine waves' a n d 'white noise', between
'clear s o u n d s ' a n d 'noisy' ones. Finally, this concept induces a bipolar
conception of timbre (see Figure 6).
This bi-polar conception re-establishes the f u n d a m e n t a l concepts of
hierarchy and function. Its broader aim is the radical restructuration of
musical language, inspired directly b y tonal music.
In a general way, for me, the notion of "noise' signifies emissions such as breathing, the
sound of low flute, a string instrument sul ponticello,and 'white noise'. On the other hand,
clear sounds, are, for example, the glockenspiel,violin harmonics, or bird song. Moreover,
sounds may also be divided as either 'pure' sounds (harmonic sine waves) or 'full" sounds
(i.e. highly colored: brass, some metallic percussion) [...] In an abstract atonal context, this
sound/noise axis may substitute, in a wa3~ for the notion of consonance-dissonance.A
noisy, grainy texture will take on a function analogous to dissonance, while a smooth, fluid
texture assumes the role of consonance.~6
This notion of 'timbral axis' was especially important to Kaija Saariaho in

her first major w o r k for orchestra composed at IRCAM, Verblendungen.
Verblendungen (Editions Wilhelm Hansen) was composed between 1982
a n d 1984 for 2 flutes, oboe, clarinet, alto saxophone, bassoon, 4 horns,
trumpet, trombone, tuba, harp, piano, 8 violins, 5 violas, 3 cellos, 2 double
basses, and tape (realized at the GRM in France a n d at the experimental
studio of the Finish Radio).
36. Saariaho, Kaija,idem,p. 413.

C
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84 Damien Pousset
It begins with an explosion of sound which serves as the piece's

maximum apogee and which is progressively weakened until the end.
The orchestral part clearly exhibits the harmonic material from the
outset; it then imperceptibly slides towards a noisy, dense texture.
Inversely, the electronic part begins with bands of noisy, dense sounds,
which are slowly illuminated to form, at the end, a pure consonant spec-
trum. The contrasts between noise and pure sounds, insofar as they are
elements that carry their own form, function in this context as strong
structuring factors; continuously projecting the timbre's quality into the
nature of its organization (see Figures 7a and 7b).
Taking into account the varying degrees of sonic clarity, Kaija Saariaho
has been able to work in a deep and sensitive manner on the m a n y
categories of noise: between sounds derived from pure instrumental
playing and those that come from a timbral art. Doubtlessly, her desire to
merge the timbral and harmonic facets, already present in Vers le blanc,
could have been motivated by the same concern for a strict control of the
elements, a control which is defined only by the rules of their coexistence.
Kaija Saariaho's creation of the 'timbral axis' (see Figure 6) allowed this
association of timbral and harmonic control: and thus became one of the
main cohesive elements of her language. In her music, particularly with
Jardin secret I, timbre has taken the place of harmony as the progressive
element in the musical discourse: the two elements becoming confused one
within the other and both belonging to the organic materiality of the sound.
In Jardin secret I, an 6tude for tape realized at IRCAM in 1984-85, Kaija
Saariaho used a system of specific programs to create a multidimensional
network in which each detail is tightly controlled and modified continu-
ously (cf. Saariaho, 1991). In the last three minutes of the piece, for
example, during which a single musical material made up of inharmonic
sonic material is used, timbres and harmonic structures are controlled by
the same initial structures. The chords are placed into a memory, from
which they can freely be extracted to construct chords progressions. A list
is then built by the composer to align the selected chords and to deter-
mine the length of each chord and each transition between two adjacent
chords (see Figure 8).
The harmonic progression has its own durational relations which are
independent from the rest. In this way, Kaija Saariaho can associate with
this chord progression another process that alters timbre (spectral enve-
lope) by compressing or expanding the frequency ranges of the formants.
This is done while still preserving the internal relationships of these fre-
quencies and leads to harmonic variations that move the harmonies from
their starting point (see Figure 9).
Philippe Hurel and Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie for their part look more to
extract/abstract from sound its organizational potential. For them, the
Figure 7a The first sketches for the global form of Verblendungen
orchelllre polyphonlu
tempi;
taux de progresllon harmonlque Ilmbllu| dell hlllUleUr
dynamlque homophonle
blnde
Figure 7b Curves used to control compositional parameters of Verblendungen. For each

curve, time is represented on the horizontal axis
86 Damien Pousset
chords duration duration of

(seconds) transitions
a 5. 0.7
b 3. 0.6
c 3. 0.4
a) d 2. 0~
e 4. 0.2
f 3. 0.5
g 2.5 0.5
O.'t," 0.~ ~
I I * I
b)
!
I, 04, " j~ b i ,I r~ u
Figure 8 a) sequence of chord durations and the durations of the transitions between the
chords; b) realization of this sequence for the chords a, b and c
'exteriority' is one of the very principles of composition, working as an

operative factor of musical writing. Above all, the goal is to differentiate
into discreet perceptive categories the elements which bring their own
forms of materials. However, this differentiation is only possible when
performed as a function of their future concordance and present coordi-
nation. This is because the edification of a musical system always rests
on the modalities of coexistence of its elements, and their relative perti-
nence within this system. In other words, the transition from object to
model, then from model to form, always requires the abstract representa-
tion of both the timbre and its applications in the writing process. The
timbre's power is, above all, the result of its quality as material; which,
like all artistic material, is not given naturally but is released and mas-
tered with difficulty through the work done at the level of a basic system
(Court, 1976). Timbre is therefore instanced, seized as a model, as an
element, and as a means able to create musical forms. It does not actually
generate these forms, in the way a true system would, but, through its
perceptive structures, participates in a dialectic way with the system and
thus constitutes one of the operative factors of musical process. And this
The Worksof Kaija Saariaho,PhilippeHurel and Marc-Andrs Dalbavie 87
expansion
foctor
-C
1.0 0.5 0.7 1.2
time
Figure 9 Evolutionof a chord throughthe use of a series of compression/expansion

factors
was the way that, in his M i r o i r s t r a n s p a r e n t s 37 (1984-86), Marc-Andrd

Dalbavie, following the example set by G~rard Grisey, was able reuse,
through projection, his first chord's frequency proportions to create tem-
poral dimensions of the work (cf. Grisey, 1987) - - consequently, entering
timbre into a metonymic relation with musical writing. Effectively, sonic
m a t e r i a l was re-endowed meaning and made into a metaphor through
the formalized projection of its structures onto other dimensions of the
music than the actual harmony-timbre. As was seen above, to compose is
to rethink the complexity of the relational form of material, to convert the
objectivation of its sensorial reality through a formal reorganization; it
is, finally, to recreate the pathways taken between the different elements
of sound. Do not forget that for Murail (1982) and his followers what
really counts is to establish f u n c t i o n s (in the mathematical sense of the
37. For twentyinstruments.

88 DamienPousset
word). In Diamants imaginaires, Diamants lunaires (1985-86), Philippe

Hurel thus sought, at least in some passages, to describe operative proce-
dures common to both timbre and harmony.
Diamants imaginaires, Diamants lunaires (G6rard Billaudot Editeur - -
Paris), composed in 1985 and 1986, was commissioned by the Musique
Oblique ensemble, for 2 flutes, oboe, 3 clarinets, alto/baritone saxo-
phone, bassoon, 2 horns, trumpet, bass trombone, 2 percussionists, harp,
2 DX7 synthesizers, 2 violins, viola, cello and double bass.
The timbres, generated through frequency modulation, are the conse-
quence of these formal processes. And being so, they were thought of in
terms of differential structures, just like the harmony (cf. the analysis of
Diamants lunaires b y Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie, 1991, p. 329). Philippe Hurel,
thus organizes two 'trajectories' built upon the progressive transforma-
tion of 'acoustic models,' and on the interaction of the divergences
between the acoustic and synthetic material. Interactive poles are intro-
duced into the composition of the timbre - - b e t w e e n synthetic sounds
and orchestral 'mixtures.' Either the complex sounds produced b y the
synthesizers are realized b y the orchestral instruments (in this case, the
synthesizer's main function is to generate acoustic models, in a way,
'absorbing' the orchestra - - cf. Hurel, 1991) or, inversely, the synthesizer,
which can, more or less faithfully, reproduce instrumental sounds (and
is, thus, absorbed b y the orchestra, with its instrumental models),
becomes part of a polyphonic type of writing of which produces a differ-
entiated perception.
It also seems that Philippe Hurel and Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie have more
closely investigated the structural relation between timbre and process
than the one between timbre and harmony. All of Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie's
production is built upon this notion of process.
Musical objects, such as the ones I construct, are, genetically speaking, from spectral
origins. What I do with them is a formal development that, while moving away from the
objects' starting-point, still tries to obey their sonic logic. I only write with the concept of
process, and of process as a perceptiblephenomenon.38
Also, it is not so much the nature of interpolated material that is import-

ant, but the hybrid transitions of its evolution. To a certain extent, timbre
and harmony end up as indistinguishable through these transitions: they
become virtual, giving their concreteness to the itinerary. The notion of
process implies that of a path and especially of a temporal path. Process
is the unavoidable archetype of spectral organization.
38. Marc-Andr~Dalbavie, quoted by Marc Texier, idem.

The Works ofKaija Saariaho, Philippe Hurel and Marc-Andr~ Dalbavie 89
Philippe Hurel proposed a further distinction in the relationship

uniting form and material, when he introduced the notion of polyphonic
structure @ithin timbral writing. While not yet formalized, an anticipa-
tion of this concern could already be sensed in Opcit, where the saxo-
phone is already treated as a polyphonic instrument. According to him,
writing a p o l y p h o n y can be seen as the result of a certain number of
manipulations performed on a timbral structure. To arrive at this idea,
he, along with others, made use of the results of psychoacoustic experi-
ments on 'auditory scenes', and the formation of auditory 'streams.' Pour
l'image represented a crucial step, from this perspective, in Philippe
Hurel's compositional evolution. This is even more true since in this
piece, for the first time, there are organized trajectories leading from a
sonic stream - - sounds fused into a single mass made up of a group of
melodic lines and instrumental timbres - - to a polyphony, allowing
those lines and timbres to regain their individuality.
Pour l'image (G6rard Billaudot Editeur - - Paris), was c o m p o s e d
between 1986 and 1987 for flute, oboe, clarinet, alto saxophone, horn,
trumpet, bass trombone, 2 percussionists, 2 violins, viola, cello and
double bass.
The beginning of Pour l'image seems to present an undifferentiated
global texture in which all the heterogeneous timbres of the orchestra are
shown. They share amongst themselves four slow, superposed and com-
pressed (overlapping) melodic structures. The composer is trying to
create the illusion of a progressive movement from an initial heterogene-
ity to the perception of localized timbres. The idea rests upon a certain
functionality of the instrumentation, which he himself refers to as struc-
tural, in which the initially fused instrumental timbres are gradually
interpolated towards a single shared timbre. Identical instrumental
colors are gradually assigned t o different points of each structure (the
composer having already created the timbral progressions, organized by
spectral proximity). The ear ends up 'grouping' them into melodic 'lines'
and recomposes, through this regrouping, a four-voice polyphony. These
voices are heard, respectively, in the flute, oboe, clarinet and alto saxo-
phone. The number of instruments in this section, thus, goes from four-
teen to four. The instruments timbrally distant from the flute, for
example, are, in this way, gradually replaced by the flute itself. As Guy
Lelong has stated so well, the effect produced is more that of a melodic
orchestra than an orchestrated melody (see Figure 10).
The same desire to link timbre to its organizational effectiveness can be
seen in all three composers, inasmuch as it led them to search for and
create paths between the different poles of composition. The techniques
behind their early pieces with computers, such as Verblendungen, Diamants
imaginaires, Diamants lunaires and Les miroirs transparents, have truly
90 DamienPousset
d La&~~ Jacqueli~ne Do,n ~
Dm~: 12ran POUR L'IMAGE

pour ensemble
~_~ PhilippeHUREL
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Figure 10 Philippe Hurel's Pour l'image 9 1987, G~rard Billaudot Editeur, Paris.
Used by permission
nraprel~
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F i g u r e 10 ( p a r t 2)
92 DamienPousset
9 . ,.~ ~. .,~
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. peu peu -
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Figure 10 (part 3)
helped in establishing the basis of their systems, in continuity with the

work begun at IRCAM a few years earlier.
4 The reflections of timbre
The u s e o f computers in music made possible work on musical materials

which has utterly changed composition. For the first time, composers
were able to rigorously base their effort on the parameters of timbre
(especially instrumental timbre) to construct their orchestrations and
generate their harmonic models. The detailed breaking down of sound
which computers allowed, showed the connections and correlations
which only they could identify, measure and validate. Additionally, the
techniques of harmonic generation could be directly linked to the tech-
niques for computer-synthesis, with, of course, all the modifications that
synthesis procedures can perform on the natural or instrumental models.
Here, the technology has induced the mimetic behavior. In both cases,
the concern of the computer-users to refer the harmonic material to a
model shows through (cf. Barri6re, 1988). The representation, in a
mimetic sense, is based on the idea of a semioticized world whose goal is
certainly not the immediately observable sonic phenomenon itself, but
the musical material which can be conceived and characterized. One
must also take into account the icon-like relation which ties the spectral
harmony-timbre to its own sonic denotatum (cf. Pierce, 1979). Insofar as
it is an 'icon', the timbre only represents the spectral object. At the same
time, it grounds that spectral object in the particular modes of projection
(ostentation, partial use of the spectrum, etc.) which do not have the
same physical properties as the object, but work with a perceptive struc-
ture 'similar' to the one that triggered the object. Basing harmonies on
the most salient structures of a spectrum is precisely what the program
Iana, developed at IRCAM by Dan Timis and G6rard Assayag, offers.
And Kaija Saariaho has made use of it for all her instrumental pieces
since Verblendungen. For example, the harmonic material of Lichtbogen
and Nymphea (Jardin secret lid come from the analyses of two cello
sounds. The first one, complex and multiphonic, was achieved by
playing a natural harmonic with slowly increasing bow pressure. The
second, a glissando between two natural harmonics, produced a series of
complex, irregular and oscillating pitches (see Figure 11).
Moreover, the Iana program takes into account the temporal evolution
of the weights of these perceptive structures as well, offering composers
another 'natural' model of the processes of transforming and articulating
musical material (see Figure 12).
94 Damien Pousset
(a) ~4 S.'t.
' I/l
VC ,r~, w
(b)
VC
Figure 11 Transitions b e t w e e n pure and noisy sounds: a) b y progressively a d d i n g b o w

pressure and b y playing more a n d more sul tasto; b) by glissando-hag from one harmonic
to another
FFT/TERHARDT ANALYSIS
- The first sequence shows the pitches output from the FFT arranged from low to high.
- The second shows only those which Te~ardt's algorithm endows with a non-null
'perceptive weight.'
- under each note is marked (from high to low):
1 - in cents (from 0 to + or - 50) its pitch offset from the tempered chromatic note
written on the staff.
2 - the amplitude for each frequency, on a linear scale from 0 to 1000.
3 - the perceptive weight as determined by Terhardt's pitch salience algorithm, on the
same linear scale.
8 ~
, , ; ',
~ : ~'~'.~ ~ -," ...

,, , ,
Figure 12
Kaija Saariaho d i d not miss the chance to use this last possibility,
notably in D u cristal. I n that piece, the h a r m o n y - t i m b r e ' s exposition a n d
d e v e l o p m e n t b o r r o w f r o m and s o m e t i m e s follow the natural evolution
of the spectra in time (cf. Pousset, 1993).
With Io 39 (1986-87), Kaija Saariaho finally synthesizes the ideas of
several earlier pieces, the c o m p u t e r i n t e r v e n e s at all the levels of the
piece's organization: to analyze the d o u b l e bass a n d bass flute sounds,
for s o u n d synthesis, to c o m p u t e the harmonic progressions and rhythmic
interpolations a n d to control the real-time electronics. A n d as w i t h
Philippe Hurel, using the same m o d e l for the instrumental h a r m o n y a n d
the electronic-synthesis, allows a mimetic i n t e r p l a y of superpositions-
absorptions, of c o m p l e m e n t a r y shifts in the t w o parts of the composi-
tion. Philippe H u r e l and Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie h a v e m o r e particularly
focused on synthesis based models - - p r i m a r i l y f r e q u e n c y m o d u l a t i o n
- - to link-fuse the instrumental a n d the electronic in the f r a m e w o r k of
mixed works.
The computer can generate, from these models, completely new timbres, and can also
organize them according to certain rules, transforming them if necessary, creating classes of
proximity or difference of color, perform distortions on the process and on the sonic mater-
ial, spatialize these sounds, make some timbres resemble others for formal reasons, organ-
ize in parallel the instrumental and electronic aspects of a mixed piece (and manage its
interconnections), etc. The step forward is enormous and corresponds to the deep need to
integrate the realm of electronic timbres into the richest possible musical discourse.4~
It generates a complex, indivisible n e t w o r k of strata a n d textures in

w h i c h the dialectic o p p o s i t i o n h a r m o n i c - t e x t u r e / t i m b r a l - f u s i o n forms
a m b i g u o u s relations b e t w e e n the different operators. As w e have already
e m p h a s i z e d in Philippe Hurel's Diamants imaginaires, Diamants lunaires,
the imitation of instrumental s o u n d s b y electronics, or the simulation of
electronic s o u n d s t h r o u g h instrumental procedures, have placed c o m p o -
sition in a game of d o u b l e identity. With Diad~mes, w h i c h belongs to the
'concertato' style, Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie c o n s p i c u o u s l y m a k e s use of the
dialectic i n t e r p e n e t r a t i o n of these two w o r l d s , i n s t r u m e n t a l and elec-
tronic. A n d this is d o n e in a w a y which is all the m o r e obvious since the
solo i n s t r u m e n t u n d e r g o e s electronic transformations, in real time. The
fact that the solo i n s t r u m e n t has b o t h those particularities allows the cre-
ation of a surface of equilibrium and transition b e t w e e n the two worlds.
39. For cello, ensemble and live electronics.

40. Dalbavie, Marc-Andr6, ~Pour sortir de l'avant-garde~, in Timbre, m~taphore pour la com-
position, p. 327.
96 Damien Pousset
Diad~mes (Editions Jobert-Paris), composed in 1986 for the Itin6raire

ensemble, is written for viola with electronic transformations (harmo-
nizer, reverb), ensemble (2 flutes, oboe, 2 clarinets, bassoon, horn, 2 trum-
pets, bass trombone, 2 percussionists, 3 violins (amplified), and double
bass) and electronics (piano, electric organ and 2 Yamaha DX7 synthesiz-
ers). The choice of the electronic apparatus was made to take advantage
of the real time performance possibilities offered by MIDI keyboards.
In this three movement piece, the composer chose, on the one hand, to
build his sounds on instrumental models such as the marimba or the
vibraphone - - so as to be able to later interpolate between them - - , and
on the other hand, to take the lowest viola and bass sounds (C - 3 and
E - 1) as the modulator and carrier to generate the synthesis part. Following
the order of movements, Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie leads us progressively from
an instrumental harmony (first movement), to an frequency modulation
based harmony (second movement), and finally to attain a fusion of the
two worlds (third movement). Moreover, it is on the 'harmonic spectrum"
of the viola note that the first phrase of the soloist is built, and that provides
the pivot-notes that appear throughout the entire piece (see Figure 13).
In his analysis, Wieland Kr6ger (1992) notes that the choice of a solo
viola creates certain sonic morphologies which come directly from the
instrumental gestures of strings. Additionally, this research was also con-
tinued later in the Interludes, where Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie used the com-
puter to calculate a series of processes moving through all the different
manners of playing process (read all the idiomatic turns from the violin-
istic repertoire). While arco indications predominate in the first and third
movements, pizz. prevails in the second. We are witnessing, in short, a
kind of infinite reflection of identity, where the viola is infinitely reflected
in a system to whose establishment it contributed. According to Marc-
Andr6 Dalbavie (1986), the opposition between acoustic and electronic
instruments creates a sonic world that will strongly influence the form of
the musical score.
Finally, it must be noted that the three composers, with the help of
computers, have opened n e w doors to composers. Their music, in
essence, makes use of the dynamic opposition of fundamentally different
poles and recreates a dual and interactive presentation of its components
- - between timbre and harmony, between micro and macro structures,
between fission and fusion and between the acoustic and the electronic.
Moreover, what really interests them are the structural interrelations and
conflicts; the operations of differentiation and conversion, and of
specification and globalization. Moreover, all of these operations already
point out certain formal limits and potentials. It could be seen that the
composers of post-spectral music make use of a shared idiomatic mater-
ial; both in the w a y they generate and in the w a y they refer to their
5
~ 4 i ~, Jl',' ' ' : L i IJ.:l i
I
,., I .,' ~ '~'. .... i ~'*~

i " i,r " "
v~
Figure 13 Diad~mes, pages 8-9. 9 Editions Jobert, Paris. Used by permission

98 Damien Pousset
n~
Figure 13 (ctd.)
The Worksof Kaija Saariaho,PhilippeHurel and Marc-Andr~ Dalbavie 99
material. We m u s t n o w try to u n d e r s t a n d the f u n d a m e n t a l differences in

the w a y that they use these materials w i t h i n their works.
5 R e - t r e a t i n g ~1 t i m b r e
All formal distinctions are, m o r e or less, already present in the w o r k s

m e n t i o n e d above. Thus, for example, Kaija Saariaho's music is f o r m e d
b y u s i n g w h a t w e h a v e referred to e l s e w h e r e as morphological poetics
(cf. Pousset, 1994). This idea, w h i c h w a s u s e d even in her earliest pieces,
consists of the precompositional creation of diagrams that schematicize
the processes w h i c h will t r a n s f o r m the musical material. Fixed in b o t h
space a n d time, t h e y d o not t r u l y allow their musical m e a n i n g to be
directly read, b u t serve as a r e m i n d e r of the f o r m that controls each para-
meter. This prevents the c o m p o s e r from losing sight of the global f o r m
while writing the instant to instant details. For Kaija Saariaho, building a
form is, above all else, the d e v e l o p m e n t of a sense of directed motion,
from which one can neither separate the different contributing factors
nor fragment the various steps (cf. Mc A d a m s / S a a r i a h o , 1991). A n d since
they are a r h y t h m before they b e c o m e a structure and m o r e of a function
t h a n discernment, these d i a g r a m s will not tolerate any analytical
description. A d i m e n s i o n of r h y t h m - m e a n i n g exists and precedes, estab-
lishes a n d t r a n s c e n d s the r e p r e s e n t a t i v e d i m e n s i o n of w r i t t e n music.
F u r t h e r m o r e , w h a t e m e r g e s f r o m t h e transition from d i a g r a m m a t i c
retention to musical representation is the re-acquisition of a f u n d a m e n t a l
r h y t h m which creates signification. Written music and the form w h i c h
has created it m u s t exist s i m u l t a n e o u s l y w h e r e v e r i n v e n t i o n is called
into play, w h e n time is rehabilitated w i t h i n written space, or w h e n the
materials and the d i a g r a m s interfere w i t h one another, shaping them-
selves and a n s w e r i n g each other. As in an impressionist painting, the
true musical units are not e l e m e n t a r y units, but i n d e p e n d e n t events, sup-
p o r t e d b y the formal rhythm. In this way, the act of composition lies in
this temporality of the event w h i c h links the e v o k e d imagination to the
41. translator's note: The title of this section in French is 'Les ~re-traits~ du timbre.'
Indicating both the withdrawal of timbre as the pre-eminent element and a new idea of
timbre, leading it in a new direction. The author notes in a foot-note that he has bor-
rowed this idea from Peter Szendy (who himself cites Jacques Derrida). The context of
the word play was Szendy's remark ,4rait en plus pour suppl4er le retrait soustrayant~
[one more line drawn to compensate for the subtractive withdrawal] in Musique: texte,
Cahiers de l'Ircam, collection **Rechercheet musique,~,Ircam-GeorgesPompidou, Paris,
1994, p. 127-136.
100 Damien Pousset
work's narrative structure. Like most composers of her generation, Kaija

Saariaho became quickly aware of the importance of musical communi-
cation as the transmission of messages. This is w h y the formal coherence
of Du cristal is built on the laws of perception and information which
have governed her work since the mid-eighties. A musical form that is
reconsidered in terms of the w a y it will be perceived is a communicative
form. From a perceptive standpoint, the best forms are necessarily built
upon the principles of repetition and equilibrium.
Du cristal (Editions Wilhelm Hansen - - Copenhagen) for symphony
orchestra, was composed in 1989-90 for the Helsinki FestiVal and the Los
Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. It is the first part of an orchestral
diptych and it is Kaija Saariaho's first attempt at writing for orchestra.
Du cristal's formal envelope is articulated in three sections A / B / A ' ,
preceded by a slow introduction. It reuses in retrograde motion an
anamorphosis of the propositions exposed at the beginning of the piece.
Thus, it is built u p o n the classical requirements of symmetry and repeti-
tion; characterized b y the symmetry of its structures as well as the suc-
cessive progressions and alternations of its parts - - between impetus and
repose, flux and re-flux, tension and relaxation (see Figure 14).
The composer has seemingly favored formal clarity, s i m p l e and
audible, as the pre-compositional elaboration of the piece; however, it
already contains an entire network of internal relations and temporal
equilibria of sonic materials and processes (cf. Stoianova, 1994).
There are two essential ideas that must be garnered from Du cristal:
the idea of repetition and that of (re)writing. These not only because they
can be placed in parallel to all that determines the formal eurythmics of
classical music, but also because they are indicative of principles leading
to a compositional renewal. Kaija Saariaho's ... a la fum~e, the other side
of Du cristal, stigmatizes, if you will, this rupture and opens up a new
path of research, which will be followed elsewhere in Amers and Graal
Thd~tre42 (1994). Where Du cristal wants to be a sort of completion .... a la
fumde w o u l d like to be a n e w beginning. One is the integration and
fusion of the elements that constitute a form, the other is the dissolution
and dispersion of its forces; one reunites and integrates them, the other
measures and confronts them; one remains static, the other is rhythmic.
Moreover, the principle of axial organization, already generalized and
completed in Du cristal, seems here to be suddenly hidden, making room
for other organicist models for elaborating form; The n e w models were
conceived in a more dynamic way, better representing this radical muta-
42. For violin and orchestra.

0 3' A 8' B 14'A' 18'

I I I I I
temps ..... >
Figure 14 The f o r m of Du cristal
tion in the musical writing, through which the need for dramatic renewal
was articulated. It was this same need for a dramatic renewal which led
to a systematic reconsideration of the vertical dimension of music,
through the elaboration of principles of patterns and variations for
Philippe Hurel and the creation of a polyphony of processes and mini-
realist-like repetitions for Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie.
Each in their own way, Philippe Hurel and Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie also
tried to break away from the formal linearity of the first spectral pieces.
The relative impoverishment of those latter works' musical discourse,
linked to the too predictable unfolding of their processes, led these com-
posers to reconsider the aesthetic of the process, as opposed to the princi-
ples of polyphony and formal rupture. They attempted to complexify
their discourse essentially through an effort at creating a hierarchy
within the temporal dimension of musical development. Resting, partly,
on the principle of polyphonic superposition of processes and partly on
that of formal repetition of the musical elements, they were able to win
back some of the material's functionality. Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie will try
to mask the (sometimes very strong) directional potential of processes of
formal organization by superposing several processes of interpolation - -
which place into opposition between themselves each one's directional-
ity in a predetermined hierarchy. This hierarchical relation between the
processes allows the discourse to be much more animated, without
sacrificing a strong coherence between the different dynamic movements
of the score. And as he, himself, noted (1986), it is the sometimes
the dialectic encounter between different paths and their temporal
102 Damien Pousset
organization (return of certain cells, repetition of motifs, development of

some gestual morphologies, etc.), that creates the form.
In order to thwart the effect of certain strongly directional interpola-
tions, while always keeping in view the d y n a m i c opposition of the ele-
ments w i t h i n the discourse, Dalbavie introduced a different category of
interpolations based on repetition, w h o s e main function was to 'neutral-
ize' musical time. Interpolation, it m u s t be noted, is, itself, a repetitive
process that is reminiscent of certain electro-acoustic m a n i p u l a t i o n s
(delay, echo, infinite reverberation, etc.). Diad~mes offers a m e a n i n g f u l
example of this kind of repetition, which is itself extended in the 'repeti-
tive' section of the piece's second m o v e m e n t , a k i n d of crystallized,
repeated beating of the h a r m o n y c a u g h t b e t w e e n t w o different states
(cf. KrSger, 1993). This technique of repetition creates a feeling of sus-
p e n s i o n a n d allows a better control of the temporal reality of the
processes involved in the discourse. As a perceptive p h e n o m e n o n , it
allows the m o m e n t a r y stabilization of certain surface figures and, conse-
quently, induces p h e n o m e n a of identification and the m n e m o n i c fixation
of those few musical motifs based on their directionality a n d fleeting
nature.
If I want my processes to be heard, their metamorphosis, transformations and destructions

to be perceived, at some point they must be memorized. [...] On the other hand, it is stag-
gering that the idea of memory is in contradiction with the idea of process. The process is
continuous time. Memory is discontinuous. It is also organization, choice and the dis-
cretization of events. [...] To unify these two levels, one needs a panoply of objects and
processes which are more or less memorizable more or less salient are needed. Memory
cannot grab onto certain objects; these are elusive, fugitive objects which are only there to
organize the passage of time. Others, on the contrary, are very salient. We spontaneously
isolate them from the sonic flow and we can feel the effect of interpolations on them even
from a long distance.~
Moreover, those musical objects m u s t be identifiable and memorizable

throughout the piece b y means of constant characteristics; requiring, for
example, that the initial aggregates maintain a constant link b e t w e e n a
given melodic or rhythmic figure and a specific timbre or instrumentation.
For Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie, composition will, thus, consist m a i n l y of
the interactive articulation, within the larger form, of these processes of
variable scale a n d structural level. In this regard, the presentation, oppo-
sition and synchronization into superposed layers of interpolations in the
seventh m o v e m e n t of Seuil are absolutely representative of the different
possible m o d e s of articulation a n d their potential for animating the
musical discourse (cf. Simon, 1993).
43. Marc-Andr4Dalbavie, quoted by Marc Texier,idem,p. 16.

Seuils (Editions Jobert - - Paris) is made up of seven movements and is

the second part of the Logos cycle. The work was composed in 1991 and
uses a text by Guy Lelong. It is scored for soprano, ensemble (2 flutes,
2 oboes, 3 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba,
2 or 3 percussionists, 2 keyboards, harp, 3 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos,
double bass) and electronics.
Based on eight main processes that all imply repetition, Seuils is also
built, as was Diad~mes, on the principle of echoes, which give the piece its
repetitive character. The echoes, as a rhythmic process, are the main
material of the third and seventh movements. Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie
places them at regularly spaced intervals, but at different speeds, creat-
ing a sort of scale of echoes.
! ii
.I' r,~, 'I " 9 I' ~ ~I -'

i"-"l r--"i r ~ l i-"'1
I I L I l l l l l l I' r'm~l -
:-I, r~,l., 9 ntm

, M ~ f"i~
,1' ~'q,I -" ~
9
,1' ~, '1.,
r"-i i'-I r"'3 i 9
i" ,~ l_J6..~J~..J_,J - ,v I_~L t .J I,,_U
I" i J ! , , i , ! l J 'I' ,.t, 'I .-,

9I' r,~,l.,
- r~ r-'hr-'hYrnn~_n'nr'-~
Figure 15 The scale of echoes in m o v e m e n t s I, II a n d VII of Seuils
The seventh movement of Seuils moves towards a progressive

simplification of the musical discourse; however, the beginning of this
same movement has a superposition of processes in which the dynamics,
rhythms and speeds play important roles (see Figure 16).
The different processes are thus associated with dynamic curves which
control their greater or lesser predominance, as well as their different
articulations (cross-fades, hiatuses, ruptures, etc.) within the 'polyphonic'
texture. These elements are based on rhythmic figures with different
speeds - - an essential factor of the articulation (the numbers in Figure 16
refer back to the echoes in the figure 15).
These same types of formal procedures can also be found in the works
of Philippe Hurel and Kaija Saariaho. In Du cristal, Kaija Saariaho super-
poses the different rhythmic and harmonic interpolations using the
104 DamienPousset
Woodwind and "1 J 0

percussion
brass mp
strings
Figure 16 The differentmotivespresented in this passage are associatedto dynamics

which determine the relative predominance of the motives. There are different types of
articulation between motives: superposition, cross-fadesand rupture (brass -- along with
a low tom in 4)
different instrumental grouping within the orchestra (winds, percussion

and strings); Philippe Hurel, for his part, multiplies t h e number and
nature of the processes in Mdmoire vive 44 (1989): one process controls the
evolution of the ambitus, another the timbres and yet another the accel-
eration or the tempo. Also, once he starts formalizing his polyphonic
principles in Pour l'image, Hurel has remained satisfied, for lack of
sufficient computing power, with using sets of multiple unchanging,
periodic meters and assigning them to different instruments. He n o w
uses rules of compression and dilation effecting the rhythmic cells; this
gives him the possibility of superposing distinct processes (notably,
tempo modulations) where each voice is treated independently.
Philippe Hurel has also expressed a desire to restore the role of
m e m o r y to an important position. He has tried to accomplish this,
notably, through the characterization of moments of recognition, consid-
ered as structural repetitions. These effect either notes, aggregates, or
polyphonies, and the composer calls them 'musical situations.' Mdmoire
vive, for example, integrates these moments of recognition into the pro-
gressive unfolding of the music. Further, these 'musical situations' are
treated with some combinatorial procedures - - a 'drift" where successive
modifications move it towards a different state - - , and lead to the inter-
vention of the principles of recurrence which form the basis of the 'the-
matic' treatment of processes. Rehabilitating these principals of
recurrence led Philippe Hurel to use an even greater variety of percep-
tive repetitions, functioning as 'signals.' In the Six miniatures en trompe-
44. For orchestra.

l'oei145 (1991-93), for instance, as soon as the discourse moves too far from
the original musical situation, one of these "signals' rings out - - like a
sort of alarm m returning the listener to the musical context in which it
has its place; inciting an active re-hearing of the musical sequence to
which it is linked. The present object, thus, is no more then a pretext, an
occurrence, which collapses as soon as it has completed its mnemonic
function. Here, the Time Regained, is the analogy between the current and
past hearings; the abstraction performed here consists of erasing the tem-
poral distance, necessary - - according to Marcel Proust m if this "minute
liberated from the rules of time" is to be hatched.
Another form of repetition is the morphological and thematic re-
appropriation by the composers of a certain number of presentational
gestures: in short, a relation of 'designation,' both in and through the
musical writing. In his vocal pieces, notably in Seuils, Marc-Andr6
Dalbavie treats the text metonymically with the music, passing from the
explicit to the virtual, from narrative to musical, with one sustaining the
other and vice-versa (cf. Lelong, 1993b). Philippe Hurel, for his part,
seeks, in the Six miniatures en trompe l'oeil, to integrate rhythms directly
inspired by jazz, and, in Ler de choses 46 (1993), to bring out the narrative
pertinence of concrete objects (a pie tin and a tape reel hit with a drum-
stick) by inscribing them into the structural rhythm of the form and 'vir-
tualizing' them through the instrumental treatment.
Lemon de choses, commissioned by IRCAM, was composed in 1993 for
ensemble (flute, clarinet, horn, piano/Midi keyboard, harp, violin, viola,
cello, double bass) and the IRCAM Signal Processing Workstation
(a system for live electronics).
Philippe Hurel first chose familiar sonic objects and sketched musical
situations which recall some fragments of previous works. These objects
originate either from his domestic surroundings (a pie tin, a tape-reel, or
a waste basket, whose sounds were sampled and electronically
processed) or from his other pieces (notably 'signals' from M~moire rive
and the Six miniatures en trompe-l' ceil). Lemon de choses is, out of his entire
production, the piece which has the most relations to those that preceded
it. One of the main sonic objects heard in this piece (object A), is the
result a resynthesis based on two concrete elements: the pie-tin and the
tape-reel struck with a drum-stick. Recorded separately, the sounds were
stored on a hard disk then analyzed by the computer at different points
in their resonance. Then, the different results from the pie-tin were
45. For ensemble.

46. For enembleand live electronics.
106 DamienPousset
modeled and resynthesized and remixed with the original pie-tin record-
ing. This mixed sound was used as the stimulating source for a reso-
nance based model that created the final hybrid object, made up of a tape
reel placed into resonance by the pie-tin (cf. the analysis by Catherine
Tognan, 1994).
In both cases, the referenced object, whether sonic or narrative, sensory
reality or text, enters once again into an iconic relationship with the
musical: a sort of choreographic rewriting of its different gestures within
the space of the score. In Amers, Kaija Saariaho makes use of similar pro-
cedures, to which even the title refers.47 A complex sound based on the
low E-fiat of the cello is one of the piece's essential traits and a factor of
coherence. It opens the piece and reappears throughout. And as with
Philippe Hurel, the strong characterization of this feature helps make the
piece intelligible to the listener. In fact, Kaija Saariaho has placed more
and more of her emphasis on working with memory; by repeating a n d
rewriting certain motifs, as is shown in the melodic passages of her
violin concerto Graal theatre. In general, one can find two ways that these
musical objects are treated in her recent pieces: either through metamor-
phoses, or by maintaining a rhythmic and intervaUic identity while
varying the color and tempo. It should be noted in passing that the same
process of tempo modulation is used by Philippe Hurel, first in
C~Idbration des Invisibles 48 (1992) and then in Lefon de choses. For him, it is
these returns which solicit the m e m o r y and incite the listener to partic-
ipate in a more active hearing; essentially, the result of his efforts to
achieve the paradoxical integration of spectral objects into polyphonic
variation forms.
Having at first been satisfied to cause the reappearance of only the structure of these aggre-
gates, I quickly realized that this type of return was not sufficiently perceptible. I had to
characterize much more strongly the repetitions, requiring the repetition of the timbre and
instrumentation as well. I ended up applying this system of repetitions to all levels of the
composition - - to the form, the sub-sections, then, on a much finer scale, to the aggregates
and melodies and within the melodies to the notes themselves. Inevitably, I wound up with
a motivic type of working and, consequently, with variations; the only difference being that
I did not have a pre-established material, as in a traditional variation. In other words, the
sonic objects that I organize evolve progressively in time, yet their trajectories are nonethe-
less divisible into sub-sections where each one is always a variation of the precedent. 49
47. 'Les amers' [seamark, in English] - - from the Dutch Merk (limit) - - they are unmoving
and very visible objects (towers, columns, windmills, etc.) placed on the coast, and
used by navigators as landmarks.
48. For percussion, choir and shadow theater.
49. Philippe Hurel, quoted by Guy Lelong, op. cir., pp. 18-19.
Like Kaija Saariaho and Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie, Philippe H u r e l tried to

break the linearity of the processes, to create forms w h i c h w e r e n o longer
unidirectional, to consequently multiply the levels of u n d e r s t a n d i n g and
generate ambivalences in the listeners. The 'ambiguity', as he likes to call
it, stems f r o m the p e r c e p t i v e difference b e t w e e n the timbre a n d the
texture, b e t w e e n the micro-structural c o m p l e x i t y of timbre a n d its global
e v o l u t i o n in time. D u r i n g this e v o l u t i o n , the listener m u s t h a v e the
choice of interpreting the music according to his individual t e n d e n c y to
favor r h y t h m or h a r m o n y , or as a globally p e r c e i v e d ' t i m b r e ' (whose
spectral m o d e l m i g h t be 'natural,' or 'synthetic'), or as a p o l y p h o n i c
structure leading to the a p p e a r a n c e of r h y t h m i c relations (superposition
of melodies). Therefore, he had to create a system of writing, that was at
once rigorous and flexible, to be able to organize these a m b i g u o u s orien-
tations of hearing, while still integrating the contradictory principles of
repetition and recurrence. To achieve this end, Philippe H u r e l engen-
d e r e d special melodic structures called ' p a t t e r n s ' a n d w h i c h h a v e
b e c o m e some of the most c o m m o n l y used structure-types in his pieces
(cf. Tognan, 1995). It was with Pour l'image, t h e piece w h i c h led to his
current evolution, that he d i s c o v e r e d a n d f o r m a l i z e d these structures
w h i c h are well suited to realizing the transitions b e t w e e n timbre and
melody, and b e t w e e n global p e r c e p t i o n a n d differentiated perception.
T h e y were conceived according to a principal of recursion, so as to struc-
turally contain their o w n augmentation. These patterns, effectively, are
manifested as a finite series of symbols to which can be attributed either
a pitch, an interval, a d u r a t i o n or a r h y t h m i c cell, a ranking within a
spectrum, an entire sonic object - - such as a s p e c t r u m or aggregate - - , or
even an entire musical situation. By reducing the n u m b e r of rules to a
g r o u p of schematic formulas, like these patterns, Philippe H u r e l is able
to correlate the elements. Moreover, this practice hearkens back to certain
principles of the m n e m o n i c art of the fifteenth a n d sixteenth c e n t u r y
Lullists and Aristotelians.
To create mnemonic art, it is first necessary to have some kind of formal structure which,
once established, can always be used to recall any series of things or names (res aut verba).
Thisfixa or formal structure can always be reused (which is called either carta orforma ),
and is arbitrarily construed [...] The formal structure, thus obtained, can be 'filled' with
mental contents of any kind and variable from one time to another (imagines delebiles or
mati~re or dcriture ).5o
During its repetition, this sequence of symbols can be projected onto the
largest scale if one of the elements is periodically accented. This idea is
50. Rossi, Paolo, Clavis Universalis, t~difionsJ6r6me Millon, Grenoble, 1993,pp. 37-38.
108 Damien Pousset
present in an embryonic form starting in 1984, in the third piece of Opcit,

where Philippe Hurel composed a melodic line made up of subsections
which are identical but with each one on a smaller scale, in the same w a y
as the fractal objects which inspired them. For a given succession (for
example: a b c d e g f b a d c f), a high level 'pattern' can be created by
periodically highlighting or accenting one of its elements: A b c d e f g B
adcfabCdefgbaDcfabcdEfgbadcFabcdefGbadcfaB
cdefgbAdc fabcDefgbadC fabcdeFgb a d c f. T h e v e r y
structure of a paragram can be seen here: a second text, identical in this
example, is heard. The importance of accentuations, for Philippe Hurel,
must be underlined, since it participates in the paragramatic structure of
the musical text. As Roland Barthes wrote, when the tonal system disap-
peared, this accentual function was passed into the system of timbres.
"The 'timbrality" guaranties that the body will have the full richness of
its 'blows.' Thus, it is those 'blows' - - the only structural elements of the
musical text - - which give a transhistoric continuity to the music, what-
ever system it uses (which itself is totally historic). "sl From Pour I'image
through Miniatures, M~moire vive and to Lemon de choses, Philippe Hurel
has managed to establish rules which satisfy both his taste for density
and complexity in contrapuntal writing and his desire for a more global
treatment of sonic forms.
We have seen with Kaija Saariaho, Philippe Hurel and Marc-Andr6
Dalbavie the progressive construction of different systems which, while
acting on the same functional field of musical material, have not stressed
things in the same way. While composition is more directed to the
macro-structures (diagrams) which control the details for Kaija Saariaho,
for Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie, on the other hand, it is the combination and
arrangement of intermediate structures (successive blocks of sound,
polyphony of processes) that predominates, and for Philippe Hurel, the
emphasis is on the proliferation b y constraints of the micro-structures of
the piece (rhythmic and melodic patterns).
6 The poetics of timbre
Today, we are witnessing, in all three composers, the progressive emer-

gence of a more dramatized discourse, both at the level of formal organ-
ization and the dual characterization of the components. The composers
51. Barthes Roland, L'Obvie et I'obtus, Essais critiques III, t~ditions du Seuil, Paris, 1982,
p. 274.
are tending, more and more, to privilege the operational dimensions of

composition (formal ruptures, polyphonic variation structures, super-
position of processes, repetitions, sonic spatialization). Inasmuch as they
work toward the "theatralization of the genetic activity, in the work
itself, "s2 all these procedures express, in a way, the shared desire to
remedy the 'rhythmic deficiencies' of the first spectral pieces (cf. Bonnet,
1991), and to re-energize the musical discourse with narrative proce-
dures. The formal ruptures, which appear in the recent concertante
pieces by Kaija Saariaho and in the vocal music of Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie,
inasmuch as they provisionally abandon the uni-directionality and tem-
poral segmentation of the expression, are essentially built on the frag-
menting effect of phenomena of identity. The phenomena, it is true, favor
a dialectic division of the instrumental forces, between soloist and vocal-
ist (whose frequent electronic transformations, moreover, magnify the
opposition) on the one side, and the groups of instruments from the
ensemble on the othen
The current preoccupations of Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie (vocal music),
Guy Lelong (text) and Patrice Hamel (stage directing and lighting), are a
clear testimony to this precedence that dramaturgy holds over pure
musical composition in this quest for transversality: conjugating the
musical, choreographic, poetic and scenographic potentials. The same is
true for the spatial effects in Kaija Saariaho's A m e r s or in Philippe Hurel's
CdIdbration des Invisibles. T h e theatricality and accentuation of expressive
gestures is present at the very center of their new research, insofar as
they form the basis, both in and through movement, of the narrative
structures of the music.
There is, thus, a true renaissance of styles: ACT I - - Stile concertato - -
Kaija Saariaho articulates the dynamic and 'competitive' opposition of
the different parts; ACT II - - Stile concitato - - Philippe Hurel presents
motifs (or sometimes gestures) whose accentuations and obsessive repe-
titions combine to inflame his music; ACT III - - Stile rappresentativo - -
Marc-Andr6 Dalbavie models the dramatic temperament of his writing
on a representation of textual material (implying: 'transferred from the
words'). In the formal rhythm, in the functionality of the timbral mater-
ial, in the renewal of styles, a new aspect of dynamic antagonisms can be
seen. Between the spectrum and the series, between a figure and its func-
tion, between Florestan and Eusebius, la ddmarche de l'esprit po~tique [the
advancement of the poetic spirit].
52. Brunner, Raphai~l,~Uoeuvrehors d'elle~, in Musique: texte, Cahiers de l'Ircam, collection

~Rechercheet musique~, Ircam-GeorgesPompidou, Paris, 1994,p. 146.
110 Damien Pousset
When the poet has become master of the spirit, when he has felt and remembered when he
has taken possession, when he has provided for the collective soul - - common to all and
unique to each one; when, what's more, he is certain of free movement, of the harmonic
alternation and tension by which the spirit is inclined to reproduce itself within itself and in
others, also sure of the beautiful progression drawn in the ideal realm of the spirit, and of
its poetic logic; when he has recognized that an inevitable antagonism swells up between
the most basic requirement of the spirit, that of community, and the unitary simultaneity of
all the parts, and the other requirement, which orders him to go out of himself, to repro-
duce himself within himself and in others through a beautiful progression and alternation
[...]; when the poet will have come to understand that, then, for him, all will depend on the
receptivity of the matter to the ideal content and the ideal form. s3
53. H61derlin, La D~marche de l'esprit po~tique, Gallimard, Biblioth~que de la Pldiade, Paris,

1967, p. 610.

Pousset The Works of Kaija Saariaho, Philippe Hurel and Marc-André Dalbavie

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Contemporary Music Review 9 2000 OPA (Overseas Publishers Association) N.V.

2000, Vol. 19, Part 3, p. 67-110 Published by license under

The Works of Kaija Saariaho,

A trend is interesting not only because of the cohesion of the individals

In this article, I hope to define the historical context of Kaija Saariaho,

The aims and m e t h o d s of research have most certainly changed since

4. For women's quartet.

2 Learning about timbre

It was also as a musical experiment that Philippe Hurel imagined com-

14. For saxophone.

performed with the continuity offered through using a computer, and

15. For violin.

r,,,, ,l,,i ,,,,I

the introduction to Paradis m~caniques bears some similarities with that of

3 Working with timbre

A n especially i m p o r t a n t choice the c o m p o s e r has to m a k e concerns the

Through technique, ideas and systematization, Philippe Hurel's works

20. Philippe Hurel, quoted by Guy Lelong, op. cir.,p. 41.

Pour l'image, page 5. 9 G~rard Billaudot Editeur, Paris.

Pour l'image, page 29. 9 G~rard Billaudot Editeur, Paris.

27. For tape.

a n d requires, for this reason, an effort at b o t h theoretical a n d critical

This notion of 'timbral axis' was especially important to Kaija Saariaho in

36. Saariaho, Kaija,idem,p. 413.

It begins with an explosion of sound which serves as the piece's

Figure 7a The first sketches for the global form of Verblendungen

taux de progresllon harmonlque Ilmbllu| dell hlllUleUr

Figure 7b Curves used to control compositional parameters of Verblendungen. For each

chords duration duration of

'exteriority' is one of the very principles of composition, working as an

1.0 0.5 0.7 1.2

Figure 9 Evolutionof a chord throughthe use of a series of compression/expansion

was the way that, in his M i r o i r s t r a n s p a r e n t s 37 (1984-86), Marc-Andrd

37. For twentyinstruments.

word). In Diamants imaginaires, Diamants lunaires (1985-86), Philippe

Also, it is not so much the nature of interpolated material that is import-

38. Marc-Andr~Dalbavie, quoted by Marc Texier, idem.

Philippe Hurel proposed a further distinction in the relationship

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helped in establishing the basis of their systems, in continuity with the

4 The reflections of timbre

The u s e o f computers in music made possible work on musical materials

Figure 11 Transitions b e t w e e n pure and noisy sounds: a) b y progressively a d d i n g b o w

~ : ~'~'.~ ~ -," ...

It generates a complex, indivisible n e t w o r k of strata a n d textures in

39. For cello, ensemble and live electronics.

Diad~mes (Editions Jobert-Paris), composed in 1986 for the Itin6raire

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Figure 13 Diad~mes, pages 8-9. 9 Editions Jobert, Paris. Used by permission

material. We m u s t n o w try to u n d e r s t a n d the f u n d a m e n t a l differences in

All formal distinctions are, m o r e or less, already present in the w o r k s