Sound in the Ecstatic-Materialist Perspective on Experimental Music

Introduction

A multifaceted approach

Overview

Remarks and limitations

Notes

1 Sound in 20th-century music

Scelsi and the centrality of sound

Key aspects of sound in the ecstatic-materialist perspective

From music to sound

From the beginning of the century up to 1980: a plural emancipation

Spectral line

Minimalist line

Musique concrete and avant-garde lines

From the 1980s onwards: a non-linear expansion

Sonic map

Case studies: selection of pieces

Closing remarks

Notes

2 Morphology and structure of musical works

Starting points of the analysis

Sequential method

Step 1: Identification of common characteristics and morphologies

Step 2: Identification of common developments (unfolding structures)

Results

Low-level attributes

(A) An expanded spectrum

(B) Microtonal variations

(C) Systematic glissandi

(D) Rhythmic development

(E) Static masses

(F) Repetitive clusters

(G) Dynamic and timbric contrasts

High-level attributes

(H) Hypnotic reiterations

(I) A plastic and sculptural arrangement of sound

(J) Restricted number of elements conceived globally

(K) Limited dialectic among elements

(L) Sonic challenges

(M) Micro-/macroconstructions

Specific piece: in vain

Perceptual grammar

Closing remarks

Notes

3 Listening

Listening to experimental music

The experimental music blind spot in studies on musical perception

The auditory process of E-M music

Early-stage perception

Late-stage perception

Listening survey

Results

Music training discrimination

Cross-genre connections

Modes of listening

The internal-external immanent domain

Towards a multifaceted listening mode

The aesthetic attitude

Closing remarks

Notes

4 Composers and performers

Dialogues

Musical contexts and genres

Perception and the space of listening

Compositional practice

Sound and time

Closing remarks

Notes

5 The ecstatic-materialist perspective

The ecstatic and the materialist

Phenomenological materiality: the imprint of sound

Ecstatic potential: sound-as-trace

External-internal

Sound in the ecstatic-materialist perspective

Unity

Unstable presence

Coherence and convergence

Personality and intention

Intimate temporality and repetition

Space-matter: the materiality of space in sound

Vertical time: the ecstatic potential of space-matter

Musical communication

Closing remarks

Notes

6 Going beyond sound-in-itself

The conceptual and the sensorial-perceptual paradigms

Sonic materialism and the philosophical debate around sound

The materiality of the ecstatic-materialist perspective

The proximal hypothesis: the material presence of space-matter

The embodied cognitive level

Going beyond sound through sound

Notes

7 Epilogue: The ecstatic-materialist perspective in context

The ecstatic-materialist context

Empowered listening

Closing remarks

Notes

Discography

Bibliography

Glossary

Index