François-Xavier Féron - Retracing the impact of musical acoustics on Gérard Grisey’s creative process in the 1970s: from spectral models to spectrogram transcriptions
From its emergence in France at the beginning of the 1970s, spectral music has represented one of the main musical streams. Composed by Gérard Grisey over a decade, from 1974 to 1985, the six-piece cycle Les espaces acoustiques illustrates a new approach towards composition, one that deals with acoustic properties and is constantly preoccupied with the modalities of auditory perception. This cycle is based on a harmonic spectrum with fundamental frequency 41,2 Hz (E1). Grisey also collaborated with the acoustician Michèle Castellengo, with whom he analysed instrumental sounds spectrograms in order to compose "synthetic spectra" and "spectral polyphony". In this communication, we shall begin by explaining how Grisey was initiated to acoustics at the beginning of the seventies: he first read scientific books before collaborating with researchers from the LAM (Laboratoire d’Acoustique Musicale renamed Lutheries – Acoustique – Musique). Then, we shall focus on specific sections of Partiels and Modulations to understand how Grisey developed spectral techniques. This research is based on the study of Grisey’s archives (Paul Sacher Foundation, Basel), as well as on recordings and analyses contained in Castellengo’s personal archives.
Bio:
François-Xavier Féron has a Master’s degree (University of Paris VI) in musical acoustics and a PhD in musicology (University of Paris IV). His PhD thesis, defended in 2006, focuses on the impact auditory illusions have had upon the field of musical creation. After teaching at the University of Nantes (2006-2007), he was a postdoctoral researcher in psychoacoustics at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology – CIRMMT (Montreal, 2008-2009), then in musicology at the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique – IRCAM (Paris, 2009-2013). Since 2013 he has been a CNRS research associate affiliated with the Laboratoire Bordelais de Recherche en Informatique – LaBRI (Talence). His research focuses on contemporary music and interaction between art, science and technology.