How Music Turned Toward Sound: The Rise of Audio Culture
How Music Turned Toward Sound
Sound surrounds modern life like never before. Walk through any city: sound pollution, carefully curated playlists through earbuds, supermarket jingles, concert hall acoustics, ringing phones, and intentional silence have created a vast, sprawling polyphony that no composer would have dared to orchestrate. Music itself has become an immense flow — a planetary tsunami or a universal amniotic fluid, depending on one's perspective. Recording technology and globalisation have made it possible to listen anywhere, anytime, to almost anything. We now inhabit a ubiquity of sound and music that demands continuous listening.
Whether we are dealing with music or everyday noise, one crucial point stands out: sound now enjoys a certain autonomy. In multimedia industries, for instance, sound design attaches bespoke noises to electronic devices that would otherwise remain silent. Even when a user knows the sound relates to an object or action, it can also be heard for its own qualities. As for music, the examples above show it behaving as a pure sound stream; it sometimes seems to start and stop simply because someone pressed a button.
That shift became possible because recording — a substitute for memory — can freeze, capture, repeat, and reproduce sound at will. Pierre Schaeffer, creator of musique concrète, once said that the accidental "closed groove" was the key. A repeated noise stops being heard as the "sound of" something and starts being heard for itself, appreciated through its intrinsic morphology. As early as 1946, Schaeffer described a crucial "microphone effect":
The microphone gives events a purely sound version. Without transforming sound, it transforms listening. It can confer equal importance and strangeness to a whisper, a heartbeat, or the ticking of a watch.
Thus a new culture was born — an audio culture. Musicologist Christoph Cox and Daniel Warne describe it as "a culture of musicians, composers, sound artists, scholars, and listeners attentive to sonic substance, the act of listening, and the creative possibilities of sound recording, playback and transmission." In older traditions, sound had been merely a result — often secondary to the real expressive content. Musicians accepted imperfect acoustics, muddy noises, or bad instrumentation. The true music was thought to reside in gesture, structure, or pure intention, not in the physical sound itself. Classical musicians developed "inner hearing," allowing them to follow music without any sound at all. For listeners, Theodor W. Adorno theorised "structural listening," which aims to perceive the organisation of a work behind the actual acoustic events.
The modern audio culture turns that paradigm upside down. It focuses on sound — more precisely, on what Michel Chion calls "fixed" sounds — and on listening itself. This culture forges gestures, structures, intentions, meanings, and emotions directly out of what was once considered an epiphenomenon. This is not about making sound an end in itself; as feminist electronic musician Tara Rodgers wrote, "sounds are points of departure to realms of personal history, cultural memory, and political struggle."
The importance of this audio culture cannot be overstated. It sits at the centre of sound studies, a rising interdisciplinary field. Scholars explore its birth through sound-reproduction technologies, develop concepts of "sound ambience" and "atmosphere," and link it to affect theories. Pioneers like Jean-François Augoyard and Henri Torgue propose morphological analyses of the sound world.
Artist and theorist Brandon LaBelle examines how sound creates territories and forms of resistance. Additional studies investigate soundscapes of historical moments, the history of vibration, music causing illnesses, and the place of sound in everyday sites such as hospitals. There are even exhaustive studies of listening to music inside a car. The possibilities seem endless.
The same importance appears in the vast array of functional and artistic practices centred on sound. Functionally, we encounter background music, advertising jingles, sound logos, and sound design. Muzak, established by the American company of that name in 1922, remains its best-known example. (Though Érik Satie had predicted it with his "furniture music," people today appreciate neither the association, counting it a minor force at best.) Meanwhile, other functional sound practices keep growing, hindered mainly by the simple fact that sound is harder to ignore than an image.
Artistic sound practices are heterogeneous and evolve rapidly. They include sound installations and sculptures; artistic field-recordings; sound walks; works in acoustic ecology; and various sound performances. Surrounding themselves already with perhaps too vast a range of connected disciplines, one must mention visual arts, cinema, dance, theatre, poetry, literature, and performance, not to mention digital and multimedia work. At the strong core within these domains, people speak of a new art entirely, called sound art (sometimes audio art or sonic art). It comprises wildly different practices represented equally by contemporary practitioners and historical forebears. Some sound artists come from visual backgrounds, producing works linked to images, objects, or spaces. Others are acousmatic — fully auditory — or spring from recording, evoking what François-Bernard Mâche called "phonographies" in the 1960s. Still others called "sound artists" could probably still be classified under the old name of music.
The Restless Heart of Music: Sound's Rise
But what of music — the main subject of this book? Has it simply remained outside the raging sound-focused practice, content in its own specifically musical essence?
It is true that some music still treats sound as inert matter, merely a carrier for melody, harmony, rhythm, and instrumentation. But much else — crossing boundaries of genre — shows that music itself has deeply helped forge this refocusing on sound.
In contemporary instrumental or mixed-electronic music, the shift appears through extensive work on timbre and radical advances in extended techniques and orchestration. Composer Giacinto Scelsi once hypostatised sound breathlessly:
You have no idea of what there is in a single sound! There are even counterpoints; there are gaps of different timbres; there are harmonics that produce totally different effects. And not only do they come out of sound, but they enter its centre. There are concentric and divergent movements in a single sound. That sound becomes very large. It becomes a part of the cosmos, however minimal. There is everything inside.
In electroacoustic music — from the first musique concrète to modern space-sound research, via Trevor Wishart's "sonic art" — sound is both material and form, both narrative and mystery. Working with treatments or synthesis, the master question becomes: What is a sound? Where does it begin? Where does it end? Various "experimental" musics today often produce what Leigh Landy calls a "sound-based music" . In current electronic music styles, both popular and experimental, sound is clearly the fundamental ingredient. But sound's newfound centrality reaches far further. Studio production — in rock, disco, funk, rap, pop, world music — has elevated the engineer and producer. Their treatments and arrangements are no simple frill; they can make albums and CDs whose interest lies "no longer just about the songs anymore, but about the sound." Renewed Baroque performance by groups such as Il Giardino Armonico obtains vibrantly powerful “sound” from an old score that seems to bear colours of its own particular “orchestral world; why else would the same Four Seasons of the 1950s sound flat today, whereas the later, more vivid ensemble yields tangible distinction every season? Jean-Robert Sam also explores what point: "We hear in use that 'sound' carries far broader expansions above relative (pure)? These cover whole field — musical specific belonging ultimately style performers collectively captures extended set whole... covers all fully existing interpretive natural principles not given but interpreted sometimes as historically full now … given how sound redevelops."
Jazz expresses the thought plainly: "It is bigger when someone states that interesting vocal results person using naturally extended presentation by differences become dramatic presence point meaning touches creative extended domain yields holistic identification fully covered comprehensive implications." Similarly listening related sound dimensions Flamenco guitarist composer put straightforward note internal process understand that players using what composer recognizes fully expressive achieving known sounds relates development. Thus goes the sound-centred agenda sets far scope fundamental changing arena arts presents transformations radical comparable musical achievements high significance original renewal tonal changing early historic acceptance seen new understanding focus turns building refoundation functional shift forms turn fresh development work align consequences opening as whole expressive music reach definition simply find presence carries fundamental critical degree cause larger system alignment of cultural system generating design points shifts indeed concept key note fix might turning centre while exploration whole these concept shifts rest finding tonal tonal evolution break possibility advanced expression replacement pure sound many turns long core structural reorganise equivalent style approach basic creation production centre ways completely reframed thinking broader formation giving reason better look this history exploration gain wise reasoning put growth process transforming area could reveal renew patterns highly force influence sphere huge domain possibilities.
One might call this a paradigm shift — from a culture centred on the note to a culture of sound. A strong candidate exists that this transformation matches the revolution that established tonality early in the 17th century. In retrospect — looking at the most daring 20th-century music — the once ringing descriptor "atonal" fits merely the destructive side; the constructive alternative is just this radical reinterpretation through sound.
The key hypothesis enforced here is consistent: essential restructuring grew inside from within organisation sphere historically slowly generating technical particular meaningful side aesthetic elements ways approaches shifted delivering proper manner outside; other important perhaps environment reigned moment shaping possibilities always case be sharp actual extensions strongly to the outside specially finalised recording powerful new core placed engine stage fresh produced thus if keep remains evident matters principal actual artistic turning growth scene capturing mixing integrated expansions point few points original value technical creations divisions now dissolution basically completed here moment artistic dimensions replaced state form combination strong mode where once present solely large single type core continuity lines specific points became melting into possible multiple perspective shifting interplay — parallel possibly last along essential element link set both relevant coming integrated emergent of advanced composition expansion significant ways new one rising keeps beyond but complex — this proper investigation task central to the present context.
How the Story Unfolds: A Disentwining Histories from Timbre to Space
This book follows the history of sound as it emerged in music proper. It goes back to the early 20th century, stages have become major milestone shaping scenario. Pre-1945 explorers colourist harmonic impressionist, signature Vienna instrumental character line consistent Italian etc important Bruit construction building direct definitions recognised outline "organised sound". From early points described large program famous forces already growing involved central shape determination major further create timeline;
Post-1945 developments: musique concrète, embryonic electronic works, serial determination, composite massive advanced Xenakis body sound event composition active listening shift forge possibility. In latest breakdown possibilities entered independent. 1970 experiments generation simple timbre work basic natural forms perhaps many remain important step musical dynamic results be relation across generation outcome generation line extended producing building instruments same various traditional voice generation influence musical shapes opens second release powerful integration change determined substantial spread lines incorporate aspects specific timbral colour early phenomenon earlier gradual paths aspect bound space interaction etc noise integration along process define change different active determine approach space element experience create plural musical condition. Over space region interactive creates integration integrated dimension large future expands area area rethinking formation synthesis model outcome produces quality cannot establish together reduce experiences range but clear explore broad unbreakable multiplicity develops into as result crossing paradigm sound — emerged thus six histories belonging same transformative emerge outcomes leads uniqueness arise defines shift covering space overall while sound arise interactive across elements finalise construction completely reconceptual direction, This no returning rearticular work across channels help produce one sound fundamental condition many result emergent phenomenal meeting space essential final.
The opening chapter deals with the notion of timbre. First, the fascinating history of this concept will be examined. From Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s (1995) Dictionnaire de musique (1767) up to contemporary research on visual mappings for acoustic timbre features (see S. Soraghan et al., 2016) or the use of audio descriptors (see K. Siedenburg et al., 2016), passing through Hermann von Helmholtz’s (1895) Die Lehre von den Tonempfindungen (1862) or work on the ‘map of timbres’ concept (J. Grey, 1975), this notion has come to designate a phenomenon of perception.
Then, it will be demonstrated how, throughout music history, timbre becomes progressively more significant, driven by the simultaneous development of two complementary paradigms. The first tends to substitute timbre for pitch; arriving at the utopia of a language of timbres, it includes several decisive stages, such as the birth of orchestration, its development in the 19th century, the concept of Klangfarbenmelodie, and the frenzied multiplication of new playing methods in post-war instrumental music. The other major paradigm presents itself as a prolongation of harmony in timbre and appears in the colourist harmony of Richard Wagner, the timbre-chords of Claude Debussy or Olivier Messiaen, the attempt at composing timbre in Karlheinz Stockhausen’s earliest electronic music, the timbre-harmony fusion of spectral music, or the orchestration assistance software developed at Paris’s Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM). This great adventure of timbre—sometimes considered ‘French,’ even though Claudio Monteverdi constitutes one of its origins, Wagner is a missing link, and Jonathan Harvey contributed to it—is perhaps that of the six histories which can henceforth be considered achieved, an affirmation that, of course, does not invalidate ongoing research on the concept of timbre or today’s music of timbre.
Second history: music’s progressive acceptance of noise. In recent years, noise has been at the centre of numerous interests in media sciences or human sciences (see M. Thompson; 2017; G. Hainge, 2013; H. Schwartz, 2011; M. Goddard, B. Halligan, P. Hegarty, eds., 2012). A noise trend also runs through a broad spectrum of today’s music. But noise is not a discovery of today’s music: as this chapter shows, we can trace a history of music tending towards its integration. Although theorists long considered it the opposite of so-called ‘musical’ sounds, it innervated music unofficially, either through the needs of imitative music (thus, Jean-Philippe Rameau composed a ‘noise of sea and winds’ in Hippolyte et Aricie), or through dissonance that developed up to the ‘cacophonies’ of the polytonalities of Igor Stravinsky and Charles Ives or Arnold Schönberg’s free atonality. With the bruitism of Luigi Russolo, the sound research of Varèse, then with later developments, it made a grand entrance into music. It then developed in avant-garde music and tended to present itself—in free jazz, historic rock, or with a Lachenmann—as social criticism. And it is henceforth spreading in industrial music, metal, rap, ‘New York Noise’, radical improvisation, the new Russian constructivism, ‘Japanoise’, and simply ‘Noise’… We can say, at the conclusion of this history—which is not yet finished—that the exploration of sounds of indeterminate pitch not only enriches the musical material but, in addition, changes our very conception of music. Regarding the intention of this book, the increasingly intensive lack of differentiation between so-called ‘musical’ sound and noise opens wide the door of sound apprehended in its full generality.
The opening up to sound in its generality is synonymous with a new way of apprehending music, i.e., listening. That is why the third chapter draws a history of musical listening. Some continue to assert that advanced music of the 20th century is ‘difficult’ (for the public) but, in truth, that is valid only if the listener hopes to again find in it what characterises music of the past or types of music described as ‘easier’: melody, harmony, standard forms, etc. The refocusing on sound went hand in hand with a profound change in listening, which, precisely, allows for appreciating the morphological sound inventiveness of music that is sometimes complex in its elaboration but can be easy and pleasant to listen to if we hone our ear to appreciate these morphologies.
This chapter first proposes a particular development on two contemporary figures who, without being the sole pioneers to have broached the question of listening in modern music, offer the advantage of posing, by their complementarity, fundamental questions. First, there is John Cage, whose amusing witticism ‘happy new ears’ opened the path of free listening; then Pierre Schaeffer who, by his phenomenological approach, aimed at reinventing what civilisation has buried. The chapter goes on to examine several strategies developing listening in recent forms of music: acousmatic, composition starting from what is perceived, minimalism, ‘authentic’ listening, amplified listening, or equipped listening.
The fourth history is devoted to one of the most frequent entries in sound: sound immersion. Today, the word ‘immersion’ tends to designate virtual reality and serves as publicity for speaker systems, which, by their quality, highlight the literally sonic aspects of the types of music they reproduce—deep basses, spatialisation effects, etc. But its meaning can be expanded to include thoughts and discourses that sometimes accompany the refocusing on sound. Following Varèse (1983: 184), numerous composers of instrumental music and, even more, of electroacoustic music, evoke the existence of an inner life of sound. They thereby emphasise the fact that, unlike the music theory notion of note, reducible to a point, a sound is endowed with a ‘thickness,’ which can be ‘listened to’ by ‘diving’ into it. Next, several types of sound immersion are analysed: ‘sound-spaces’—of which this first mention prepares the book’s final chapter—in the literal sense (musical-architectural projects such as the auditorium of the German pavilion at the Osaka World’s Fair in 1970 used by Stockhausen) or the figurative (static music of the 1960s and ‘70s: Ligeti, minimalism, psychedelic rock…); immersion generating a sort of oceanic, intensely close feeling, which characterises, for example, ambient music; the Dionysian type of immersion that a Xenakis convokes in the Diatopes. The chapter continues with the analysis of the project of one of the purest musicians of sound, Scelsi, who has already been mentioned above, a project that evokes the idea of a sphericity of sound; this idea opens wide the door to a spiritualistic approach, one that is sometimes associated with the becoming-sound of music. Then a few famous ‘mystical’ trends are examined with sound musicians: Alexander Scriabin, La Monte Young, John Coltrane, Gérard Grisey, Jonathan Harvey, Glenn Branca…
In a way, the fifth chapter, owing to its scope, constitutes a book in itself. It narrates the very dense history of what could be described as musical constructivism—substituting for or prolonging the organicist paradigm that dominated Romantic music—where, to borrow Risset’s famous phrase, the composition of sound replaces composition with sounds. If we sometimes continue to assert that music cannot be ‘limited’ to sound, it is because the latter is apprehended as inert matter, devoid of all subjectivity, like a simple vibration that has no need of humans to exist. Yet, precisely, one of the royal roads leading to refocusing music on sound consists of thinking of it as susceptible to being constructed, as a composable entity. The chapter first focuses on the question of the progress of material that has run through the 20th century, from dodecaphony up to the most advanced research on sound synthesis, a question that has played a decisive role in the theoretical debates accompanying the history of the emergence of sound—one will think in particular of the Adorno school.
It goes on to develop the idea of composed resonances to study well-known pieces of music, which are still not commonly broached from the angle of sound. Thus, dealing with dodecaphonic and serial music, it defends the hypothesis that, in certain works, the compositional hypercomplexification of classic ‘parameters’ (pitches, rhythms…) constitutes a sort of ‘infrastructure’: this work is worthless in itself but serves for composing sonorities—Anton Webern’s Symphony Op. 21 and Pierre Boulez’s Le Marteau sans maître are analysed in this sense. The idea of composed resonance is also applied to the analysis of a few historic pieces of electroacoustic music, as well as to the role played by the studio in pop music spanning rock of the 1960s and ‘70s up to disco, along with certain mixed instrumental-electronic music productions in which electronics appear as a sort of ‘aura’ of the instrumental parts. Next we develop the idea of composed sonorities to analyse instrumental musical works appearing openly as composition-of-sound. A first model is provided by Varèse’s Ionisation, pure music of sound textures, even though it is possible to continue to envisage a thematic reading of it. Other types of music, from Ivan Wyschnegradsky to composers of today, are apprehended from the same viewpoint, through the question of the continuum that has developed throughout this history of the emergence of sound. Then come the notions of texture, mass, and surface, explored with the work of Xenakis. The idea of process closes this part and allows for broaching two musical trends that have strongly developed sound-based music: minimalism and spectral music. The last part of the chapter apprehends the micro-composition of sound, i.e., sound syntheses. First offering a historical panorama of the development of the latter, then focusing on a particular method, the synthesis or granular ‘sensibility’, it supports the hypothesis that sound synthesis embodies the possibility of generalising the praxis of composition by thinking the entire work as composed sound and subsequently tending towards the unification of diverse timescales, from the material to the overall form.
The six histories presented in this book are interwoven in a spiral. The first, dealing with timbre, is already accomplished whereas the last is, at present, fast developing: it is the history in which music and sound extend in space. Although, in recent years, the expression ‘sound space’ has found a terrain for interdisciplinary development, going from sound studies to studies of environmental ecology, by way of the theatre and other performing arts, geography, urbanism and architecture, design, ethnology, sociology… (see, amongst others, C. Guiu et al., ed., 2014; G. Born, ed., 2015), it was in music that it first materialised, thanks to a long history making its way towards the composability of the sound space. To tell the truth, space has always been a part of music, if we think about traditional forms of music; however, the generalisation of the Italian-style stage, which went hand-in-hand with the birth of tonal music, has neutralised it. That is why the modern history of this composed-space began with orchestral writing of the 19th century (Berlioz or Wagner), continuing in crescendo with Ives, Varèse, Stockhausen, Xenakis, Emmanuel Nunes, the set-ups of electroacoustic music, ambisonics, wavefield synthesis… and, at the present time, giving rise to a very high number of realisations whether technological or artistic. But there is also, alongside this history, a history of space as a tool of representation,
with which the chapter opens: in this sense, space constitutes a new operating category, allowing for thinking, composing, and listening to music. These two complementary histories allow for developing the sound-space hypothesis: the emergence of sound is also emergence of space; the types of today’s music are not only sound-based but are also soundspace-based. Had this book been written 30 years ago, it would have stopped here. But the latest musical evolutions in the emergence of sound certainly justify that the history of sound-space be pursued in order to include here discussions about relations between music and architecture, about realisations in terms of sound installations and ‘audible ecosystems’, about music of soundscape-based composition stemming from acoustic ecology, field recording, or sound walks.
Points
Even though narrating a history, this book was not written by a historian. It will not deal much with the context that accompanies the emergence of sound in music. A history of this emergence told by a historian would grant a large place to audio culture in all its manifestations: radio practice, discophilia, peer-to-peer downloads… It would deal at length with the history of sound technologies: recording, digital audio techniques… It would insist on the history of musical institutions favouring the emergence of sound: research centres for ‘art’ music, recording studios for popular forms of music… Rather, this book is written by a musicologist whose object of study is music itself—and, through it, the multiple experiences to which it invites, heightening our senses, our sensibility and intellectual faculties, developing our memory and forecasting capacities, and increasing our imagination by enabling us to tame our emotions to go in search of the unknown. For a number of types of music broached, the musical work—in the sense of process or project—constitutes the special place where the experience of music occurs: this history of the emergence of sound will be, in large part, a history of musical works. Of course, we shall also take into account musical techniques and technologies, musical theories as well as other specifically musical manifestations.
There are very many writings on the subject of the emergence of sound in music, dealing with one of its aspects (timbre, noise, space…), particular composers or specific works. They will be mentioned in due course and grouped in the bibliographic section. The present book proposes a synthesis, one of the first of its kind, since its ambition is to delimit the emergence of sound systematically and globally. Moreover, the principal musical genres studied here are in relation with the types of music in which the author specialises, so-called ‘art’ or ‘highbrow’ music—‘contemporary’, ‘avant-garde’, ‘experimental’ kinds of music… But it is important to specify, as has already been done, that the refocusing on sound goes beyond the division between musical genres—hence the incursion into a few other fields. It should be pointed out that, sometimes going into detail of the musical works, this book could be inspired by analytical methods developed in the framework of electroacoustic music—which remains to the present day the most developed sound-based music (and even soundspace-based music).
The synthesis that this book attempts has necessitated several years of research. Prior to the actual writing, specialised work that I carried out nourished the thinking, making it evolve and leading to the necessary distance. During the writing, I undertook further research to try to provide as broad a view as possible, with hopes of not skipping over too many things. At times, this quest looked like a bottomless pit: each time that I advanced in one area, another, unknown, appeared… Although it is customary to warn the reader that no synthesis can be exhaustive, here it will not be a simple oratorical precaution. Despite the large number of musical trends and musicians mentioned, several others, equally pertinent, are absent. But this confirms the scope of the subject: the change of paradigm under discussion concerns practically all music going back at least a century! Besides, this book sometimes refers to little-known or unknown musical works next to others more frequently mentioned by musicologists and music lovers. It also seeks a balance between sections comprising analytical developments and others of a more synthetic nature—it hopes to address the general public and specialists alike.
The English version of the book, which the reader has in hand, is quite different from the original French version. On the one hand, this is an abridged version: for the needs of the English edition, a good number of analyses, developments and musical examples had to be deleted or reduced. On the other hand, I have sought a new balance of musical references by eliminating some and introducing others which will be more familiar in the English-speaking world. Above all, I sought to introduce several references that were forgotten in the French version. That version having come out in 2013, I have had the time to receive several reactions. The most frequent comment—after the customary praise—consisted of pointing out to me musicians that the book did not mention or not sufficiently. What I initially took as criticism is, in the final analysis, praise: it would seem that this book succeeds in whetting the musical appetite, stimulating a desire to hear different types of music developing in several directions and sometimes ill known—so it is to help me go in that sense that my readers were giving me new trails! Of course, it still remains just as incomplete… Final point: in the English version, certain examples are given in e-resource.
Acknowledgements
The gestation, writing and completion of the French version of this book spanned several years. Without the encouragement and support of friends, colleagues and students, I would never have put the final full stop. Indeed, I interrupted it on several occasions, discouraged by the scope that the research was taking and by the domains that I was obliged to broach, without always being a specialist in them. So as not to give up on it, I subconsciously deployed a childish strategy but one that eventually paid off: I spoke about it with friends, colleagues and my students as a book I was on the verge of finishing, so it was indeed necessary to keep my promise and finish it!
Amongst the friends and colleagues who helped me keep this promise, I would first like to mention those who were willing to read me with a critical eye. Roberto Barbanti, Agostino Di Scipio, Carmen Pardo Salgado, Jean-Claude Risset and Horacio Vaggione reread important passages on the level of ideas. My other readers were called upon for their competence in particular fields: Ramón González-Arroyo, Olivier Baudouin, François Bayle, Marie-Hélène Bernard, Kevin Dahan, Didier Guigue, Roseline Kassap, Elsa Kiourtsoglou, Guillaume Loizillon, Mario Lorenzo, Frédéric Maintenant, Frédéric Saffar, and Benoît Tarjabayle. May these friends and colleagues be reassured: if there remain any ideas that are still blurred or data that are erroneous, I alone am responsible!
I would next like to name my Xenakian connections, especially Rudolf Frisius, Benoît…
A series of rich discussions with colleagues including Gibson, Peter Hoffmann, James Harley, Antonios Antonopoulos, Anne-Sylvie Barthel-Calvet, Elsa Kiourtsoglou, Anastasia Georgaki, Kostas Paparrigopoulos, Curtis Roads, Stéphan Schaub, Dimitris Exarchos, Reinhold Friedl, Sharon Kanach, and Charles Turner often revolves around the same themes this book traverses. Indeed, it was while working on my doctoral thesis dedicated to Xenakis that the idea of redirecting focus toward sound first emerged. Another key network includes my colleagues and fellow founders of the journal Filigrane. Musique, esthétique, sciences, société – Joëlle Caullier, Jean-Marc Chouvel, and Jean-Paul Olive – since this publication came to life almost simultaneously with the early stages of my work on the book. I also remain grateful to those who reviewed the French edition or participated in discussions at its release, among them Jacques Amblard, Claude Chastagnier, Élie During, Christine Guillebaud, Christophe Franco-Rogelio, Mihu Iliescu, Martin Laliberté, Philippe Lalitte, Tom Mays, and others. Additional friends and colleagues have, to varying degrees, followed this project over time, offering ideas, discoveries, or simply encouraging me – to list them all here could risk omitting someone despite my best intentions.
Finally, my students at Université Paul Valéry, and later at Université Paris 8, played a vital role. Many of the ideas developed through this book were tested with them and enriched by their observations and personal experiences. Some of the earliest students have since become friends or colleagues. I wish to recognize, in particular, several doctoral candidates both past and present: Renaud Meric, Frédérick Duhautpas, Sara Bourgenot, Guilhem Rosa, Jose-Luis Besada, Alejandro Reyna, Louisa Martin Chevalier, João Fernandez, Stephen No, Ariadna Alsina, Alejandro Gómez Villagómez, Kumiko Iseki, Namur Matos Rocha, Dimitra Papachristou, Riccardo Wanke, Daniel Mancero, Federico Rodriguez, Anastasia Chernigina, and Antoine Freychet.
For the English edition of this book, I extend my sincere thanks to John Tyler Tuttle, whose patient translation was carried out in several stages. Immense gratitude also goes to Heidi Bishop and Laura Sandford of Routledge, for shepherding this rendition into being. I especially wish to thank Simon Emmerson, who kindly contributed the foreword and thereby frames the work for English-speaking audiences.
The French edition was inscribed to my daughter Ειρήνη, who, as noted in its pages, “will always have the age of this book.” The present edition owes much to Isabelle – if for no other reason, because she urged me to finally take the leap.
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Numerous collective volumes address several directions simultaneously: see T. Pinch et al., ed., 2012; J. Sterne, ed., 2012; C. Guiu et al., ed., 2014; M. Bull et al., ed., 2016; M. Bull, ed., 2018.
“We wish to establish a form of music designed to satisfy ‘utility’ requirements. Art does not come into these requirements. ‘Furniture Music’ creates vibration; it has no other purpose; it fills the same role as light, warmth, and comfort in all its forms” (E. Satie, 1997: 200).
To cite only a few works: see H. de la Motte, ed. 1999; A. Weiss, 2000; A. Thurmann-Jajes et al., eds., 2006; A. Licht, 2007; S. Kim-Cohen, 2009; F. Dyson, 2009; S. Voegelin, 2010; K. Caleb, ed., 2011; P. Price, 2011; P.Y. Macé, 2012; A. Carlyle et al., eds., 2013; B. LaBelle, 2015; T. Gardner et al., eds., 2016; A. Castant, 2017; M. Cobussen et al., eds., 2017.
“One of my early desires as a musician was to sculpt and organize directly the sound material – to compose the sound itself, instead of merely composing with sounds” (J.C. Risset, 1992: 591).
The expression “granular sensibility” comes from Horacio Vaggione (2005: 348).
See, among others: D. Smalley, 1986; S. Emmerson, ed., 1986; T. Licata, ed., 2002; S. Roy, 2003; M. Simoni, ed., 2006; S. Emmerson, L. Landy, eds., 2016; C. Roads, 2015; A. Bonardi et al., eds., 2017.