Sound in the Ecstatic-Materialist Perspective on Experimental Music

Epigraph
Dedication
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
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 concrète and avant-garde lines
		From the 1980s onwards: a non-linear expansion
			Bottom-up
			Top-down
			Moving in-between
	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