6

PART I
The tones actually sounding

We ought not to forget that we still must account for the tones actually sounding, a
gain and again, and shall have no rest from them nor from ourselves - especially fr
om ourselves, for we are the searchers, the restless, who will not tire before we hav
e found out - we shall have no rest, as long as we have not solved the problems that
are contained in tones. We may indeed always be barred from actual attainment of
this goal. But more certainly, we shall have no rest before we do; the searching spi
rit will not stop pursuing these problems until it has solved them, solved them in a
way that comes as close as anyone can to actual solution. I think, then, contrary to
the point of view of those who take indolent pride in the attainments of others and h
old our system to be the ultimate, the definitive musical system - contrary to that po
int of view, I think we stand only at the beginning. We must go ahead!

-Arnold Schoenberg, Harmonielehre (third edition) 1922; translated by Roy Carter

as Theory of Harmony, University of California Press, 1978.

What is spectral music ?

Formulating a clear definition of a broad musical category like 'Spectral Music' is nearly im

possible. Only through extended familiarity not just with a type of music, but also with its m

ilieu, can one hope to develop meaningful categories that are more than mere simplified label

s. Thus in this first section, I will describe a mixture of historical and musical developments

that together have helped define the spectral school. While my definition is a personal one, it

s broad outlines are largely undisputed. Many of its specific details, however, are controvers

ial. Some of the composers to whom the term is often (and in my opinion correctly) applied,

dispute the appropriateness of the label; this refutation, however, is more attributable to con

cerns of market positioning than to any deep aesthetic conflicts with spectral ideas. Another

group of composers, who clearly do not fit my definition, also lay claim to the term and they

do so with some historical justification.1 However, their musics are very different from the

music which I am referring to as 'Spectral' and, as this is not the appropriate venue for settlin

g a pseudo-trademark infringement issue, I will defer on the issue of deciding who deserves

1Iam referring most notably to the Romanian Spectral School (Radulescu, Miereanu, Neme
scu, Cezar, Cazaban, etc.) and their following in France (Tanguy, etc.).