Spectralism | en

Spectralism, or Spectral Music, is a compositional practice involving analysis of sound spectra. Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) used in computer based sound spectrum analysis is one of the most common methods in generating descriptive data. This style of composition was primarily developed in IRCAM, Paris, while its origins can be traced in the works of Edgard Varèse, Olivier Messiaen, György Ligeti, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis. Tristan Murail, a pioneer of spectralism, has described spectral music as an attitude towards composition rather than a set of techniques, an aesthetic rather than style. Other key figures connected with this particular style are Jonathan Harvey, Gérard Grisey, Iancu Dumitrescu, Horatiu Radulescu, Hugues Dufourt. .