Saturation: Metaphor for Composition?
The exploration of the inharmonic aspect of sound by several composers from spectral music trend and by Helmut Lachenmann no doubt played a crucial role in later generations’ acceptance of noise elements as legitimate compositional material. Composers such as Franck Bedrossian, Raphaël Cendo and Yann Robin did not consider saturated sound as sound pushed to the limit, nor as a critical lens for viewing the “beautiful music” inherited from the Romantics, but rather as the substance of legitimate music. For them, excess, in sound and in energy, was a challenge to be addressed compositionally. But assembling a palette of playing styles and timbres was one thing; bringing energy and coherence to the work was another. One of the main goals of this article is to show how, starting from a largely commonplace vocabulary, these three “saturationist” composers articulated a language that truly sets them apart.