Spectral Meter: Dramatizing Entrainment and Communicating Form in Gérard Grisey’sVortex Temporum I(1994–96)

Abstract

In this paper, I apply theories of metric cognition, especially Justin London’s theory of meter as entrainment behavior (2012), to analysis of form in the first section ofVortex Temporum I(Rehearsal numbers 1–37). I analyze this section in terms of listeners’ evolving entrainment responses to its meters, finding that the first section outlines a changing relationship with meter from subconscious expectation to conscious audition. I ground my analysis in Grisey’s temporal theory (1987) and theories of musical communication, as well as recent work in metric cognition, metric conflict, and meter-driven form. My paper thus proposes an expansion of spectral thought by showing how Grisey structures a piece around a metric cognitive principle much as he builds other pieces around cognitive principles in the domains of pitch and timbre.