Timbre Process and accords fixes: Dutilleux and his Younger French Contemporaries

Henri Dutilleux is often classed an ‘independent’ composer, standing apart from composers in the Boulez, Xenakis and spectral orbits. Indeed, unlike almost all his French contemporaries, he enjoyed commissions from prestigious US orchestras and leading soloists. But his links with the spectral school—particularly Gérard Grisey, who studied with Dutilleux briefly in the late 1960s—are both little explored and strikingly specific. Drawing on a short article by Grisey, ‘Henri Dutilleux novateur!’ and Dutilleux's lectures given at the Centre Acanthes in 1980, this paper focuses on the orchestral work Métaboles, particularly its explorations of timbre and transformation processes. It draws direct comparisons with Grisey's cycle Les espaces acoustiques. Finally, the paper interrogates the concept of ‘espace’ in contemporary French music, again revealing Dutilleux as a central figure.