The acousmatic music of François Bayle: Between shadow and light, a music of transparency

Abstract

Electroacoustic music, performed using only loud-speakers, does not give anything
to see on stage, as there is no musician. However, if looking at the composers’
writings, it appears that the visual aspect is often brought to light. This is especially
true for François Bayle, who always claimed his interest for plastic arts. The
analysis of the composer’s writings, as well as the titles of his pieces, show three constants related to vision. These are the notions of shade and light, completed by
the more general idea of transparency. A phenomenological approach makes clear
that musical characteristics, such as intensity, pitch or evenemential density, are
linked to each of the three previous notions. More than a secondary element, visual
imagination permits to describe precise musical and poetic situations.