#quartal harmony

[davidbeardmusic]

Composed around quartal harmony and a cycle of fourths. Limited to the use of only four notes to create the melody and harmony, one of these notes replaced every two bars. A slow, dreamy, soothing Strings and Piano track inspired by tides, water, delicate waves, lunar tides, the planets etc. Slow-paced, ever-changing, drifting tonality. "...A system based on quartal harmony would be able to accommodate all conceivable chords more uniformly than the tertian system..." (Arnold Schoenberg, Theory of Harmony; Chords Constructed in Fourths. License for media use here: http://www.pond5.com/stock-music/75766062/lunar-tide-main-version.html Download Jpeg here: http://www.davidbeardmusic.com/QuartalWheel.jpg Enjoy x

[guitarguitarworld]

John Coltrane and McCoy Tyner Style Quartal Guitar Line | Jazz Improvisation Lesson

[james-and-the-raving-lunatics]

Hello! Sorry I've been a bit inactive, however I had made tremendous. amounts of progress on my harp suite, and now I am excited to present the second movement! Personally I absolutely fell in love with how it sounds and is probably my personal favorite movement. Remember that this is only a MIDI audio so the playback has limitations, however a live performance of the piece will be done around early April!!!

If you wish to learn more about the movement, feel free to read below. As always, thank you so much to @bonelyheartsclub and @scrambledmeggys for being the main inspirations behind this piece.

Also... @davetasticdave?! Hello?! We're mutuals now?! Im literally a huge fan of your voice work for the series! It mean a lot that you're supporting what I do ❤️

The second movement took heavy inspirations from pastorales, which are musical works that are intended to evoke peaceful feelings and imagery of nature and rural life. This was a perfect concept to dive into Poplar's close relationship with his brother Ash and his love for gardening. In this movement, I imagine a soft and intimate soundscape more static than the fluid first movement.

The inspiration comes from the first movement of Schubert’s Piano Sonata in G Major (D.894), which in fact, the opening chord is replicated in this piece to start the soundscape. The rest of the inspiration behind the compositional techniques I used came from the era of Impressionism in the early 1900's (Think composers like Debussy, Ravel, and Satie).

One major compositional technique used is the use of parallelism. Parallelism is the movement of chords in the same direction while maintaining the same intervallic relationship between each note. This can be heard a few times such as in 0:57. Parallelism can also be used in single intervals such as in 0:29 with the upper notes.

Another common compositional technique used in impressionism is the use of quartal and quintal harmonies. This piece only uses quartal harmonies, which is the concept of building chords/harmonic structures from intervals of fourths (perfect, augmented, or diminished) as opposed to the traditional chord based on intervals of thirds. This creates an ambiguous tone that can be used to add a different texture into the piece. 0:57 also demonstrates those quartal harmonies.

[scibot9000]

a locrian study

a lot of ppl look at the flat 5 and say "oh it's unusable" but never consider that the perfect 4th is basically the negative harmony version of the perfect 5th. of course locrian would be negative harmony only, right?

or so i say, but this still doesn't quite feel resolved. it's basically a sus4 ykno? still better than just. dim.

it might also be worth exploring locrian's relationship with quartal harmony but that's for another study.

[fordcrownvictoria]

Reflections on Rudi Stephan’s Die ersten Menschen

I. Technical Genesis: The Musical Structure of a Primal Cosmos

Rudi Stephan’s Die ersten Menschen, completed in 1915 and premiered posthumously in 1920, is one of the most enigmatic and harmonically intricate operas of the early 20th century. It stands not as a relic of late Romanticism but as an explosive bridge to Expressionism, embodying a unique harmonic language that both subverts and honors the traditions of Wagner and Strauss.

Stephan constructs the opera in a single continuous act, with no formal division into arias or ensemble numbers in the traditional sense. Instead, the music unfolds as a through-composed monologue of the subconscious, echoing the psychological turmoil of the characters. The harmonic structure centers around chromaticism and non-functional tonality, often employing augmented intervals and quartal harmonies to suspend the listener in a state of tonal ambiguity. Stephan's orchestration is opulent and deeply layered, favoring dark timbres: bass clarinets, contrabassoons, muted brass, and low strings dominate, creating an aural space both ancient and eerily modern.

Motivic development plays a central role. Each character possesses a psychosexual leitmotif, but these motifs are subject to fragmentation and dissolution, reflecting their internal unraveling. Notably, the father Adahm’s motif—composed of a rising tritone resolving downward by semitone—mirrors his futile attempt to assert order over the storm of desire and death. Chawa’s (Eve's) motif is based on a sensuous, circular melisma passed between flute and oboe, evoking the serpent of knowledge and seduction, though no serpent appears.

Rhythmically, Stephan draws from the asymmetric and irregular: cross-meters, displaced accents, and rapidly shifting tempi mirror the tension between primal instinct and emerging consciousness. The opera culminates in a sonic breakdown of form, where each character's motif collides in a cacophony of unresolved dissonance—an expression not of climax, but of annihilation.

II. Romantic Descent: The Human Drama Beneath the Frost

Die ersten Menschen is not a story of beginnings in the biblical sense. It is, rather, a fevered psychological nightmare of origin. Otto Borngräber’s libretto, drawing from Symbolist and Freudian roots, strips away Genesis’s spiritual grandeur and replaces it with primal urges and corporeal guilt.

Adahm, the patriarch, finds himself confronting the limits of his authority as he perceives the budding sexual tension between his children, Kajin and Chabel. Yet the emotional fulcrum is Chawa—Eve—not as a maternal archetype but as a woman torn between guilt, yearning, and repression. She is haunted by an undefined loss, a nostalgia for paradise she cannot name. Stephan’s music gives her inner world sonic expression: longing flutes, harp glissandi like sighs across the icy void, and bursts of orchestral color when memory and desire breach the surface.

The love triangle between Kajin, Chabel, and Chawa is incestuous not in action, but in psychic atmosphere. Kajin’s rage stems not from jealousy alone, but from an existential horror: he is aware of his own isolation, of his detachment from a godless world where instinct rules over destiny. His murder of Chabel is less a fratricide than a cosmic rebellion. Chabel, the most innocent, becomes a sacrificial lamb to a universe without moral certainty.

Winter here is not merely seasonal—it is spiritual. Snow, silence, and barrenness reflect the opera’s essential motif: humankind’s struggle to reconcile desire with knowledge, blood with love. When the final notes fall silent, we are left not with redemption, but a frozen wasteland in which the idea of paradise is both irretrievable and unreal.

III. Legacy in Ice: The Fate of a Forgotten Masterwork

Stephan was killed on the Eastern Front in 1915, just weeks before his opera could see the stage. His death at 28 robbed German music of a voice that might have reshaped the course of operatic modernism. Die ersten Menschen, as a result, languished in obscurity. Its premiere in 1920 was met with confusion: the postwar audience, yearning for clarity and hope, struggled to digest its sensual nihilism and psychological density.

For decades, the opera existed more as a footnote than a repertory staple. Unlike his contemporaries—Berg, Zemlinsky, Schreker—Stephan left behind no major following or school. His music was silenced not only by war but by the rise of the Third Reich, which deemed his lush, introspective style degenerate and incompatible with nationalist ideals.

Only in recent years has Die ersten Menschen begun to thaw from history’s permafrost. A few key performances—Frankfurt (1984), Amsterdam (2011), and the Salzburg Festival (2021)—have reintroduced this singular work to modern ears. Scholars now hail it as a missing link between Wagner’s metaphysical grandeur and the inward collapse of man seen in Berg’s Wozzeck. Yet the opera’s true power lies not in its historical placement but in its timeless confrontation with the abyss.

In an age where operatic storytelling is once again shifting toward the elemental—stripped down, psychologically raw—Die ersten Menschen resonates with unnerving familiarity. It speaks not of ancient myth, but of the always-modern question: what happens when knowledge fails, and all we have left is desire, blood, and the cold?

[neworkimprov]

Breaking the Thirds: Diving into Quartal Harmony in Jazz

Discover new ways to create improv musicals by discovering tricks musical improv musicians use. Check our weekly classes and shows live from Times Square NYC. Jazz has always been a playground for harmonic innovation. While traditional Western music often relies on chords built in thirds, jazz musicians have consistently sought new sonic territories. One such exploration that has yielded rich…

[phumysteries]

ANALYSE PARFAITEMENT SÉRIEUSE ET RIGOUREUSEMENT FANTAISISTE D'UNE SONATE REMARQUABLE (découverte un mardi entre deux averses)

Par E. S. (Analyste musical à ses heures perdues et collecteur de parapluies)

Mes très chers amis de la musique sérieuse et des harmonies vagabondes,

Je viens de faire une découverte qui mérite toute notre attention scientifique. Un jeune compositeur - dont le talent n'a d'égal que la témérité - vient de créer une œuvre qui m'a fait oublier de nourrir mes poissons rouges pendant trois jours consécutifs. Ces derniers m'en veulent encore, mais la musique mérite parfois quelques sacrifices ichtyologiques.

DE LA STRUCTURE FORMELLE ET DE SES CURIOSITÉS ARCHITECTURALES

La sonate commence - ce qui est déjà une excellente initiative - par une mesure en 2/4 à ♩= 149. Ce tempo, aussi précis qu'un horloger suisse qui aurait bu trop de café, établit d'emblée une tension métrique fascinante. J'ai passé trois heures à compter les battements avec mon métronome, qui a fini par démissionner de fatigue.

L'exposition se déploie avec une logique qui ferait pâlir d'envie mes amis mathématiciens (j'en ai deux, tous plus fous l'un que l'autre). Le premier thème (mesures 1-41) présente un motif chromatique ascendant d'une rare élégance. Il grimpe les degrés de la gamme comme un escargot mélomane escaladerait la tour Eiffel - avec détermination et sans le moindre vertige.

La transition chromatique (mesures 42-63) mérite une attention particulière. Elle se déplace entre les tonalités avec la grâce d'un funambule ivre qui aurait soudainement retrouvé son équilibre. J'y ai découvert des modulations qui feraient rougir Wagner (ce qui n'est pas peu dire, car Wagner rougissait rarement, sauf après un bon repas).

DES HARMONIES AVENTUREUSES ET DE LEURS CONSÉQUENCES SONORES

L'harmonie de cette œuvre est un sujet qui mérite d'être abordé avec des gants de velours et une loupe d'excellente qualité. Le Si♭ mineur initial n'est que le début d'une aventure harmonique qui m'a fait repenser sérieusement à ma collection de chapeaux.

Observons d'abord l'accord initial, enrichi d'une septième majeure qui le couronne comme une cerise particulièrement audacieuse sur un gâteau déjà bien garni. Cet accord n'est pas là par hasard - rien n'est jamais là par hasard, sauf peut-être mes parapluies qui ont tendance à se multiplier mystérieusement les jours de pluie.

Les progressions harmoniques qui suivent (mesures 11-93) démontrent une maîtrise absolue de l'art de surprendre l'oreille sans la faire fuir. J'ai compté exactement 47 harmonies différentes, dont trois qui m'ont fait éternuer et une qui a fait lever un sourcil à mon chat (événement rarissime, je vous l'assure).

La superposition des harmonies quartales est particulièrement remarquable. Elles s'empilent comme des crêpes sonores, chacune ajoutant sa saveur particulière à l'ensemble. Les mesures 196-203 présentent un travail sur les résonances qui mériterait d'être étudié dans toutes les classes de composition (même celles qui n'existent pas encore).

DU DÉVELOPPEMENT THÉMATIQUE ET DE SES MÉTAMORPHOSES INATTENDUES

Le développement (mesures 94-254) est un chef-d'œuvre de logique illogique - ou d'illogisme logique, selon l'heure à laquelle on l'écoute. J'y ai découvert des transformations thématiques qui feraient pâlir d'envie mes chrysanthèmes (qui sont pourtant experts en métamorphoses).

Prenons par exemple la section qui commence à la mesure 94. Le compositeur y manipule le premier thème avec la dextérité d'un jongleur qui aurait étudié le contrepoint. Le motif chromatique initial se retrouve étiré, compressé, renversé, parfois même tout cela à la fois - un véritable tour de force qui m'a fait rater l'heure du thé trois jours de suite.

Les mesures 118-133 méritent une mention spéciale dans nos annales musicologiques. On y trouve une superposition thématique d'une complexité telle que j'ai dû dessiner un diagramme spécial pour la comprendre. Ce diagramme ressemble étrangement à un chat qui poursuivrait une souris dans un labyrinthe de Debussy, mais je vous assure qu'il est parfaitement scientifique.

DE LA VIRTUOSITÉ PIANISTIQUE ET AUTRES ACROBATIES DIGITALES

La technique pianistique requise ici mériterait un chapitre entier dans un traité de gymnastique pour les doigts. Les passages en doubles notes (mesures 254-262) exigent une souplesse qui ferait pâlir un contorsionniste professionnel. J'ai suggéré l'invention d'un sixième doigt, mais personne ne semble prendre cette proposition au sérieux.

L'utilisation des résonances est particulièrement fascinante. Aux mesures 196-203, le piano résonne comme l'intérieur d'une cathédrale où des papillons métalliques danseraient une valse. Le compositeur utilise la pédale avec une subtilité qui m'a fait repenser ma théorie sur les relations entre la pédalisation et la rotation terrestre.

DE L'ESPACE SONORE ET DE SES DIMENSIONS CACHÉES

L'organisation de l'espace sonore révèle une maîtrise acoustique qui dépasse l'entendement habituel (déjà que l'entendement habituel n'est pas simple à dépasser). Les résonances sont gérées comme un jardin français : avec une précision géométrique doublée d'une fantaisie poétique.

Les mesures 314-322 présentent un travail sur les harmoniques qui mérite d'être écouté avec des oreilles fraîchement lavées. Les sons se superposent comme les étages d'une tour de Babel sonore, chaque niveau communiquant avec les autres dans une langue harmonique nouvelle.

CONCLUSION SCIENTIFIQUE ABSOLUMENT INDISCUTABLE (à moins qu'il ne pleuve des grenouilles)

Cette sonate représente une avancée considérable dans l'art de faire danser les notes sur un fil d'or. Le jeune compositeur a réussi l'exploit de créer une œuvre qui respecte la tradition tout en la faisant valser sur la tête - ce qui est exactement ce dont la musique a besoin pour ne pas s'endormir dans son fauteuil.

L'architecture formelle est d'une solidité qui ferait rougir la tour Eiffel. Le développement thématique prouve qu'on peut être sérieux sans se prendre au sérieux. Quant au traitement harmonique, il démontre qu'il est possible de faire des mathématiques avec des papillons.

Post-scriptum technique : Les poissons rouges, après trois écoutes attentives, ont finalement pardonné mon oubli alimentaire, séduits par le traitement des résonances aux mesures 196-203.

Post-post-scriptum harmonique : J'ai découvert hier soir que si l'on joue la sonate à l'envers, on entend distinctement un message codé sur l'importance de bien nourrir ses poissons rouges.

Note finale absolument cruciale : Cette analyse doit être lue en position assise, sauf les jours où la lune est en Si bémol mineur.

Signé : E.S (Gymnopédiste perpétuel et analyste musical occasionnel)

P.P.P.S. : Mon chat vient de me faire remarquer que j'ai oublié de mentionner la beauté particulière du silence entre les notes. Il a raison, comme toujours.

[musictrainingworld]

Introduction to Jazz Piano Chords and Voicings

Imagine sitting at a piano, fingers poised, ready to explore the rich world of jazz piano chords and voicings. Hearing terms like “Quartal Harmony” or “Rootless Voicings” might excite or make you a bit nervous. Whether you’re starting out or looking to improve your jazz piano theory, you’re in for a treat.

Listening to Oscar Peterson or Herbie Hancock shows how important learning jazz voicings is. It’s not just about scales; it’s about using chords in songs. This brings you closer to the legendary pianists who paved the way...

Read the full article here.

[automaticfrenchhorn]

Big piece today, one of my densest as well. It began from the playful bassoon pattern, which I quickly expanded into several fun variations that became the foundation of the piece. After that, I experimented with various textures above the bassoon, resulting in the piece's melodies.

Said melodies have a neat quality; they are generally diatonic, yet in a different key than the bassoon below. This is best seen in the flute's F# major melody over the bassoon's A major pattern in measures 5-6. It's a pseudo-polytonal idea, since there are never any vertical cross-relations; every harmony can be understood vertically, usually as an expression of a particular lydian scale or quartal pattern.

As always, these pieces are welcome for anyone and everyone to play! All I ask is that you share it with me, because I'd love to hear it done by live players!

[amaezingblog]

🎼 Final Recital pieces (compositional approaches)

Principle Study 🎻 Sem 2

Tales of the Legendary Festival

heavy usage of quartal and quintal intervals

wide contrast in dynamics and texture

prolongation of developmental sections

picturing a festival-like feel/visual

ostinato line on vibraphone

Sentimental Railway

usage of dissonant vertical structures imitating train "horns" - combination tritones

altered scale/free atonal scale-like melody

varying rhythms imitating train tracks (constant and ostinato-like feel)

change in texture and mood in new section - more tonal

breaking up phrases and distributing to Vln 1 and 2 to ease from being too busy

silvery, soft trills at the end to give different texture and feel from train-like rhythmically driven sections

incorporated chinese/japanese-like elements

Mountain Lights

mountain inspirations - picturing beauty of mountains, translating into music

beautiful and gentle lines, yet slightly grand-like (mountains are huge)

contrapuntal texture

narrative like sections - different developmental stages

drones by bassoon and horn at 2nd section stage

variations of crossover barline rhythm/harmonies

atonal structures, modulating scales, chromatic slides

changes in tempo and mood

usage of gamelan saron into "eery creepy" section

[jc]

4. Quartalsbericht Klein-Tyler

Na gut, ich kann doch noch nicht berichten, dass der Einjährige schon laufen kann. Aber im letzten Quartal hat Klein-Tyler nicht nur angefangen, auf seine ganz eigene Art zu krabbeln. Er steht schon längst lieber als dass er sitzt oder krabbelt und er fordert bei jeder Gelegenheit ein, an den Händen gehalten irgendwo langzulaufen. Allzu weit weg ist der nächste, ich meine: der erste Schritt nicht.

Auch sonst ist Klein-Tyler ein ganz normales zwölf Monate altes Kind. Er spielt gerne, meistens mit den Sachen seiner Schwester. Außerdem überprüft er mit Vorliebe regelmäßig, ob das Gesetz der Schwerkraft noch gilt. Und natürlich muss er immer wieder testen, wie die Welt schmeckt. Wie gesagt, ein ganz normales Baby Kleinkind.

Klein-Tyler betet seine große Schwester an. Eines seiner ersten Worte war eine Lautfolge, die schwer nach ihrem Namen klingt. Er macht ihre Geräusche nach, er krabbelt ihr überall hinterher und fühlt sich in ihrem Zimmer am wohlsten. Wenn die beiden dort sind und spielen, herrscht meistens große Harmonie. Es gibt aber auch die anderen Momente, in denen Klein-Lea ihrem Bruder immer wieder etwas aus den Händen reißt. Früher hat er das klaglos hingenommen, mittlerweile äußert er zum Glück sein Unbehagen. Es ist sehr spannend zu sehen, wie er sich immer mehr Respekt verschafft und sich durchzusetzen versucht. Auch wenn Klein-Lea natürlich das ehrfürchtig bewunderte Vorbild bleibt.

Was den Appetit angeht, hat sich Klein-Tyler nicht verändert. Er ist nach wie vor kein Kostverächter und hat bisher jeden Schritt mitgemacht, der ihn an normales Essen heranführt. Einzig Weintrauben verschmäht er zu großen Teilen. Die eignen sich dafür aber gut, um erneut das Vorhandensein der Schwerkraft zu überprüfen.

Drei Tage vor seinem ersten Geburtstag begann Klein-Tylers Kita-Eingewöhnung. Davon werde ich dann in einem Vierteljahr berichten.

(Ich danke Alex Matzkeit für die Idee des Quartalsberichts. Hier gibt es alle von Klein-Tyler. Und hier zum Vergleich die seiner Schwester.)

(Original unter: https://1ppm.de/2023/09/4-quartalsbericht-klein-tyler/)

[nolanthecomposer]

Debussy's Cloche a travers les fueilles Whole Tone Scale, Added Note Chords, Quartal/Quintal Harmony by Nolan The Composer Welcome to another first for NTC! I’m excited to start working on theory and analysis videos here on the channel. This is going to be a learning curve, and I look forward to riding it. If there are any questions, or if you notice a mistake please let me know and I’ll happily address them and get around to correcting any mistakes. In this music theory analysis video, I delve into the mesmerizing composition "Cloche a travers les fuellies" by Claude Debussy. Join me as I unravel the intricate web of harmonies and explore the fascinating techniques employed by Debussy in this enchanting piece. My website: https://ift.tt/mAeU5CT via YouTube https://youtu.be/-J4S_3vj4A8

[guitarguitarworld]

Jazz Fusion Alternate Picking Guitar Exercise Analysis

Hi Guys, As requested, here are the two youtube shorts [uploaded horizontal] with the Tab/Notation. [Sorry, some notation is a bit messy] VIDEO OF THE EXERCISE: Alternate Picking guitar exercise. Jazz Fusion music mid tempo. Lesson/How to: EXERCISE ANALYSIS: PLEASE NOTE: These are only exercises to connect and get familiar with the jazz tools of improvisation in regards to alternate…

[dokpetra]

I flippin cooked on this. I'm happy with how my production is coming along & think my taste for quartal and quintal harmony is displayed smartly here. Plus I finally figured out a groove I like in 6/4. I am proud of this one ⭐

Oops I wrote Mario Kart music

I'm on Youtube!

Thanks for listening.

[jenslarsenjazz]

m7 Chords - How to use Quartal Harmony in a solo 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbqMDl8ipcY&list=PLWYuNvZPqqcFeIKP2hgehdbK87rql_2yj&index=15&t=0s 

Quartal Harmony sounds very complicated, but really it is just another way to create some great sounding chords or arpeggios. The sound is closely related to the pentatonic scale sound, but can of course also be found in a major scale. This video is going over How you can use Quartal Arpeggios on m7 chords. I draw from examples of players like Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Allan Holdsworth.  

Hope you like it!

[fordcrownvictoria]

Neither the Time nor the Place” (1988) | A Reflection in Three Movements

I. Fugue of Memory: A Technical Reflection on the Musical Structure

In lieu of a surviving score or recording, Neither the Time nor the Place can only be analyzed by inference — yet inference becomes a kind of archaeology. Drawing from Dominique Probst’s compositional voice as seen in Le Bal and contemporaneous French operatic idioms of the 1980s, one may cautiously reconstruct the opera’s musical scaffolding.

The work is likely structured not around traditional act divisions but as a through-composed psychological arc. This suggests a dramaturgical alignment with monodrama or memory play, where past and present coexist in non-linear musical terms. The harmonic language, based on Probst’s known material, avoids strict tonality without venturing into atonality — a pan-modal system that favors semitone motion and modal interchange over cadential closure.

Form and Motivic Development

Rather than a sonata or ternary structure, the form likely follows a palimpsest model: one theme layered over another, each emerging through shifts in orchestration. Motivic development would be key, with leitmotifs assigned not to characters (as in Wagnerian style) but to states of memory. For instance:

A tritone-based motif may signal collapse or rupture.

A descending minor third could accompany the recurring line “neither the time...”

Retrograde or inversion techniques may be employed to represent temporal disorientation.

Given the one-woman focus, vocal writing may be Sprechstimme-adjacent, blending lyrical contour with rhythmic recitation. Extended passages may forego strict meter entirely, using quasi-recitative over sustained harmonic pads — a technique evoking the interior monologue tradition seen in Erwartung by Schoenberg.

Instrumentation and Texture

The orchestration is presumed to be sparse but expressive — likely a chamber ensemble with occasional large tutti passages. Possible forces include:

Strings with divisi, allowing cluster chords and layered tremolos

Prepared piano, contributing percussive, metallic memory fragments

Woodwinds in solo and doubled roles, especially clarinet and bass flute

Occasional tape playback or electronics, echoing recorded voices or war sounds

Texture would shift responsively:

Pointillistic writing in scenes of psychological fragmentation

Homophonic clusters for moments of emotional clarity

Contrapuntal layering, particularly in “hallucinated” dialogue with phantoms from the past — these voices likely simulated by the orchestra rather than live singers

Rhythmically, the opera may avoid consistent meter, using irregular groupings (5/8, 7/8, alternating 3+2+3/8) to destabilize any sense of metric security. Tempo would often be dictated by textual inflection, making rubato and free declamation central to interpretation.

Harmonic Language

Harmonically, Probst appears to favor modal ambiguity, enriched with extended tertian sonorities and quartal harmony. Dissonance is not rejected but employed contextually, often placed in registral isolation — such as high minor 9ths over pedal tones — to create a sense of psychic dissonance without total collapse.

There may be spectral influences — not in the Grisey sense of pure overtone derivation, but in a timbral sensitivity: orchestrations that emphasize partials, timbral decay, and resonant silence. The soundscape is one of erosion rather than eruption.

II. A Stage of Ashes: The Story of the Opera

She returns in silence.

The doors of the theater groan open, and dust dances in shafts of dying light. Where once there were chandeliers, now hang only the ghosts of light. She steps across warped boards that remember her footsteps. And with each one, the theater exhales a memory.

This is the conceit of Neither the Time nor the Place: an actress, once luminous, returns to the ruins of her art after war has razed both the world and her past. She has come not to perform, but to remember. Yet memory is not linear. As she walks the stage, fragments of her former roles awaken. She becomes Medea. She becomes Blanche DuBois. She becomes herself.

The plot is thin by design; it is not a narrative, but a haunting. Her soliloquy is interrupted by auditory hallucinations: echoes of dialogue, shards of music, whispered names. At times, the orchestra conjures her younger self, or the voice of a lost lover, or the crackle of gunfire outside the theater’s walls. In one of the opera’s climactic passages — imagined as a dissonant accumulation of overlapping motifs — she argues with a ghost she cannot see. Her lines are half-sung, half-sobbed. She tears pages from a script, each one fluttering like dead leaves into the pit. Then silence.

And in the silence, she says:

“Ceci n’est ni le moment, ni le lieu.”

This is neither the time nor the place.

At the close, she sits center stage beneath a single surviving light. The walls of the theater echo her breath. She sings one final line — perhaps from Euripides, perhaps her own — and the stage fades to black.

III. A Forgotten Room in the House of Opera: Legacy and Revival

It is rare for a modern opera to disappear, but Neither the Time nor the Place has done precisely that — slipping beneath the waves of repertory, archived but not digitized, remembered in footnotes and fleeting references. Its premiere in 1988 received modest attention, but with no commercial recording, and with Dominique Probst focusing more on other projects afterward, the opera vanished into silence.

Its legacy is bittersweet: a work about the fragility of memory that became itself a victim of forgetfulness. Yet that very silence is what gives it a strange allure. Unlike operas that failed due to poor reception or artistic missteps, Neither the Time nor the Place feels deliberately elusive — as though it only ever existed to be remembered, never repeated.

Could it be revived?

Yes — and perhaps it should be. If the manuscript survives (in the archives of SACEM or in Probst’s estate), there is no reason a university opera department, avant-garde ensemble, or postmodern staging group could not resurrect it. The very themes it explores — trauma, identity, war, and the disintegration of narrative — are more relevant than ever.

And yet, if it never returns to the stage, Neither the Time nor the Place will still persist in another form. It is a shadow opera, a whispered story between composers and scholars, singers and seekers. Its silence is not an absence, but a tension — waiting for the right voice to fill it once more.