Treize couleurs du soleil couchant

Treize couleurs du soleil couchant (1978) is one of the best-known works by Tristan Murail and the movement of spectral music he founded with Grisey.
Written for quintet (violin, cello, flute, clarinet, piano) and electronic processing, the work is based on 13 generating notes from which others are derived by applying a technique conceptually derived from the analog memory ring modulator.
This technique involves deriving new notes by adding and subtracting the frequencies of a series of given notes. For example, take an A at 110 Hz and an E at 165 Hz (the 5th above). Their difference equals 55 Hz, which is an A eighth below the previous one; The sum is 275 Hz, which is a C# (just out of tune with respect to the equal-tempered system, but it is the 8th below a natural harmonic).

This compositional technique, long known and used by all those who have dealt with analog electronic music, Stockhausen first and foremost (Mantra for 2 pianos and ring modulator), is very interesting because it exhibits the following property:

If the two generating frequencies are in a harmonic relationship (that is, one is a harmonic of the other, as in the example above), their sum and difference create other harmonics;
If they are not in a harmonic relationship, the generated frequencies are also inharmonic.

Murail ideally divides the piece into 13 sections, each centered on one of the generating notes, around which "shadows" are created in the form of other notes and electronic sounds generated with the aforementioned system. By controlling the method—that is, by articulating the sequence of generating notes and the registers in which the notes are used—Murail constructs a timbral pattern analogous to (or inspired by) the variations of light painted by Monet in his cathedral cycle.
In 1894, Monet created a series of thirty canvases dedicated to the façade of Rouen Cathedral. In these canvases, the artist explores light and how it can alter our perception of reality. Thus, he depicts the cathedral at different times of day and in different weather conditions, each time achieving different pictorial results. The cathedral sometimes seems to dematerialize, sometimes crystallize into more solid forms, but the light in each case alters its chromatic perception, so that its façade changes color depending on the time of day. The ensemble of thirty canvases is truly impressive and evocative, as the same object gives rise to thirty different images.
Similarly, Murail repeats the same musical object within each section, varying its timbre and he writes:

partant d’une clarté moyenne dans les premières sections, le timbre progresse vers une lumière réverbérante marquée par un intervalle très resserré dans l’aigu (sixième couleur), pour aboutir à un crépuscule sonnant, dans son extrême fin, comme un glas

Tristan Murail – Treize couleurs du soleil couchant (1978) for violin, cello, flute, clarinet, piano and live electronics
Performed by the Ensemble Intercontemporain

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