Editing Pascal Dusapin (section)

==Education and influences==
Dusapin, born in [[Nancy, France|Nancy]], studied musicology, plastic arts, and art sciences at the [[University of Paris I]] and [[Paris 8 University Vincennes-Saint-Denis|Paris VIII]] in the early 1970s. He felt a certain "shock" upon hearing [[Edgard Varèse]]'s ''[[Arcana (Varèse)|Arcana]]'' (1927),<ref>I. Stoïnova, "Pascal Dusapin: Febrile Music", ''Contemporary Music Review'' 8, no. 1 (1993): 183.</ref> and a similar shock when he attended [[Iannis Xenakis]]'s multimedia performance ''Polytope de Cluny'' in 1972, yet he felt "une proximité plus grande" ("a greater closeness") to the latter composer.<ref>[[Danielle Cohen-Levinas]], "Composer n'est pas la musique", in ''Causeries sur la musique: Entretiens avec des compositeurs'', ed. Danielle Cohen-Levinas (Paris: L'Itinéraire, 1999), 234.</ref> Because of his attraction to Xenakis's music, Dusapin studied with the composer at the [[University of Paris (post-1970)|Sorbonne]] in Paris, where he remained a student from 1974 to 1978. His classes with Xenakis included such subjects as aesthetics and science.<ref>Julian Anderson, "Dusapin, Pascal", in ''Contemporary Composers'', ed. Brian Morton and Pamela Collins (Chicago: St. James Press, 1992), 251.</ref> Dusapin also studied with Italian composer [[Franco Donatoni]], who was invited to the University of Vincennes (Paris VIII) in 1976.

While Dusapin's studies with these composers formed a foundation for his compositional studies—particularly for his understanding of [[sound mass]]es—he developed his own musical language. According to I. Stoïnova, "Though attached to&nbsp;... Varèse, Xenakis, Donatoni, Dusapin is nevertheless completely solitary because he is not only aware of his legacy, but also of the distance which separates him from his mentors: a creative distance of an aesthetic order and sensibility, a way of existing in sounds".<ref>Stoïnova, "Febrile Music", 184.</ref> He absorbed styles and ideas from these composers, then transformed them to fit his own musical needs.

Besides being influenced by composers such as Varèse and Xenakis who dealt with sound masses, Dusapin's music also shows the influence of other musical traditions, including [[jazz]]. In fact, he was once a jazz pianist, though up until 1997 he refused to include piano in his compositions.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pace |first1=Ian |title=Never to Be Naught |journal=The Musical Times |date=1997 |volume=138 |issue=1857 |pages=17–20 |doi=10.2307/1004224 |jstor=1004224}}</ref> Beginning in the late 1980s with his piece ''Aks'' (1987) and continuing into the 1990s, Dusapin incorporated [[French folk music]] into his musical language. In ''Aks'', commissioned by the Société des Amis du Musé des Arts et Traditions Populaires, Dusapin immediately quotes a folk-melody, but the rest of the piece is composed independently from the folk song.<ref>Pace, "Never to Be Naught", 18.</ref> Dusapin's work from the 1990s further illustrates the influence of folk music through its frequent use of drones and use of restricted [[Mode (music)|modes]], though most often without obvious tonal centers.<ref name="Griffiths, Dusapin, Pascal.">Griffiths, "Dusapin, Pascal."</ref> Other sources of inspiration include graphic arts and poetry.<ref>[http://www.sospeso.com/contents/composers_artists/dusapin.html/ Short biography] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421023412/http://www.sospeso.com/contents/composers_artists/dusapin.html |date=21 April 2008 }}, the ensemble Sospeso</ref>