Editing Pascal Dusapin (section)

==Musical style==

===Instrumentation===
One way in which Dusapin stands out from other contemporary composers is through his selection of certain instruments and rejection of others. Unlike even Xenakis, he avoids the use of [[Electronic music|electronics]] and technology in his music.<ref name="ReferenceA">Pugin, "New Intimacy in French Music", 19.</ref> Likewise, he has removed the use of percussion other than timpani from his works. Until recently, Dusapin also rejected the use of keyboard instruments, despite the fact that he plays the organ<ref name="Griffiths, Dusapin, Pascal."/> and jazz piano.<ref name="Pace, Never to Be Naught, 17">Pace, "Never to Be Naught", 17.</ref> As a possible reason for Dusapin's rejection of these instruments, Stoïnova suggests, "The scale and static timbre of the piano, as well as the noisy, uniform textures of percussion are incorporated with difficulty by Dusapin into his microtonal perspective which seems to define the very essence of his dynamic melodism."<ref>Stoïnova, "Frebrile Music", 185.</ref> Stoïnova, however, wrote this article four years before Dusapin completed the ''Trio Rombach'' (1997), for piano, violin or clarinet, and cello. This piano trio was the first work in which Dusapin incorporated piano,<ref name="Pace, Never to Be Naught, 17"/> and not until 2001 did he complete a piece for solo piano, ''Sept Études'' (1999–2001).

===Microtonality===
Dusapin's music is also marked by its [[microtonality]], which is often achieved through the integration of micro-[[Glissando|glissandi]] and micro-intervals (intervals of less than one semitone).<ref name="Stoïnova, Febrile Music, 185">Stoïnova, "Febrile Music", 185.</ref> Dusapin combines both micro-intervals and regular intervals into melodic lines so that the listener never knows what to expect next. Even so, Dusapin manages to make his use of microtonality feel completely natural. As Stoïnova explains, "The micro-intervals and the micro-glissandi&nbsp;... in such instrumental works as ''Inside'' (1980) for viola, ''Incisa'' (1982) for cello, and many other pieces are, in effect, completely integrated as different by entirely 'natural' components in extremely supple melodic progressions".<ref name="Stoïnova, Febrile Music, 185"/> The listener is already familiar with the uniform division of the octave in equal intervals; Dusapin merely divides the octave by a less traditional number.

===Musical form===
Dusapin rejects the hierarchical, binary forms of most European music, but neither is his music [[Aleatoric music|aleatory]]. Dusapin characterizes the European "hierarchical" form as thinking in terms of variations, so that certain parts are always of more importance than others.<ref>Stoïnova, "Febrile Music", 187.</ref> Instead of composing in this way, Dusapin seems to compose measure by measure, deciding what he wants to happen next when he gets there.<ref>See Dusapin's quotation on his compositional process in Stoïnova, "Febrile Music", 188.</ref> This process slightly alludes to the chance-like aspect of aleatory music, but Dusapin's music is so precisely composed that it cannot truly be aleatoric. Stoïnova writes, "With regard to Dusapin's music we can observe a principle of auto-organization and complexity in the compositional system through the integration or assimilation of aleatory disturbances."<ref name="Stoïnova, Febrile Music, 188">Stoïnova, "Febrile Music", 188.</ref> In other words, Dusapin lets the music go where it will, often evoking aleatory idioms, while still notating everything and maintaining control of his music. He avoids repetition and rejects stability and redundancy in music, which is yet another distinguishing feature of his music.<ref>Stoïnova, "Febrile Music", 190.</ref>

===Tension, energy, and movement===
Perhaps the most prominent and unique element of Dusapin's music is its built-in tension, energy, and sense of movement. Indeed, in his article on Dusapin, Julian Anderson cites the "enclosing tensions" and "explosive flight" as the two extremes of Dusapin's early music and claims that these idioms are what make the composer's music so highly individual.<ref name="Anderson, Dusapin, Pascal, 251">Anderson, "Dusapin, Pascal", 251.</ref> Stoïnova also emphasizes the energy that is present in Dusapin's earlier compositions, giving credit to Dusapin's use of extreme [[Register (music)|registers]], [[Flutter-tonguing|flutter tongue]], [[Trill (music)|trills]], micro-intervals, glissandi, [[multiphonic]]s, rapid articulations, drastic dynamics, and continuous breathing.<ref name="Stoïnova, Febrile Music, 186">Stoïnova, "Febrile Music", 186.</ref> These unique features make Dusapin's music incredibly intense and demanding on its performers. In fact, the intensity is such that Dusapin consciously makes pieces like ''Musique captive'' (1980) have short durations (in this case, three minutes), for by their ends the musicians and listeners alike are completely exhausted.<ref name="Stoïnova, Febrile Music, 186"/>

===Later characteristics===
Many of the characteristics discussed above are especially prevalent in Dusapin's earlier works, especially those from the 1980s. Beginning in the next decade, Dusapin's work moved more and more toward greater harmonic and melodic simplicity.<ref name="Anderson, Dusapin, Pascal, 252">Anderson, "Dusapin, Pascal", 252.</ref> [[Paul Griffiths (writer)|Paul Griffiths]] notes that Dusapin's works from the 1990s are more harmonically conceived than his previous music, and that they incorporate more folk traditions, including the use of drones and modes. He further suggests that Dusapin continued to simplify his music as he moved into the twenty-first century, and that while the composer still avoids [[diatonicism]], he uses techniques like oscillating between two notes and constantly varying small patterns, which involve more repetition than his past music.<ref name="Griffiths, Dusapin, Pascal."/>