From L’Esprit des dunes to Resonant Depth

– A Resonant-Writing Framework Informed by the Redefinition of Acoustic Models in Spectral Music

Abstract

This paper proposes the concept of resonant writing, an expansion of the spectral writing observed in Tristan Murail’s L’Esprit des dunes (1994), which serves here as a theoretical point of reference. Spectral writing has traditionally been understood as a structural operation derived from an acoustic model; however, in contemporary compositional environments that incorporate real-time processing and physical re-resonance, its dynamic dimension requires reconsideration. Drawing on previous scholarship, the processes of material generation and temporal design in L’Esprit des dunes are organized into three strata—Structure, Process, and Resonance. These strata do not correspond directly to acoustic model or time; rather, they are positioned as operative elements through which writing functions internally. On the basis of this formalization, spectral writing is redefined as a generative movement encompassing analysis, transformation, and sonic presence, and is expanded into resonant writing, which describes a chain of transformations including temporal generation and physical re-resonance. Finally, as an implementation of this writing, the author’s own work Resonant Depth (2025) is presented as a case study, demonstrating how a generative chain—within which analysis, transformation, and presence continuously transition into one another—operates recursively in the compositional process, thereby providing a practical examination of the configuration of the three strata.