Wannamaker, R. (2008). "The Spectral Music of James Tenney", Contemporary
Music Review, Vol. 27, No. 1, February 2008, pp. 91-130.
ABSTRACT
Between the years 1971 and 2006, James Tenney created more than fifty significant
works of what is now commonly called “spectral music.” In their materials
and procedures his compositions frequently paralleled, sometimes anticipated,
and in some instances strikingly contrasted with spectralist developments in Europe.
This article provides an analytical introduction to the spectralist component
of Tenney’s large and varied output, and explores its emergence and place
within a North American tradition of spectral music composition. Among the compositional
concerns addressed are the duality of timbre and harmony, the harmonic series
as a structural resource, the instrumental synthesis of speech, rhythmic analogs
of spectral structures, the expansion of traditional harmonic means, and practical
performance considerations.