Abstract

Between 1980 and 1995 the music of British composer George Benjamin progresses from exhibiting spectral features in the sonorities and techniques of his works, to subsuming spectral thinking into the fabric of his approach. Coming from either end of this span, A Mind of Winter (1981) and Sudden Time (1993) each manifest spectral thinking in different ways, reflecting a variety of developments in the composer's approach across this period. In considering spectral thinking in these two works, the intention is twofold. Firstly, techniques deriving from spectral and proto-spectral composers are observed: these are seen primarily in sonic material, the use of transformative processes and an interest in liminality. Secondly, spectral thinking informs the conceptual basis for their analysis: ideas originating in spectralism contribute to the understanding of primarily temporal concerns. There is significant overlap in these areas and it can be difficult to distinguish what makes a works spectralist and what makes it simply related to spectralism. This paper does not suggest Benjamin is consciously applying a spectral understanding of time, timbre or any other issue, rather by cross-referencing spectral thinking with the two case studies, a stylistically and aesthetically informed understanding of the composer's music is presented.