Gerard Grisey's Anubis et Nout: A Historical and Analytical Perspective

Abstract

This document provides a short history and analysis of Gerard Grisey's Anubis et Nout, written for Harry Sparnaay in 1983 and dedicated to Claude Vivier, a friend and colleague of Grisey's who was murdered that year. Although Anubis et Nout is originally for solo contrabass clarinet, Grisey also created a version in 1990 for Claude Delangle, to be played on either baritone or bass saxophone. Both versions are published by Ricordi.In the first two chapters, I present a brief introduction to the life and music of Gerard Grisey, as well as an introduction to Claude Vivier. In chapter three, I give a chronology of Anubis et Nout; the history presented here is largely informed by interviews conducted by the author with instrumentalists Jean-Noel Crocq, Claude Delangle, Harry Sparnaay, and Taimur Sullivan. The remainder of the document is an original analysis of each movement of Anubis et Nout. The analysis includes discussion and examples of subharmonicity, harmonicity, time concepts presented in Grisey's essay "Tempus ex Machina" , and Grisey's attention to timbre through diacriticals as they pertain to the work.