The first in-depth historical overview of spectral music, which is widely regarded, alongside minimalism, as one of the two most influential compositional movem

The first in-depth historical overview of how spectral music arose in France: the most influential European compositional movement of the past fifty years.

Marilyn Nonken finds precedent in the works of pianist-composers Liszt, Scriabin and Debussy for spectral attitudes towards the musical experience.

Winner of the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism A New York Times Book Review Top Ten Book of the Year Time magazine Top Ten Nonfiction Book