Bridging Europe 2016 places French music in the spotlight. At the beginning of 2016, the musical world celebrated the centenary of Henri Dutilleux's birth. Representing the new trends in 20th century French music along with him are the trailblazer of spectral music, Gérard Grisey, as well as Paris-based Greek composer Georges Aperghis.
Spectral music takes as its starting point not the pitch, length or volume of the note, but instead its acoustic properties. One of the pioneers in this movement was Grisey, who died in 1998. "I see notes as infinitely fluid and undulating streams,” he wrote in reference to his piece Modulations, conceived in 1976 and 1977 for instrumental ensemble and electronics. His creation Partiels, composed in 1975, likewise bears the hallmarks of spectral music. The work starts from an electronic analysis of a note from a trombone. The composer uses the spectrum of this note to shape the sound of the orchestra.
Dutilleux's work Mystère de l'instant was written in 1989 for cimbalom, string orchestra and percussion after being commissioned by Paul Sacher. The movements, which bear no thematic relation to each other, are played one after another without a pause. Aperghis wrote his opus Le Reste du temps, composed for cello, cimbalom and orchestra, in tribute to Haydn.

Presented by: Budapest Festival Orchestra, Müpa Budapest