Sirènes

Abstract

Debussy’s Sirènes is the starting point for a discussion of the wordless voice in music from Debussy through to Saariaho. How should we interpret the idea of the siren voice? As a misogynistic voice (Cavarero), or a dangerously seductive voice (Adorno and Horkeimer) that foregrounds the sonic aspect of language over its signifying aspect? Mallarmé’s Un coup de dès is used to explore the idea of the siren’s voice leading to the shipwreck of language and the breaking up of grammatical order. This is taken as a parallel to Debussy’s call to dissolve tonal grammar towards a more fluid kind of musical logic. Both enable the appearing of a ‘constellation’ of new relations, a key idea for Boulez in the 1950s, from Pli selon pli to the Third Piano Sonata.