Tiziano Manca, born in 1970, is a composer of vocal and instrumental music, including works for solo, ensemble, orchestra, and music theater. His music is performed at music festivals and concert halls worldwide by renowned contemporary music ensembles. Initially engaged in exploring the limits of acoustic instruments and human voice, he has lately turned his attention to the temporal and rhythmic dimension of music in relation to the musical instrument and the performer's gesture. Alongside his activity as a composer, Tiziano Manca works as a research artist at the Orpheus Institute in Ghent.

Frontmatter i
Contents vii
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
Introduction 11
1.1 Elements and Matter 11
1.2 Aristoxenus' Elements of Music 17
1.3 Transmission and Reception 21
1.4 Elements, Letters, Notes 28
Introduction 37
2.1 Dissonant Material 37
2.2 Sound and Composition 43
2.3 Given or Constructed? 51
2.4 Timbre, Noise, and Language 60
Introduction 69
3.1 Material and Modernity 70
3.2 Taking Place 75
3.3 Aperiodic Rhythms 87
3.4 Quasiperiodic Forms 96
Introduction 113
4.1 Pitched Bodies 114
4.2 Sounds without Bodies 119
4.3 Reference 122
4.4 Agent and Reproducibility 125
4.5 Sonocentrism 128
Introduction 133
5.1 Bodies without Sound 133
5.2 Composing a Gesture 139
Conclusions 159
List of Works 165
Abbreviations 169
Reference List 171