Introduction A multifaceted approachOverviewRemarks and limitationsNotes1 Sound in 20th-century music Scelsi and the centrality of sound Key aspects of sound in the ecstatic-materialist perspective From music to sound From the beginning of the century up to 1980: a plural emancipation Spectral line Minimalist line Musique concrète and avant-garde lines From the 1980s onwards: a non-linear expansion Sonic map Case studies: selection of pieces Closing remarks Notes 2 Morphology and structure of musical works Starting points of the analysis Sequential method Step 1: Identification of common characteristics and morphologies Step 2: Identification of common developments (unfolding structures) Results Low-level attributes (A) An expanded spectrum (B) Microtonal variations (C) Systematic glissandi (D) Rhythmic development (E) Static masses (F) Repetitive clusters (G) Dynamic and timbric contrasts High-level attributes (H) Hypnotic reiterations (I) A plastic and sculptural arrangement of sound (J) Restricted number of elements conceived globally (K) Limited dialectic among elements (L) Sonic challenges (M) Micro-/macroconstructions Specific piece: in vain Perceptual grammar Closing remarks Notes 3 Listening Listening to experimental music The experimental music blind spot in studies on musical perception The auditory process of E-M music Early-stage perception Late-stage perception Listening survey Results Music training discrimination Cross-genre connections Modes of listening The internal-external immanent domain Towards a multifaceted listening mode The aesthetic attitude Closing remarks Notes 4 Composers and performersDialogues Musical contexts and genres Perception and the space of listening Compositional practice Sound and time Closing remarks Notes 5 The ecstatic-materialist perspective The ecstatic and the materialist Phenomenological materiality: the imprint of sound Ecstatic potential: sound-as-trace External-internal Sound in the ecstatic-materialist perspective Unity Unstable presence Coherence and convergence Personality and intention Intimate temporality and repetition Space-matter: the materiality of space in sound Vertical time: the ecstatic potential of space-matter Musical communication Closing remarks Notes 6 Going beyond sound-in-itself The conceptual and the sensorial-perceptual paradigms Sonic materialism and the philosophical debate around sound The materiality of the ecstatic-materialist perspective The proximal hypothesis: the material presence of space-matter The embodied cognitive level Going beyond sound through sound Notes 7 Epilogue: The ecstatic-materialist perspective in context The ecstatic-materialist context Empowered listening Closing remarks Notes Discography Bibliography Glossary Index