Sound Memory as Dramaturgy of Time: Compositional Dramaturgies for Temporal Perception in Musical Performance

This article explores the role of sound memory as a generative principle for constructing a non-linear dramaturgy of musical time. Drawing on Bergson’s concept of durée, Ricoeur’s narrative memory, and the sonic dramaturgy theories of Chion and LaBelle, memory is examined as an active and performative process both compositional and perceptual. Through analyses of Berio’s “Sinfonia”, Harvey’s “Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco”, and Romitelli’s “An Index of Metals”, the study identifies three temporal strategies: cultural palimpsest, spiritual transfiguration, and perceptual persistence. The investigation extends to Somax2 (IRCAM) as a model of algorithmic memory, generating musical form through continuous re-actualization and interaction between human and machine temporalities. The compositional case study Abissum II(racines) concludes the research, revealing memory as dramaturgical substance, where echoes and returns from Gesualdo, Monteverdi, and Romitelli shape a multilayered temporality. Sound memory thus emerges as a living form of time, transforming composition and performance into spaces of resonance between past and present.