Manoury's work is strongly influenced byPierre Boulez,Karlheinz Stockhausen, andIannis Xenakis, and his early work from 1972 to 1976 combines serialpunctualism with the densely massed elements characteristic of the music of Stockhausen and Xenakis, and the paintings ofJackson Pollock.[1] Works such asSound and Fury are of interest because of the use of computer-assisted composition.Sound and Fury also uses a very large orchestra, which is symmetrically disposed, and makes quite extensive use of left-right spatial effects.
Since the 1980s, Manoury has been closely associated with the American computer researcherMiller Puckette, first atIRCAM and subsequently atUCSD. TheSonus ex machina series of works (Jupiter,Pluton,Neptune andLa Partition du Ciel et de l'Enfer), which were developed in collaboration with Puckette, are among the first pieces to utilize real-time audio signal processing, andPluton was the first ever composition using Puckette's groundbreaking softwareMax.
HisAbgrund—pour grand orchestre wascommissioned by the Bavarian State Opera together with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and premiered by the Bavarian State Orchestra on November 26, 2007. It has been described as "a work that will neither disturb nor annoy [...] a pleasant and perhaps harmless string of dissonant semi-climaxes, little jolts, and resting phases. It has an invigorating effect, is easy to concentrate on . . .".[2] In it "Manoury [...] mercifully knows how to use [the abundance of percussion instruments] in ways far more discriminately than his contemporaries beholden to one bongo-frenzy after another".[2] "Philippe Manoury hit[s] the right mix between shallow and deep, melodic and dissonant, placating and strident, stasis and progress, simplicity and complexity. The steady run-up—stop—tighten—burst—relax scheme may not be novel at all, but it paid dividends [in 'Abgrund']".[2]
Manoury, Philippe. 1998.La note et le son: Écrits et entretiens, 1981-1998, with a foreword byDanielle Cohen-Levinas. Musique et musicologie: Les dialogues. Paris: L'Harmattan.ISBN2-7384-6985-X
Manoury, Philippe. 2001.Entretiens avec Daniela Langer. Paris : Musica falsa.ISBN2-9512386-3-0
Jupiter andLa Partition du Ciel et de l'Enfer – Sophie Cherrier (flute) and Ensemble Intercontemporain. Conducted by Pierre Boulez. In Compositeurs d'aujourd'hui, Adès, 206 062, 1996
60ème parallèle – Orchestre de Paris, conducted by David Robertson, Naxos 8.554249/50, 1997
En écho and Neptune – Donatienne Michel-Dansac (soprano); Roland Auzet, Florent Jodelet, and Eve Payeur (percussion), Technique Ircam ACCORD, 465 526–2, 1998
Complete Chamber Music – Ensemble Accroche Note, Assai 222052, 2002
