In Proust the quest for the artistic absolute passes through three stages. At first the character does not understand the work; confronted by this enigma, he embarks upon a search for explanations, which turn out to be illusory; however, once beyond this second stage of false trails, he is able to penetrate to the essence of the work.

This general progression in three stages, which characterises both Swann's attempt and the Narrator's quest, is also found in the description of Vinteui's works themselves. At first the work appears impressionistic, a pure magma of sound in which vague elements of description can be recognised; then, as the outlines get clearer and the references more precise, the work becomes frankly descriptive, conveying ideas through individualised musical motifs and assuming a quasilinguistic status; finally, the work passes beyond this stage in order to arrive at a pure play of sonorous forms and achieve profundity.

These three stages correspond in turn to Proust's three modes of musical perception. At first perception is blurred and indistinct; then the rational intellect intervenes, seeking to understand the work in several ways; finally, perception rises above the intellectual level to the point where it is purified and capable of apprehending a truth.