Tristan Murail
Tristan Murail(born 11 March 1947) is a French composer associated with the "spectral"technique of composition. Among his compositions is the large orchestral workGondwana.
Early life and studies
[edit]Murail was born inLe Havre,France.His father, Gérard Murail, is a poet and his mother, Marie-Thérèse Barrois, a journalist. One of his brothers, Lorris Murail, and his younger sister Elvire Murail, a.k.a. Moka, are also writers, and his younger sisterMarie-Aude Murailis a French children's writer.
Following his university studies in Arabic and economics, Murail attended theParis Conservatory,where he studied composition withOlivier Messiaen[1]from 1967 to 1972. He taught computer music and composition at IRCAM inParisfrom 1991 to 1997. While there, he assisted in the development of Patchwork composition software. In 1973 he was a founding member of theEnsemble l'Itinéraire.[1]From 1997 until 2010, he was a professor of composition atColumbia Universityin New York City.[2]
Music
[edit]Murail is associated with the "spectral"technique of composition, which involves the use of the fundamental properties of sound as a basis forharmony,as well as the use ofspectral analysis,FM,RM,andAM synthesisas a method of derivingpolyphony.[3]
Major pieces by Murail include large orchestral pieces such asGondwana,Time and Againand, more recently,SerendibandL'Esprit des dunes.Other pieces include hisDésintégrationsfor 17 instruments and tape,Mémoire/Erosionfor French horn and nine instrumentsEthersfor flute and ensemble,Winter Fragmentsfor flute, clarinet, piano, violin, cello and electronics as well asVampyr!for electric guitar.
Murail also composed a set of solo pieces for various instruments in his cycleRandom Access Memory,of which the sixth,Vampyr!,is a rare classical piece forelectric guitar.In addition to deriving much of the musical material from the harmonic series over a low E—typically the lowest note on the instrument—[4]the composer also references the timbre and performance style of guitarists in the rock tradition, citingCarlos SantanaandEric Claptonas examples in the instructions to the score.[5]
Among Murail's awards are thePrix de Rome(presented by the FrenchAcadémie des beaux-artsin 1971),[1]theGrand Prix du Disque(1990), and theGrand Prix du Président de la République,Académie Charles Cros (1992).[6]
Murail's works are published by Éditions Transatlantiques andÉditions Henry Lemoine.[7]His music has been recorded on the Una Corda, Metier, Adés, and MFA-Radio France labels.[8]
Works
[edit]Orchestral
[edit]- 1970,Altitude 8000,for orchestra
- 1972,Au-delà du mur du son,for large orchestra
- 1973,La dérive des continents,for viola and string orchestra
- 1973,Cosmos privé,for orchestra
- 1975,Sables,for orchestra
- 1979,Les courants de l'espace,for ondes Martenot and small orchestra
- 1980,Gondwana,for orchestra
- 1985,Sillages,for orchestra
- 1985,Time and again,for orchestra
- 1991,La dynamique des fluides,for orchestra
- 1996,Le partage des eaux,for large orchestra
- 2004,Terre d'ombre,for large orchestra and electronic sounds
- 2007,Contes cruels,for 2 electric guitars and orchestra
- 2013,Reflections / Reflets I - Spleen
- 2013,Reflections / Reflets II - High Voltage / Haute tension
- 2017,Reflections / Reflets III - Vents et marées / Tidal winds
Concertante
[edit]- 2012,Le Désenchantement du Monde,piano concerto
- 2019,De Pays et d'Hommes Étranges,cello concerto
- 2021, 'L'Oeil du Cyclone', piano concerto
Ensemble
[edit]- 1969,Couleur de mer,for 15 instruments
- 1972,L'Attente,for 7 instruments
- 1976,Mémoire/Erosion,for horn and ensemble
- 1978,Ethers,for 6 instruments
- 1978,Treize couleurs du soleil couchant,for ensemble
- 1982,Désintégrations,for 17 instruments and electronic sounds
- 1990,Allégories,for 6 instruments and electronic sounds
- 1992,Serendib,for 22 musicians
- 1993,La Barque mystiquefor ensemble
- 1994,L'Esprit des dunes,for ensemble
- 1996,Bois flotté,for piano, trombone, string trio, synthetic sounds and synthesized sounds
- 2000,Winter Fragments,for flute, clarinet, piano, violin, cello, MIDI keyboard and computer
- 2001,Le Lac,for ensemble
- 2006,Légendes urbainesfor 22 instruments
- 2006,Seven Lakes Drive,from «Portulan», for flute, clarinet, horn, piano, violin and cello
- 2008,Liber fulguralis,for ensemble, electronics and video
- 2011,La Chambre des cartes,from «Portulan», for flute, clarinet, horn, piano, percussions, violin, viola and cello
- 2011,Lachrymae,for alto flute and string quintet
- 2011,Dernières nouvelles du vent d'ouest,from «Portulan», for viola, horn, piano and percussion
- 2012,The Bronze Age,for flute, clarinet, trombone, violin, cello and piano
- 2014,Un Sogno,for ensemble and electronics
- 2017,Near Death Experience d'après L'Ile des morts d'Arnold Böcklin,for ensemble and video
Chamber
[edit]- 1970,Où tremblent les contours,for 2 violas
- 1973,Les Nuages de Magellan,for 2 ondes Martenot, electric guitar and percussions
- 1974,Transsahara express,for bassoon and piano
- 1986,Atlantys,for 2 DX7 Yamaha synthesizers, fromRandom Access Memory
- 1988,Vues aériennes,for horn, violin, cello and piano
- 1990,Le fou à pattes bleues,for flute and piano
- 1993,La barque mystique,for five instruments
- 1998,Feuilles à travers les cloches,from «Portulan», for flute, violin, cello and piano
- 2006,Les Ruines circulaires,from «Portulan», for clarinet and violin
- 2008,Garrigue,from «Portulan», for bass flute, viola, cello and percussions
- 2015,Travel Notes,for 2 pianos and 2 percussions
- 2016,Sogni, ombre et fumi,for string quartet
- 2018,Stalag VIIIA,for violin, clarinet, cello and piano
- 2018,Une lettre de Vincent,for flute and cello
- 2019,Kinderszenenby Robert Schumann, rereading for flute, cello and piano
Solo instrument
[edit]- 1967,Comme un Oeil Suspendu et Poli par le Songe…,for piano
- 1972,Estuaire,2 pieces for piano
- 1976,C'est un jardin secret, ma sœur, ma fiancée, une fontaine close, une source scelléefor viola solo
- 1977,Tellur,for guitar
- 1977,Territoires de l'oubli,for piano
- 1984,Vampyr!,for electric guitar, fromRandom Access Memory
- 1992,Attracteurs étranges,for cello
- 1992,Cloches d’adieu, et un sourire... in memoriam Olivier Messiaen,for piano
- 1993,La Mandragore,for piano
- 1995,Unanswered questions,for flute
- 2002,Les travaux et les jours,for piano
- 2018,Cailloux dans l'eau,for piano
- 2019,Le Rossignol en amour,for piano
Vocal
[edit]- 1995,...amaris et dulcibus aquis...,for chorus and electronic sounds
- 2010,Les sept Paroles,for orchestra, chorus and electronics
- 2016,La Vallée close, sur des sonnets dePétrarque
References
[edit]- ^abcKennedy, Michael(2006),The Oxford Dictionary of Music,ISBN0-19-861459-4
- ^"Tristan Murail - Biography".
- ^"Tristan Murail - CompositionToday".
- ^Ben Jameson, "'Rock Spectrale': The Cultural Identity of the Electri Guitar in Trista Murail's Vampyr!", Tempo, Volume 69, Issue 274, October 2015, pp. 22-32.
- ^Tristan Murail, Vampyr!, Editions Lemoine, 1985
- ^"Kansainvälisten palkintojen rahasto".Kansainvälisten palkintojen rahasto.Retrieved13 June2024.
- ^Editions Henry Lemoine, Paris
- ^"Tristan Murail to lecture at Skaņu Mežs, performed by Quatuor Diotima".Skaņu mežs.3 September 2018.Retrieved13 June2024.
Specialty studies
[edit]- Humbertclaude Éric(1999),La Transcription dans Boulez et Murail: de l’oreille à l’éveil,Harmattan,ISBN2-7384-8042-X
External links
[edit]- Tristan Murail official site
- Editions Henry Lemoine,Paris
- Excerpt from Tristan Murail lecturefrom Ostrava Days 2003, August 18, 2003
- Tristan Murailat CompositionToday
- "Tristan Murail (biography, works, resources)"(in French and English).IRCAM.
| Notable works |
|  |
|---|---|---|
| Composers | ||
| Techniques | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
- 1947 births
- 20th-century classical composers
- 21st-century classical composers
- Columbia University faculty
- Conservatoire de Paris alumni
- Living people
- French classical composers
- French male classical composers
- Academic staff of Mozarteum University Salzburg
- Musicians from Le Havre
- 20th-century French composers
- 21st-century French composers
- 20th-century French male musicians
- 21st-century French male musicians