Tristan Murail

Tristan Murail (born March 11, 1947 in Le Havre ) is a French composer .

Life

Tristan Murail first studied Arabic and economics, from 1967 composition with Olivier Messiaen at the Paris Conservatory (CNSM) and in 1971 received a first prize for composition. In the same year he received the Rome Prize. He then spent two years in the Villa Medici, where he met Giacinto Scelsi . Important composers for him during his apprenticeship years were Iannis Xenakis , Giacinto Scelsi and above all György Ligeti .

On his return from Rome in 1973 he founded the Ensemble l'Itinéraire with Gérard Grisey , Michaël Levinas , Hugues Dufourt and Philippe Hurel , which became a workshop for live electronics and computer-aided composition. In the same year he wrote La Dérive des Continents and Les Nuages ​​de Magellan , which established his first own style consisting of an uninterrupted tonal magma. Sables (1974) and Mémoire / Erosion (1975–1976) then marked a reduction in the funds.

In 1980 the Itinéraire composers took part in an IRCAM course. Murail began to research acoustic phenomena more precisely with the help of the computer. He wrote Désintégrations (1982-1983), in which he used instrumental sounds and synthetic sounds at the same time for the first time. With Serendib (1992) and other pieces from this period, his music achieved an extreme degree of articulation and formal unpredictability. From 1991 to 1997 he taught composition at IRCAM and was involved in the development of the composition utility Patchwork. He also taught at the Darmstadt Summer Courses , in Royaumont and at the Center Acanthes.

Tristan Murail taught from 1997 to 2011 as Professor of Composition at Columbia University New York.

Works

Orchestral composition

• 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 chamber orchestra
• 1980, Gondwana , for orchestra
• 1985, Sillages , for orchestra
• 1985, Time and again , for orchestra

In this composition the instruments and the synthesizer form a kind of time machine in which flashbacks and anticipations are juxtaposed with one another in a harsh and disturbing way.

• 1991, La dynamique des fluides , for orchestra
• 1996, Le partage des eaux , for large orchestra
• 2004, Terre d'ombre , for large orchestra and electronics
• 2007, Contes cruels , for 2 electric guitars and orchestra
• 2010, Les Sept Paroles , for orchestra, choir and electronics
• 2012, Le Désenchantement du Monde , piano concerto

Commissioned by musica viva of Bayerischer Rundfunk et al., World premiere on May 4, 2012 in the Herkulessaal , Munich

• 2013, Reflections / Reflets I - Spleen
• 2013, Reflections / Reflets II - High Voltage / Haute tension
• 2017, Reflections / Reflets III - Vents et marées / Tidal winds

Works for ensemble

• 1969, Couleur de mer , for 15 instruments
• 1978, Ethers , for 6 instruments
• 1978, Treize couleurs du soleil couchant , for flute, clarinet, piano, violin and violoncello
• 1982, Désintégrations , for 17 instruments and computer-generated tape

This composition was preceded by analyzes of various instruments by a computer, with which he created a tape that does not simulate the various types of instruments, but sounds derived from them.

• 1990, Allégories , for 6 instruments and electronics
• 1992, Serendib , for 22 instruments
• 1993, La Barque mystique for ensemble
• 1994, L'Esprit des dunes , for ensemble
• 1996, Bois flotté , for piano, trombone, string trio and electronics
• 2000, Winter Fragments , for flute, clarinet, piano, violin, violoncello, MIDI keyboard and computer
• 2001, Le Lac , for ensemble
• 2006, Légends urbaines for 22 instruments
• 2006, Seven Lakes Drive , for flute, clarinet, horn, piano, violin and violoncello
• 2008, Liber fulguralis , for ensemble, electronics and video
• 2011, La Chambre des cartes , for flute, clarinet, horn, piano, percussion, violin, viola and cello
• 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 music

• 1970, Où tremblent les contours , for 2 violas
• 1973, Les Nuages ​​de Magellan , for 2 Ondes Martenot, electric guitar and drums
• 1974, Transsahara express , for bassoon and piano
• 1986, Atlantys , for 2 DX7 Yamaha synthesizers
• 1993, La barque mystique , for 5 instruments
• 1998, Feuilles à travers les cloches , flute, violin, cello and piano
• 2006, Les Ruines circulaires , for clarinet and violin
• 2008, garrigue , for bass flute, viola, cello and drums
• 2015, Travel Notes , for 2 pianos and 2 percussionists
• 2016, Sogni, ombre et fumi for string quartet

Solo instrument

• 1972, Estuaire , for piano
• 1976, C'est un jardin secret, ma sœur, ma fiancée, une fontaine close, une source scellée for viola
• 1977, Tellur , for guitar
• 1977, Territoires de l'oubli , for piano
• 1984, vampire! , for electric guitar
• 1992, Attracteurs étranges , for violoncello
• 1992, Cloches d'adieu, et un sourire ... in memoriam Olivier Messiaen , for piano
• 1993, La Mandragore , for piano
• 1995, Unanswered questions , for flute

Vocal music

• 1995, ... amaris et dulcibus aquis ... , for choir and electronics
• 2010, Les sept Paroles , for orchestra, choir and electronics
• 2016, La Vallée close, sur des sonnets de Pétrarque , for mezzo-soprano, clarinet, violin, viola and violoncello

Web links

• Biography. Retrieved September 27, 2012 (French). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lukas Haselböck in the program booklet of Bayerischer Rundfunk / musica viva from May 4, 2012