Jean-Claude Risset

Music from Computer

Jean-Claude Risset — Music from Computer 
ΕΠ  After the discrete Shepard scale Risset created a version of the scale where the steps between each tone are continuous, and it is appropriately called the continuous Risset scale or Shepard-Risset glissando.
ΕΠ  He has also created a similar effect with rhythm in which tempo seems to increase or decrease endlessly.
Born: March 13, 1938 in Le Puy, France
Styles: Computer Music, Microsound, Modern Composition, Experimental Electronic, Keyboard
Location: Marseille, France
Album release: March 2014
Record Label: Recollection GRM
Duration:     47:02
Tracks:
1 Sud (1985)     23:43
2 Mutations (1977)     10:29
3 Computer Suite from Little Boy — Flight and Countdown (1968)     4:38
4 Computer Suite from Little Boy — Fall (1968)     2:55
5 Computer Suite from Little Boy — Contra-Apotheosis (1968)     5:17
Book/Ouvrage:
ΕΠ  Baudouin, Olivier, Pionniers de la musique numérique, Sampzon, Delatour, 2012.
Musicien et compositeur reconnu par la communauté artistique internationale, Jean-Claude Risset est aussi un technicien et un théoricien incontesté de l’informatique musicale. Il reçoit en 1999 la médaille d'or du CNRS.

REVIEW
Mar 14 2014 | By Glen Hall | Score: 8
ΕΠ  A composer/researcher at the leading edge of computer music developments from the mid ’60s, Jean-Claude Risset simultaneously embodies an artist’s aesthetic and a technologist’s quest for new methodologies.
ΕΠ  This five-track collection presented by GRM begins with the 1968 3-movement “Computer Suite from Little Boy,” written for a play by Pierre Halet. Conveying mixed emotions from nostalgic to nightmare, the pieces echo the thoughts of a pilot who witnessed the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima. The ever-falling, never-ending Risset-Shepard glissando mirrors the dream-like inescapability of the protagonist’s dread and despair. Jazzy 5/4 motifs on synthesized instruments keep things in motion in the first movement.
ΕΠ  “Mutations” from 1977 is a beautifully paced evolving sound world, with celesta-like bells punctuating sustained crescendos and diminuendos in various registers and timbres.
ΕΠ  “Sud” from 1985 is an electroacoustic masterpiece. Using nature sounds gathered south of Marseille, Risset incorporates electronic frog croaks and insect buzzes, so that eventually the natural and the synthesized sounds interpenetrate one another. This is strong, captivating music, well worth exploring. — (http://m.exclaim.ca/)
Artist Biography by Joslyn Layne
ΕΠ  Composer Jean-Claude Risset was a pioneer in the field of computer music and recipient of a great many honors for this music and research (especially in the area of sound synthesis). After studying the sciences, in addition to composition and piano with teachers like André Jolivet (Le Jeune France co-founder), Risset went on to work at Bell Labs, with Max Matthews, for a few years in the late '60s, working on applications that would imitate instruments and others sounds. He brought sound synthesis to Orsay in the early '70s, and Marseille and Paris — to the Institute for Acoustic Music Research and Creation, with Pierre Boulez — in the mid-'70s. He became IRCAM's computer music director from 1975-1979, after which he served as Director of Research at facilities including CNRS; Risset received the CNRS Bronze Medal in 1971, the Silver Medal in 1987, and the Gold Medal in 1999, for his work and related writings, such as his computerized sound synthesis catalogue of 1969. His other awards include the Dartmouth Prize (1970), first place in the Bourges Digital Music competition (1980), Ars Electronica Austria (1987), Grand Prix National de la Musique (1990), Musica Nova Prague (1995), and an Honorary Doctorate of Music by the University of Edinburgh in the mid-'90s. His best work spans decades and includes "Sud" (1985), "Aventure de lignes, Profiles" (1981), "Mirages" (1978), "Inharmonique" (1977), "Musique pour Little Boy" (1968), and "Fantasie pour Orchestre" (1963).
Bio 2:
ΕΠ  French composer of mostly orchestral, chamber, vocal, piano, and electroacoustic works that have been performed throughout the world.
ΕΠ  Mr. Risset studied composition with Suzanne Demarquez and André Jolivet and piano with Huguette Goullon and Robert Trimaille at the École Normale Supérieure de Paris from 1957–61. There he also had studies in mathematics and physics and earned his Doctorat ès Sciences in 1967. He was later awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Edinburgh in 1994 and the Universidad de Córdoba in 2000.
ΕΠ  Among his honours are the UFAM Prix pour Piano (1963), the Prix du Groupement des Acousticiens de Langue Française (1967), a prize in the Dartmouth electronic music competition (1970, for Mutations), and the Bronze, Silver and Gold medals from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Marseille (1972, 1987, 1999). He has also received First Prize, Euphonie d'Or and the Prix Magisterium in the Concours International de Musique Électroacoustique de Bourges (1980, 1982, 1998), the Grand Prix SACEM de la promotion de la musique symphonique (1981), the Golden Nica from the Prix Ars Electronica in Graz (1987), the Grand Prix National de la Musique (1990), the Grand Prix Musica Nova in Prague (1995), the Ars Nova Prize in Prague (1996), and the EAR Prize in Budapest (1997). In addition, he was named an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1986 and a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur by the government of France in 1989.
ΕΠ  Mr. Risset is also active in other positions. He worked with Max Mathews at Bell Labs in New Jersey in 1965 and from 1967–69, initially on brass synthesis and later on pitch paradoxes, sonic development processes and the synthesis of new timbres. There he had important encounters with F. Richard Moore, John Pierce, James Tenney, Vladimir Ussachevsky, and Edgard Varèse. He then worked at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Marseille from 1969–72, where he has served as Directeur de recherche at the Laboratoire de Mécanique et d'Acoustique since 1985 and was named its Directeur de recherche émérite in 1999. He established the computer sound systems at the Faculté d'Orsay and the Université de Paris in 1970–71 and served as chair of the computer department at IRCAM from 1975–79. In addition, he served as composer-in-residence at the Media Laboratory at MIT in 1987 and 1989. As a writer, he has written many articles about computer and electronic music that have appeared in numerous journals and magazines, as well as the book An introductory catalog of computer synthesized sounds (1969, second edition, 1995, Wergo).
ΕΠ  He taught at the Université d'Aix-Marseille from 1972–75 and 1979–85, where he established its computer sound system in 1974. He has also lectured in Argentina, Australia, Finland, France, Japan, and the USA.
COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS
STAGE:
ΕΠ  Music for Little Boy (incidental music, play by Pierre Halet), soprano, flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, fixed media, 1968 (two sections may be performed separately as concert works: Computer Suite from Little Boy; Naka)
Distances (ballet music, choreography by Jean Guizerix, Wilfrid Piollet), piano, fixed media, 1978
ORCHESTRAL:
ΕΠ  Prélude, 1963
ΕΠ  Mirages, small orchestra (16 players), fixed media, 1978
ΕΠ  Phases, large orchestra, 1988
ΕΠ  Reflets/Mais déjà vient la nuit, small orchestra (15 players), 1991
ΕΠ  Triptyque, clarinet, orchestra, 1991
ΕΠ  Escalas, large orchestra, 2001
CHAMBER MUSIC:
ΕΠ  Dialogues, flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, fixed media, 1975
ΕΠ  Moments newtoniens, 2 trombones, piano, string quartet, fixed media, 1977
ΕΠ  Aventure de lignes, 4 players (electric guitar, 2 Ondes Martenot, various electronic instruments, percussion), fixed media, 1981
ΕΠ  Passages, flute, fixed media, 1982
ΕΠ  Profils, flute, clarinet, French horn, trombone, piano, 2 percussion, fixed media, 1982
ΕΠ  Filtres II, flute, piano, 1986
ΕΠ  Voilements, tenor saxophone, fixed media, 1987
ΕΠ  Attracteurs étranges, clarinet, fixed media, 1988
ΕΠ  Duet pour un pianiste: Huit Esquisses, Disklavier, computer, 1989
ΕΠ  Trois Études en duo, Disklavier, computer, 1991
ΕΠ  Luraï, clàrsach (harp from the UK), computer, 1992
ΕΠ  Saxatile, soprano saxophone, computer, 1992
ΕΠ  Variants, violin, live electronics, 1994
ΕΠ  Saxtractor, soprano saxophone, computer, 1996
ΕΠ  Contre nature, percussion, computer, 1996 (also longer version as Nature contre nature, percussion, computer, 2005)
ΕΠ  Rebonds, Disklavier, percussion, 2000
ΕΠ  Échappées, clàrsach, computer, 2004
CHORAL:
ΕΠ  Dérives, mixed chorus, fixed media, 1985
VOCAL:
ΕΠ  Naka, soprano, flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, 1968 (section of Music for Little Boy; may be performed separately as a concert work)
ΕΠ  Inharmonique, soprano, fixed media, 1977
ΕΠ  L'Autre Face (text by Roger Kowalski), soprano, fixed media, 1983
ΕΠ  Sola (vocalise), soprano, 1985
ΕΠ  Un Aube sans Soleil (text by Nathalie Michon), soprano, percussion, 1992
ΕΠ  Invisibles, soprano, computer, 1994 (also version as Invisible, soprano, computer, 1996)
ΕΠ  Mokee, soprano/bass, piano, fixed media, 1996
PIANO:
ΕΠ  Trois Instantanés, 1965
ΕΠ  Filtres I, 2 pianos, 1984
ΕΠ  Filtres IV, 1986
ΕΠ  Rounds, 1990
ΕΠ  Tri-IX, 2002
ORGAN:
ΕΠ  Trois Esquisses, 1988
ELECTROACOUSTIC:
ΕΠ  Computer Suite from Little Boy, fixed media, 1968 (section of Music for Little Boy; may be performed separately as a concert work)
ΕΠ  Mutations, fixed media, 1969
ΕΠ  Songes, fixed media, 1979
ΕΠ  Contours, fixed media, 1981
ΕΠ  Sud, fixed media (4 tracks), 1984
ΕΠ  Electron-Positron, fixed media, 1989
ΕΠ  Echo for John Pierce, fixed media, 1990
ΕΠ  Invisible Irène, fixed media, 1995
ΕΠ  Avel, fixed media, 1997
ΕΠ  Elementa, fixed media (4 tracks), 1998
ΕΠ  Five Resonant Soundscapes, fixed media, 2001
ΕΠ  Five Resonant Sound Spaces, fixed media (8 tracks), 2002
ΕΠ  Octant, fixed media, 2004
DIDACTIC MUSIC:
ΕΠ  Mixte, flute, fixed media, 1982
ΕΠ  Glissements, 4–8 players (various instruments), 1982
ΕΠ  Filtres III, flute, fixed media, 1987
ΕΠ  Diptère, Distyle, alto saxophone, fixed media, 2002
ΕΠ  Reprises, Rumeur, alto saxophone, fixed media, 2003
DISCOGRAPHY:
ΕΠ  Computer Suite from Little Boy. (Decca: 710180) (LP)
ΕΠ  Mutations. (Dartmouth College) (LP)
ΕΠ  Mutations; Dialogues; Inharmonique; Moments newtoniens. (INA/GRM: AM 564 09) (LP)
ΕΠ  Songes; Passages; Computer Suite from Little Boy; Sud. Pierre-Yves Artaud, flute (Wergo: 2013-50)
ΕΠ  Sud; Dialogues; Inharmonique; Mutations. Irène Jarsky, soprano; Michel Decoust/Ensemble Musique Vivante (INA/GRM: C 1003)
ΕΠ  Contours. (Neuma: 450-71)
ΕΠ  L'Autre Face. Irène Jarsky, soprano (Wergo: 2027)
ΕΠ  L'Autre Face. Maria Tegzes, soprano (Neuma: 450-73)
ΕΠ  Voilements. Daniel Kientzy, tenor saxophone (INA/GRM: C 2000)
ΕΠ  Rounds. Michel Oudar, piano (Copsi–Empreinte Digitale: 13007)
ΕΠ  Echo for John Pierce. (ICMA/PRCD: 1300)
ΕΠ  Moments newtoniens (excerpt). Michel Philippot/members of the Orchestre ΕΠ  Philharmonique de Radio France (Radio France/Planète, Vol. 1)
ΕΠ  Duet pour un pianiste: Huit esquisses. Jean-Claude Risset, piano (Neuma: 450-87)
ΕΠ  Invisible. Irène Jarsky, soprano (GMEM/Effect Input: EI 06)
ΕΠ  Triptyque. Michel Lethiec, clarinet; Philippe Bender/Orchestre de Cannes Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur (Sonpact: SPT 97020)
ΕΠ  Mixte. Marie-Cécile Cuniot, flute (ISCM)
ΕΠ  Saxtractor. Daniel Kientzy, soprano saxophone (Neuma: 450-99)
ΕΠ  Duet pour un pianiste: Huit Esquisses. Jean-Claude Risset, Disklavier (Digital Rewind: 25)
ΕΠ  Attracteurs étranges; Invisible. Irène Jarsky, soprano; Serge Conte, clarinet (IMEB)
ΕΠ  Mutations (excerpt). (Ohm/Ellipsis Art: 3670)
ΕΠ  Mutations (excerpt). (FTM: 002A-B)
ΕΠ  Saxatile. Daniel Kientzy, soprano saxophone (Mode Records: MODE 98–99)
ΕΠ  Avel; Luraï; Trois Études en duo; Invisible Irène; Elementa. Denise Mégevand, clàrsach; Jean-Claude Risset, piano (INA/GRM: C 1019)
ΕΠ  Mokee. Rovena Koreta, soprano; Rudina Ciko, piano (GMEM/Effect Input)
Fortaken: http://composers21.com/
Utexas.edu: http://www.utexas.edu/cola/insts/france-ut/_files/pdf/resources/risset_2.pdf
CCRMA: https://ccrma.stanford.edu/concerts/programs/2009.02.14.pdf
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Jean-Claude Risset

Music from Computer

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