(b. 13 March 1938, Le Puy-en-Velay – d. 21 November 2016, Marseille).
French composer of mostly orchestral, chamber, vocal, piano, and electroacoustic works that have been performed throughout the world.
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.
Among his honours were 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.
He was 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 served as Directeur de recherche at the Laboratoire de Mécanique et d'Acoustique from 1985–99, thereafter its Directeur de recherche émérite. 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 wrote 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).
He taught at the Université d'Aix-Marseille from 1972–75 and 1979–85, where he established its computer sound system in 1974. He also lectured in Argentina, Australia, Finland, France, Japan, and the USA.
COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS
STAGE:
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:
Prélude, 1963
Mirages, small orchestra (16 players), fixed media, 1978
Phases, large orchestra, 1988
Reflets / Mais déjà vient la nuit, small orchestra (15 players), 1991
Triptyque, clarinet, orchestra, 1991
Escalas, large orchestra, 2001
CHAMBER MUSIC:
Dialogues, flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, fixed media, 1975
Moments newtoniens, 2 trombones, piano, 2 violins, viola, cello, fixed media, 1977
Aventure de lignes, 4 players (electric guitar, 2 Ondes Martenot, various electronic instruments, percussion), fixed media, 1981
Passages, flute, fixed media, 1982
Profils, flute, clarinet, French horn, trombone, piano, 2 percussion, fixed media, 1982
Filtres II, flute, piano, 1986
Voilements, tenor saxophone, fixed media, 1987
Attracteurs étranges, clarinet, fixed media, 1988
Duet pour un pianiste : Huit Esquisses, Disklavier, computer, 1989
Trois Études en duo, Disklavier, computer, 1991
Luraï, clàrsach (harp from the UK), computer, 1992
Saxatile, soprano saxophone, computer, 1992
Variants, violin, live electronics, 1994
Saxtractor, soprano saxophone, computer, 1996
Contre nature, percussion, computer, 1996 (also longer version as Nature contre nature, percussion, computer, 2005)
Rebonds, Disklavier, percussion, 2000
Échappées, clàrsach, computer, 2004
CHORAL:
Dérives, mixed chorus, fixed media, 1985
VOCAL:
Naka, soprano, flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, 1968 (section of Music for Little Boy; may be performed separately as a concert work)
Inharmonique, soprano, fixed media, 1977
L'autre face (text by Roger Kowalski), soprano, fixed media, 1983
Sola (vocalise), soprano, 1985
Un Aube sans Soleil (text by Nathalie Michon), soprano, percussion, 1992
Invisibles, soprano, computer, 1994 (also version as Invisible, soprano, computer, 1996)
Mokee, soprano/bass, piano, fixed media, 1996
PIANO:
Trois Instantanés, 1965
Filtres I, 2 pianos, 1984
Filtres IV, 1986
Rounds, 1990
Tri-IX, 2002
ORGAN:
Trois Esquisses, 1988
ELECTROACOUSTIC:
Computer Suite from Little Boy, fixed media, 1968 (section of Music for Little Boy; may be performed separately as a concert work)
Mutations, fixed media, 1969
Songes, fixed media, 1979
Contours, fixed media, 1981
Sud, fixed media (4 tracks), 1984
Electron-Positron, fixed media, 1989
Echo for John Pierce, fixed media, 1990
Invisible Irène, fixed media, 1995
Avel, fixed media, 1997
Elementa, fixed media (4 tracks), 1998
Five Resonant Soundscapes, fixed media, 2001
Five Resonant Sound Spaces, fixed media (8 tracks), 2002
Octant, fixed media, 2004
DIDACTIC MUSIC:
Mixte, flute, fixed media, 1982
Glissements, 4–8 players (various instruments), 1982
Filtres III, flute, fixed media, 1987
Diptère, Distyle, alto saxophone, fixed media, 2002
Reprises, Rumeur, alto saxophone, fixed media, 2003
DISCOGRAPHY
Computer Suite from Little Boy. (Decca: 710180) (LP)
Mutations. (Dartmouth College) (LP)
Mutations; Dialogues; Inharmonique; Moments newtoniens. (INA/GRM: AM 564 09) (LP)
Songes; Passages; Computer Suite from Little Boy; Sud. Pierre-Yves Artaud, flute (Wergo: 2013-50)
Sud; Dialogues; Inharmonique; Mutations. Irène Jarsky, soprano; Michel Decoust/Ensemble Musique Vivante (INA/GRM: C 1003)
Contours. (Neuma: 450-71)
L'autre face. Irène Jarsky, soprano (Wergo: 2027)
L'autre face. Maria Tegzes, soprano (Neuma: 450-73)
Voilements. Daniel Kientzy, tenor saxophone (INA/GRM: C 2000)
Rounds. Michel Oudar, piano (Copsi–Empreinte Digitale: 13007)
Echo for John Pierce. (ICMA/PRCD: 1300)
Moments newtoniens (excerpt). Michel Philippot/members of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (Radio France/Planète, Vol. 1)
Duet pour un pianiste : Huit Esquisses. Jean-Claude Risset, piano (Neuma: 450-87)
Invisible. Irène Jarsky, soprano (GMEM/Effect Input: EI 06)
Triptyque. Michel Lethiec, clarinet; Philippe Bender/Orchestre de Cannes Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur (Sonpact: SPT 97020)
Mixte. Marie-Cécile Cuniot, flute (ISCM)
Saxtractor. Daniel Kientzy, soprano saxophone (Neuma: 450-99)
Duet pour un pianiste : Huit Esquisses. Jean-Claude Risset, Disklavier (Digital Rewind: 25)
Attracteurs étranges; Invisible. Irène Jarsky, soprano; Serge Conte, clarinet (IMEB)
Mutations (excerpt). (Ohm/Ellipsis Art: 3670)
Mutations (excerpt). (FTM: 002A-B)
Saxatile. Daniel Kientzy, soprano saxophone (Mode Records: MODE 98–99)
Avel; Luraï; Trois Études en duo; Invisible Irène; Elementa. Denise Mégevand, clàrsach; Jean-Claude Risset, piano (INA/GRM: C 1019)
Mokee. Rovena Koreta, soprano; Rudina Ciko, piano (GMEM/Effect Input)