This week’s composer in our French Composers’ Names series is one of the founders of the Ensemble l’Itinéraire, and a leading figure in Spectral music: Tristan Murail.
The French u has no equivalent in English. If you’ve studied German, it is, though, similar to the German ü. An easy way to pronounce a decent u is to close you lips as if you were pronouncing a very tight o (as in Figaro) while saying –ee. Use your lips. No lips, no u .
Link to MP3 – Tristan Murail | Get Tristan Murail scores!
Did you know that before studying composition with Messiaen in Paris, Murail got degrees in classical Arabic and Maghreb Arabic as well as a Bachelor’s degree in economic science and a degree from the Paris Institute of Political Studies?