Bruno Coulais is a French composer, born in Paris on 13 January 1954. He ha… Read Full Bio ↴Bruno Coulais is a French composer, born in Paris on 13 January 1954. He has a father from Vendée and his mother is an Iraqi Jew. He is most widely known for his music on film soundtracks.

Coulais began his musical education on the violin and piano, aiming to become a composer of contemporary classical music. However, a series of acquaintances gradually re-oriented him towards film music. Coulais was particularly influenced by director François Reichenbach, who asked him in 1977 to write the soundtrack to his new documentary Mexico Magico. The first full-length production he composed the score for was the 1986 film La femme secrète by Sébastien Grall. Until the end of the 1990s, he remained low-profile, composing mainly for television. His name can often be found from TV films by Gérard Marx and Laurent Heynemann. He also composed the soundtracks for Christine Pascal's 1992 film Le petit prince a dit, and Agnès Merlet's Le fils du requin in 1993.

In 1994, he met the television producer Josée Dayan, who let him write a theme for the TV series La rivière Esperance, aired on the France 2 network in autumn 1995. He worked with Dayan again with other major productions such as Le comte de Monte-Cristo, Balzac, and Les nuiteux.

The largest turning point of his career came in 1996, when he worked with directors Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou of the documentary Microcosmos. This single film, which gave a great significance to the music in it, was a great success and made Coulais one of the most wanted composers of French film music. In 1997, he won the César award for the best musical score in a film, as well as a Victoire de la Musique. His reputation was confirmed by the soundtracks to Himalaya (1999) and Les rivières pourpres (2000), and after that Bruno Coulais's name was to be found on most new French blockbusters, such as Belphégor and Vidocq.

After producing the soundtrack to Winged Migration in 2001, Coulais announced that he wanted to significantly reduce his contributions to film music, and instead concentrate on other projects, such as the creation of an opera for children, and collaborations with Akhenaton, Akhenaton's group IAM and the Corsican group A Filetta, with whom he had worked since he had made the soundtrack for Jacques Weber's film Don Juan in 1998.

In 2002, his name was found on the ending credits of the animation L'enfant qui voulait être un ours, and in 2004, on Frédéric Schoendoerffer's Agents secrets. The same year, he wrote the soundtrack to the film Les choristes by Christophe Baratier, which subsequently became an international hit. The music for this film received as great praise as the film itself, and it won Coulais his third César award. Since then, Coulais's collaborations in cinema seem to be limited to works by directors with whom he already shares some history, in particular Jacques Perrin, Frédéric Schoendoerffer, and James Huth.

Bruno Coulais's musical style may vary significantly between different projects, but there are some constant factors visible: his taste for opera and for human voice (in particular that of children), for a search for original sonority, for world music and mixing different musical cultures, and finally, a certain tendency to give preference to the ambience created by lighting rather than the film's narration.

Caress On The Ocean
Bruno Coulais Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Caresse sur l'océan
Porte l'oiseau si léger
Revenant de terres enneigées
Air éphémère de l'hiver
Au loin ton écho s'éloigne
Châteaux en Espagne
Vire au vent tournoie déploie tes ailes
Dans l'aube grise du levant

Trouve un chemin vers l'arc-en-ciel
Se découvrira le printemps

Caresse sur l'océan
Pose l'oiseau si léger
Sur la pierre d'une île immergée
Air éphémère de l'hiver
Enfin ton souffle s'éloigne
Loin dans les montagnes
Vire au vent tournoie déploie tes ailes
Dans l'aube grise du levant
Trouve un chemin vers l'arc-en-ciel
Se découvrira le printemps

Calme sur l'océan

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of this song convey a sense of lightness and freedom as the bird soars above the ocean, returning from far-off snowy lands. The air is described as ephemeral, suggesting that this feeling of lightness is temporary and fleeting. As the bird flies away, its echo can be heard in the distance, conjuring images of a vast and lonely ocean.

The song also speaks to the idea of hope and renewal, as the bird is encouraged to find its way to the rainbow, a symbol of possibility and wonder. The arrival of spring is also anticipated, suggesting that even in the depths of winter, there is hope for a brighter tomorrow.

Overall, these lyrics capture a sense of yearning and transcendence, suggesting that there is always something beyond our current experience to strive for.

Line by Line Meaning

Caresse sur l'océan
A gentle touch on the ocean waves

Porte l'oiseau si léger
Carries the bird so light

Revenant de terres enneigées
Returning from snowy lands

Air éphémère de l'hiver
Ephemeral winter air

Au loin ton écho s'éloigne
In the distance, your echo fades away

Châteaux en Espagne
Castles in Spain

Vire au vent tournoie déploie tes ailes
Turns with the wind, spins, spreads your wings

Dans l'aube grise du levant
In the gray dawn of the sunrise

Trouve un chemin vers l'arc-en-ciel
Find a way to the rainbow

Se découvrira le printemps
Spring will be revealed

Pose l'oiseau si léger
Sets the bird down so light