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.

Glimmer Of Summer
Bruno Coulais Lyrics

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Lueur d'été
Rêve animé
Mon cœur s'enflamme
Et soudain s'envole
Si loin du sol
Et les larmes s'effacent
Loin des murs
Je m'abandonne

Et tout rayonne

Voiles au vent
Rivages au loin
C'est le temps de l'été
Et souvent de liberté
Les nuages effacés
Premiers émois
Frissons de joie
Tout s'anime
Tout devient si léger
Vivre apaisé
J'oublie la honte et les pleurs
Loin des tourments

Terreurs d'enfants
Les tristes murmures
Si loin des murs
Lueur d'été
Mon cœur s'enflamme
Et soudain s'envole
Si loin du sol
Et les larmes s'effacent
Loin des murs

Je m'abandonne
Et tout rayonne

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of "Glimmer of Summer" by Bruno Coulais depict the feeling of liberation brought about by the arrival of summertime. The song begins with an animated dream of the summer, and the heart bursting into flames, soaring uncontrollably far above the ground. The tears gradually fade away, as the walls are left behind and the emotions are abandoned.

The song then talks about the freedom that summer brings, with sails swaying in the wind and distant shores in sight. The clouds disappear, replaced by the first emotions and the thrills of joy. Everything comes to life, and everything feels so light. The lyrics reflect the desire to live in peace, free from the feelings of shame and sorrow that were left behind. The song concludes with the notion of a shining summer, in which everything seems to glow, and everything radiates.

Overall, the lyrics of "Glimmer of Summer" describe the sense of freedom that comes with the arrival of summer, as the warmth and beauty of the season wipe away the pain and sorrow of the past.

Line by Line Meaning

Lueur d'été
The light of summer

Rêve animé
Animated dream

Mon cœur s'enflamme
My heart ignites

Et soudain s'envole
And suddenly takes flight

Si loin du sol
So far from the ground

Et les larmes s'effacent
And the tears fade away

Loin des murs
Far from the walls

Je m'abandonne
I let myself go

Et tout rayonne
And everything radiates

Voiles au vent
Sails in the wind

Rivages au loin
Shores in the distance