Jean-Claude Risset (18 March 1938 - 21 November 2016) was a French composer… Read Full Bio ↴Jean-Claude Risset (18 March 1938 - 21 November 2016) was a French composer, best known for his pioneering contributions to computer music. He was a former student of André Jolivet and former co-worker of Max Mathews at Bell Labs.

Born in Le Puy-en-Velay, France, arriving at Bell Labs, New Jersey in 1964, he used Max Mathews' MUSIC IV software to digitally recreate the sounds of brass instruments. He made digital recordings of trumpets and studied their timbral composition using "pitch-synchronous" spectrum analysis tools, revealing that the amplitude and frequency of the harmonics (more correctly, partials) of these instruments would differ depending on frequency, duration and amplitude. He is also credited with performing the first experiments on a range of synthesis techniques including FM Synthesis and waveshaping.

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.

Risset died 21 november, 2016 in Marseille, France.
Selected works by Jean-Claude Risset

- Vocal music

Dérives, for choir and magnetic tape (1985) 15'
Inharmonique, for soprano and tape (1977) 15'

- Orchestral music

Escalas, for large orchestra (2001) 17'
Mirages, for 16 musicians and tape (1978) 24'

- Chamber music

Profils, for 7 instruments and tape (1983) 18'
Mutations II for ensemble and electronics (1973) 17'

- Solo music

Trois études en duo, for pianist (bidirectional MIDI piano with computer interaction) (1991) 10'
Huit esquisses en duo, for pianist (bidirectional MIDI piano with computer interaction) (1989) 17'
Voilements, for saxophone and tape (1987) 14'
Passages for flute and tape (1982) 14'
Variants for violin and digital processing (1995) 8'

- Music for solo tape

Invisible Irène (1995) 12'
Sud (1985) 24'
Songes (1979) 10'
Trois mouvements newtoniens, for tape (1978) 13'
Mutations (1969) 10'
Computer Suite from Little Boy (1968) 13'

Songes
Jean-Claude Risset Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Peut-être que je ne le reverrais plus jamais
Qu'il était parti tout entier
Qu'il était entré corps et âme dans les histoires qu'on raconte...
On a beau être jeune quand on s'aperçoit pour le premier coup... comme on perd des gens sur la route...
Des potes qu'on ne reverra plus... plus jamais...
Ils ont disparu comme des songes...
C'est terminé. Évanoui...
On s'en ira soi-même se perdre aussi... un jour très loin encore...

Mais forcément...
Dans tout l'atroce torrent des choses, des gens... des jours.. des formes qui passent...
Qui ne s'arrêtent jamais...
Tous les connards, les curieux qui déambulent sous les arcades, avec leurs petits clebs à la corde...
On ne les reverra plus... Ils passent déjà...
Ils vont finir, ils sont en rêve avec des autres...
Les innocents qui défilent le long des vitrines.
Il me monte une envie farouche, une idée de con.
Que je les accroche au costard, qu’ils s’arrêtent, qu’ils ne bougent plus du tout.

Qu’ils se fixent, là.
Une bonne fois pour toutes !

Overall Meaning

These lyrics from Jean-Claude Naimro's song "Songé" express a sense of nostalgia, loss, and the fleeting nature of life. The singer reflects on the possibility that they may never see someone again, that this person has fully immersed themselves in the stories being told. The realization of losing people along the road is a profound one, especially when they were once close friends who will never be seen again. They have vanished like dreams, leaving a feeling of finality and disappearance.

The lyrics then shift to a broader perspective, highlighting the relentless flow of life and the constant passing of people and things. The singer refers to them as "connards" and "curieux" (jerks and curious), emphasizing their insignificance, as they stroll under the arcades with their dogs on a leash. These people will not be seen again because they are already moving on, about to become part of someone else's dream. The innocent ones, however, continue to pass by, seemingly unaffected by this transience.

In the final lines, a feeling of frustration and desire to halt this constant movement arises. The singer expresses a strong urge to hold on to these individuals, to stop them in their tracks and make them remain motionless. It is as if the singer wants to freeze these moments and people in time, to have them fixated indefinitely.

Overall, the lyrics convey a bittersweet reflection on the ephemeral nature of human connections, the passing of time, and the desire to hold on to what inevitably fades away.

Line by Line Meaning

Peut-être que je ne le reverrais plus jamais
There is a possibility that I will never see him again

Qu'il était parti tout entier
He left completely

Qu'il était entré corps et âme dans les histoires qu'on raconte...
He was fully involved in the stories we tell...

On a beau être jeune quand on s'aperçoit pour le premier coup... comme on perd des gens sur la route...
Even though we are young, when we first realize... how we lose people along the way...

Des potes qu'on ne reverra plus... plus jamais...
Friends we will never see again... never

Ils ont disparu comme des songes...
They disappeared like dreams...

C'est terminé. Évanoui...
It's over. Gone...

On s'en ira soi-même se perdre aussi... un jour très loin encore...
We will also go and get lost ourselves... one day far away...

Mais forcément...
But inevitably...

Dans tout l'atroce torrent des choses, des gens... des jours.. des formes qui passent...
In the gruesome torrent of things, people... days... passing forms...

Qui ne s'arrêtent jamais...
That never stop...

Tous les connards, les curieux qui déambulent sous les arcades, avec leurs petits clebs à la corde...
All the idiots, the curious ones who wander under the arcades, with their little dogs on a leash...

On ne les reverra plus... Ils passent déjà...
We will never see them again... they are already passing...

Ils vont finir, ils sont en rêve avec des autres...
They will eventually end up dreaming with others...

Les innocents qui défilent le long des vitrines.
The innocents who parade along the shop windows.

Il me monte une envie farouche, une idée de con.
I feel a strong urge, a stupid idea rising within me.

Que je les accroche au costard, qu’ils s’arrêtent, qu’ils ne bougent plus du tout.
That I hang them on their jackets, make them stop, make them not move at all.

Qu’ils se fixent, là.
That they fix themselves, there.

Une bonne fois pour toutes !
Once and for all!

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Oscar Lesage, Louis-Ferdinand Céline

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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