An analysis of Jean-Claude Risset's contours

This paper discusses an analysis of Jean-Claude Risset's Contours, a tape w ork composed in 1982 using only computer sound synthesis. The analysis is b ased on recorded traces of the compositional process (music v code listings , verbal and graphical annotations), and focuses on sound design criteria. It attempts to elucidate the connection between these criteria and the over all structure of the musical work. In short, it investigates the observable link between "composing-the-sound'' and "composing-with-sounds'' in the ma king of Contours. The psychoacoustic relationship of pitch to timbre is cru cial, and was a primary concern in all of Risset's operations in composing this work. In order to let a particular pitch contour either dissolve, or e merge from various timbral transformations, the composer devised several ad hoc sound design strategies strictly functional to the compositional conce pt. Further remarks are proposed concerning a twofold aesthetic dimension p eculiar to this music: on the one hand, we have a legacy to the French trad ition of musical impressionism; on the other, we have a more constructivist attitude, hidden behind what at first may sound as a decorative interplay of fascinating sound colors.