Tristan Murail (b. Le Havre, France, 1947) is a French composer associated with the spectral technique of composition (along with Jonathan Harvey and Gérard Grisey), this involving a special emphasis on timbre and overtones as a basis for harmonic structure (a.k.a. spectralism) Following early studies in economics and classical and North African Arabic, Murail studied composition with Olivier Messiaen at the Paris Conservatoire from 1967 to 1972.