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Georges Delerue Commented Discography Film Music 3 |
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Les Notes de l'Écran Vol. 1 See Musiques de films
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Our Mother's
House / The 25th Hour
U.S.A. CD FSM Vol. 6 No 10 - 2003 This music belongs to Delerue's most creative period, free from the heaviness that would characterize many of his later works. Alas, despite Film ScoreMonthly's claim to have mastered from the best possible sources, the result is very disappointing when compared to the original LPs. The lack of dynamics and definition removes much of the seductive and moving power of both scores. This first graphic shows two different versions of the Main Title of Our Mother's House. The one above, in grey, is an analog to digital conversion from the original Our Mother's House LP, completed with basic audio restoration. The waveform below, in green, is the anaemic FSM version. The second graphic shows waveforms of the Opening from The 25th Hour soundtrack. The one in grey is a straight conversion (without any restoration) from the MGM LP, while the pink one is the Film Score Monthly version. One can see here again how poor the sound of the CD is. |
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The Pick-Up
Artist
CD Intrada Special collection Vol. 37 For The Pick-Up Artist, a B movie comedy going back to 1987, Delerue delivered a short romantic score, modest but enjoyable. For some obscure reason, the director rejected most of it . One excerpt, with flute predominating, has already been heard on the London Sessions compilation. The most interesting track of the CD, A Thing of Beauty, features a simple but delightful piano melody, apparently played only with the right hand, on a web of strings, followed by a dreamlike harp and strings passage, which leads into a warm oboe conclusion. The nearly eight minute Happiness track is rather insipid, sounding more like source music than anything else. Other selections better reflect the composer's usual style, relying mainly on strings and harp, with the discreet use of a synthesizer to reinforce the rhythm. The whole remains pleasant to listen, thanks largely to the fine interpretation of the fifty or so musicians and the high quality of the recording at the Twentieth Century Fox Scoring Stage. With a limited pressing of only 1200 copies, this CD has sadly become hard to find at reasonable prices. |
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Platoon /
Salvador
Belgium CD Prometheus PCD-136 Original soundtracks from two war dramas directed by Oliver Stone. Includes some previously unreleased material. With this release Prometheus pays some sort of tribute to the composer, three years after his death. Too bad the re-mastered Salvador soundtrack is not much more pleasant to listen than the original Varèse Sarabande release, especially in the action passages with brass and timpani. I can understand why the painful and intricate score for Platoon, which relies mostly on strings, was rejected for the most part in favour of the famous Barber's Adagio, used on the temp-track. However, I still enjoy the Main Title of the beginning and the brief Sorrow, the latter being heard for the first time on record.
Platoon /
Salvador (remastered)
Belgium CD Prometheus PCD-136 Prometheus improved significantly the sound of this release, which groups two of Delerue's scores for Oliver Stone war movies. Salvador is the big winner here; its passages with brass and percussion sections have become really spectacular. Hiss has been nearly completely eliminated in both recordings. Hopefully we will get new quality versions of some other older releases from the Belgian label, especially the long Jules and Jim suite. Ideally, it could be enhanced by adding the four tracks from the original 1961 EP, which included the essential song Le Tourbillon by Bassiak.
Le Polar
selon Georges Delerue
France CD Universal Jazz 983260 3 Excerpts from original soundtracks of film noir movies of the sixties, such as Chair de poule, La Mort de Belle, Des Pissentits par la racine, Pleins feux sur Stanislas and Le Crime ne paie pas. The cover is not inviting and the two first well known pieces, taken from L'Aîné des Ferchaux, do not rank among the composer's best. Happily, it is a completely different story for the rest of the program, which forms a long and well-sequenced suite. One can hear Delerue knew very well how to combine jazz and blues sounds, generally associated with this kind of picture, with his usual classical style, dominated by melody and lyricism. There are numerous strokes of inspiration, such as when populist Parisian tunes played at the accordion and the harp are followed by a fugue a la J.S. Bach dans Les Pissenlits. The music for Pleins feux has the perfect blend of symphonic style and medieval fanfares. The best selections from the original EPs can be found here and new excellent material as well, notably the music from Le Crime ne paie pas. The only notable score missing from this compilation is 1959's Marche ou crève. Considering the age of the mono recordings, the sound quality is surprisingly good. |
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Police Python
357
France CD Universal Jazz France Excerpts from French original soundtracks of the 70's: Police Python 357, L'important c'est d'aimer, Jamais plus toujours, Malpertuis, Quelque part quelqu'un, Paul Gaugin, Les Aveux les plus doux, Paul et Virginie. This compilation from Universal, illustrating the more tragic style of the composer, once again leaves long time fans unsatisfied because it contains too little previously unreleased material. The program seems to have been modified at the last minute. Although the presentation and liner notes put the emphasis on PP357, as well as L'important c'est d'aimer, we get only about half of the short score for the film noir by Corneau - eight minutes - and the Zulawski film offers only ten minutes. Also disappointing is the lower quality of the overall mastering in comparaison to the previous releases of this music by Milan in 1989. The last excerpts, from Paul et Virginie, featuring broad orchestrations with chorus, manage to finish the CD with a flourish but go against the theme of the CD. |
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Promise at Dawn
Canada CD Disques Cinémusique DCM 103 Original soundtrack from a 1971 drama by Jules Dassin starring Melina Mercouri and Assaf Dayan. A wide range of musical genres : ethnic flavoured pieces, a baroque like concerto featuring the mandoline, French fanfares, a hint of Offenbach and Mozart, blended with the unmistakable Delerue style. The producer of this CD is also the author of the present page. |
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Reine
blanche, La
France CD Polydor 845 263-2 Original soundtrack from a movie by Jean-Loup Hubert starring Catherine Deneuve. Relies extensively on the bandoneon with a strings ensemble. Includes many dances as source music. This late comeback of Delerue in his native country proved to be disappointing. The composer doesn't seem to put a lot into his music. The reason for this could be that, despite all the talent involved in its making, this old fashioned and nostalgic movie never generates much interest. A notable exception : La Robe fantôme, a nearly three minutes long beautiful theme featuring the harp. |
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Révolution
française, La - Vol.1 /(The French
Revolution)
France CD Polydor 841587-2 Original soundtrack from a historic drama by Robert Enrico, starring Klaus Maria Brandauer, François Cluzet and Peter Ustinov. Symphonic score with a track sung by soprano Jessie Norman. This first part concerns the period before the French revolution. Was also reedited for a TV miniseries. Very classical oriented and conventional. Could we really expect something else? The operatic song, Hymne à la Liberté, doesn't please everybody (my case). I prefer the instrumental version. For the rest, the best track remains La Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme with full orchestra and chorus. This full digital recording has a rather flat sound. Révolution
française, La -Vol. 2 (The French
Revolution)
CD Polydor 841588-2 Original soundtrack from a historic drama by Richard Heffron, starring Klaus Maria Brandauer and François Cluzet. Symphonic score with a track sung by soprano Jessie Norman. This second part concerns the period after the French revolution. Was also reedited for a TV miniseries. Doesn't have much to offer over the first volume. The song is exactly the same as on the volume 1 and so is the final orchestral version of Hymne à la Liberté. The rest of the score is, as expected, more dramatic. |
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Révolution française, La - Vol.1 and 2
Canada CD Disques Cinémusique DCM105/06 Original soundtrack from the two historical dramas directed by Robert Enrico and Richard Heffron. This reissue features the same content than the original benefit from a remastering from the original digital recording with new packaging. The producer of this CD is also the author of the present page. Rich in
Love
U.S.A. CD Varèse Sarabande VSD-5370 Original soundtrack from the sentimental drama directed by Bruce Beresford. Has many short solos for flute, oboe, violin and guitar. The song heard in the movie's End Title is not by Delerue and doesn't appear on this CD release. This short score is the very last Delerue conducted before his sudden death. All tracks form a coherent whole and the recurring main theme is moving. However,it is not really an enjoyable listening experience, because of the too slow tempi and the weakness of interpretation. |
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Show of
Force, A
U.S.A. CD Colossal XCD 1005 Original score from a drama by Bruno Beretto with a South American touch performed by The Graunke Symphony Orchestra. This score was probably effective in the movie but you can listen the CD many times and still not be able to remember anything significant. |
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Silkwood
U.S.A. CD DRG 6107 Original soundtrack from a drama by Mike Nichols starring Meryl Streep and Cher. Has many solo banjos with strings to fit the geographical setting. Ms. Streep hums a lullaby and sings a cappella the American standard Amazing Grace. Only Delerue could match these instruments without sounding too ridiculous. He wrote something similar but more successful for the Truffaut comedy Une Belle fille comme moi. Despite three credited scoring mixers working on the CD, the sound on many tracks remains harsh and acidic. |
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Steel
Magnolias
U.S.A. CD Polydor 841582-2 Original soundtrack from a drama by Herbert Ross starring a half dozen of Academy Award wannabes. A solo harmonica brings a Southern flavour to the main theme. Three pop songs used in the movie are grouped after the original score. Surprisingly, this too subdued score for an average movie became on disc one of the very few perfect illustrations of the composer's unequalled bittersweet genius. Engineered and mixed by John Richards, the five stand-alone parts are so wisely sequenced that they can be listened as a suite, over and over again. Brevity is my only complaint. |
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Summer Story,
A
U.S.A. CD Virgin 90961-2 Original soundtrack from a drama by Piers Haggard. Has an English pastoral flavour and includes an instrumental version of the traditional tune The Gentle Maiden. A very gentle score indeed, with a theme reminiscent of traditional English folk tunes, but its extremely slow pace and languidness do not fit my personal taste. I must say I didn't have the opportunity to see the apparently fine movie for which this music was penned. A long time out of print and hard to get collector's item. |
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Thibaud des
Croisades
(Thibaud the
Crusader)
Belgique CD Prometheus PCD-114 Original soundtrack from the French 1967-1968 TV series by Henri Colpi. Medieval oriented but played mostly on modern instruments with an Arabian touch in some pieces. I remember that this music was more enjoyable on TV than it is on disc. Despite my usual complain about the too short scores Delerue used to deliver, I find this one a little tiresome, beginning with a martial main title which is also the closing music. Moreover, the mono sound has a lot of distortion and the packaging would have been more suitable for a comic strip album. |
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Tours du
monde, tours du ciel
France CD Berthemont 803933 1 Original soundtrack from the TV series about astronomy by Robert Pansard-Besson. Played by l'Orchestre de Paris. Relies exclusively on strings, harp and kantele. Recorded at the studio Guillaume Tell by William Flageollet. This score, which was recorded a few months before Delerue passed away, is a true musical testimony. Hardly a stand alone soundtrack with only 23 minutes of music, as a listening experience it remains one of the most satisfactory among the composer's output. As well as tracks of a few seconds in length (wisely grouped at the end of the program), we get long concerto-like movements that emanate an irresistible grace and serenity. A gift from the Heavens. |
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True
Confessions
U.S.A. CD Varèse Sarabande Club VCL0805 Original soundtrack from the drama directed in 1981 by Ulu Grosbard, starring Robert de Niro and Robert Duvall. A large selection has been released on the third volume of The London Sessions. The score for True Confessions belongs to the same religious category as Agnes of God and the Requiem from Black Robe, but is even less interesting. The overall tempo is really too slow: each note seems to have been stretched at the maximum to fill up the required length. The repetitive main theme played with the recorder and the harp becomes quickly boring. It alternates with choral sections of the liturgic repertoire pompously arranged by the composer, combined with melodramatic string parts. Only a short piano piece introduces some variety in the overall, without changing the peace and the mood for all that.
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Truffaut and
Delerue on the Screen
U.S.A. CD DRG 32902 Original soundtrack excerpts from five French movies directed by François Truffaut : Confidentially Yours (Vivement Dimanche), The Last Metro, Day for Night (La Nuit américaine), The Woman Next Door (La Femme d'à côté), A Beautiful Girl Like Me (Une Belle Fille comme moi) This was the very first U.S. compilation devoted to the Truffaut-Delerue collaboration. It appears today to be too fragmentary to pay a real tribute to the composer. One misses Shoot the Piano Player (Tirez sur le pianiste), Jules and Jim, Two English Girls (Les Deux anglaises et le continent), not to forget Love on the Run (L'amour en fuite). Unpublished Film Music of Georges Delerue, The Volume 1
Canada CD DCM 114 Excerpts from Nobody Runs Forever, Without Warning: The James Brady Story, Sin of Innocence, Women of Valor, Paris by Night, Her Secret Life aka Code Name: Dancer A new recording of Georges Delerue music never available before on disc, arranged by Robert Lafond using digital sampling of acoustic instruments. The musical approach here is resolutely classical, including many pieces for piano and symphonic orchestra. Most of the themes from American and British films found on this compilation were composed during the last ten years of the composer's career. The producer of this CD is also the author of the present page. Unpublished Film Music of Georges Delerue, The Volume 2
Canada CD DCM 116 Excerpts from Women in Love, The Day of the Jackal, Love Comes Quietly, The Escape Artist, Stone Pillow, American Friends A second volume of newly recorded Georges Delerue's music never available before on disc, arranged by Robert Lafond using digital sampling techniques. The musical approach remains fully orchestral and is here quite faithful to the original soundtracks. All the selections found here were composed for movies produced outside the composer's native France, over a period of 22 years. The producer of this CD is also the author of the present page. |
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Vivement
Dimanche! (Confidentially Yours)
Japan CD SLCS-5026 Original soundtrack from the 1983 suspense comedy by François Truffaut starring Fanny Ardant and Jean-Louis Trintignant. A stylistic composition mostly for strings. This is the most complete version of the score on CD. It contains 22 minutes more music than the Truffaut compilation, Les Films Noirs (Milan 887 976), including pieces like Java and Tango de la rue chaude. For hard-core fans of the composers and those who really enjoyed watching this tongue-in-cheek movie. |
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Viva Maria! /
Le Roi de coeur (King of Hearts)
U.S.A. CD Masters Film Music SRS 2017 Original soundtracks from the comedies directed by Louis Malle in 1965 and Philippe de Broca in 1966, starring respectively Jeanne Moreau, Brigitte Bardot and Alan Bates, Geneviève Bujold, Jean-Claude Brialy, Michel Serrault, Micheline Presle. This double feature present content identical to the 1960s LPs, with the addition of an opening song for Viva Maria! by an uncredited male voice. The first soundtrack is in stereo, while King of Hearts is in mono - apparently only a few tracks were available in stereo on an EP in Europe. Relying on a small orchestra, the music from King of Hearts is the most inventive. It has stood the test of time better than the movie, which was recently reissued in DVD. A few tracks of Viva Maria! tracks leave to be desired, technically speaking. For instance, the graphic shows three waveforms of Les Petites Femmes. The grey one is a straight analog to digital conversion from the original LP, with a normalization applied to the whole record for an optimal balance. The second waveform, in yellow, shows the same track normalized independently, for a maximum - yet still comfortable -sound level. The third waveform, in pink, shows the Master Film Music version. Its sound level has been too increased too much in the remastering process, generating a slight distortion of the analog recording. |
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Walk with Love and Death, A (new digital version)
Canada CD Disques Cinémusique DCM 113 A new digital recording of the 1969 score composed for a John Huston drama set in the 14th Century France, starring Anjelica Huston and Assaf Dayan. A premiere on CD for this music. Arrangements by Robert Lafond, who relies mostly on digital sampling of acoustic instruments. He includes variations of his own to extend the thematic material. The producer of this CD is also the author of the present page. Walk with
Love and Death, A
(original recording)
U.S.A. CD Intrada Special Collection Vol. 41 Among Intrada's vast catalogue, one finds very few Delerue scores and A Walk with Love and Death is their first stand-alone production for this composer. It occurs three years after the release of a version relying on digital sampling, which focused on the main themes and was extended with variations by arranger Robert Lafond. One can only applaud the initiative of the Californian label to make the original 1969 recording available, while deploring that so little effort was spent to improve it technically. It is well known that Delerue was not very demanding with regards to recordings. He preferred to trust the technicians, expressing only a preference for a good stereophonic separation that emphasized the orchestra. However, he didn't even get this satisfaction with this prestigious John Huston production. Yet the composer benefited from the added resources and wrote a score that proved to be particularly ambitious, combining period instruments with a traditional orchestra. Even according to period standards, the original monophonic soundtrack LP could not be described as '' high fidelity '', as if the producers wanted here again to immerse the audience in Middle Ages! Forty years later, no major improvement can be noticed for the reissue of A Walk with Love and Death. Removing the omnipresent distortion was probably impossible, but tape hiss could have been attenuated and the sound level corrected to favour the listener. Right from the start of the first track, one passes from one extreme to the other with a boisterous fanfare followed by delicate passages for recorder and viola, all with a high level of background noise. In compensation, the booklet contains color stills from the movie set with detailed comments. Ultimately, this is an archival document only. |
