THE UNPUBLISHED FILM MUSIC OF GEORGES DELERUE Vol. 1
Arranged and performed by Robert Lafond

Release date: 06-2005

A new recording of Georges Delerue music never available before on disc, skilfully 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. 12-page booklet.

 

01  Nobody Runs Forever 2:11
02 Without Warning: The James Brady Story 3:43 
03 Sin of Innocence Part I 4:36
04 Sin of Innocence Part II 3:30 
05 Women of Valor 3:33
06 Paris by Night 4:30
07 Her Secret Life aka Code Name: Dancer 4:41

   

 Concerto for piano and orchestra
08 tempo di menuetto: Partners 3:33
09 adagio: Mister Johnson 4:13
10 allegro: Silence of the Heart 4:14 
11 moderato: Sword of Gideon 4:15

 

TT 43:01 

 

 

Andrew Keech - Music from the Movies, UK, No 43
While the cues on this album may stray from the original Delerue orchestrations, they do preserve and showcase the glorious themes, which undoubtedly would have remained lost. Although the album is based upon digital sampling techniques there are few cues where this is overtly apparent and then, it is not really detrimental to the wonderful listening pleasure that this album supplies. This album must have been a monumental effort to produce, but was conspicuously worth it and it is to be hoped there will be at least a second volume. For those that love Georges Delerue or those that enjoy their scores with a classical flavour, this album is a must.

Robert Schulslaper - Fanfare, USA, Sept-Oct 2008, Issue 32:1
Robert Lafond again lent his considerable talent to this release, reducing while simultaneously clarifying some of the “often overloaded” orchestration and devising imaginative settings for the themes. He added a piano to the music for Partners, Mister Johnson, Silence of the Heart, and Sword of Gideon, wrote a movement for each theme, et voilà, a piano concerto was born. There may be some stylistic incongruities—in the Adagio, a folk-song-like theme morphs into a Mozartean piano moment, and the Tempo di menuetto displays a certain Gallic charm, but so what? This music wasn’t written to be dissected by musicologists. The Allegro pulses with Baroque vitality and a joyous optimism one wouldn’t associate with the wrenching drama of Silence of the Heart (the theme’s source), which probes the tragedy of teenage suicide. The music lulls the audience into a happy frame of mind before the characters’ depression and self-recrimination take center stage. The concerto’s last movement centers on a majestic theme that bears a strong resemblance to Vangelis’s music for 1492. Throughout the CD, Delerue’s sweet (to some, too sweet) side is much in evidence, but there are enough energetic, and, dare I say, profound moments to balance the scales. As I’ve tried to make clear, Lafond’s arrangements, while remaining true to Delerue’s musical personality, contribute handily to the CD’s success. The harpsichord, flute, cello, and string setting of Women of Valor is especially charming.

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ABOUT  THE 2017 REMASTERED VERSION

 

The two volumes of UNPUBLISHED FILM MUSIC OF GEORGES DELERUE produced by Robert Lafond in 2004 and 2005 proved to be successful with film music fans who do not limit themselves to original versions. A new interpretation can only enrich our perception of a musical work. These two albums were all the more welcome as they tackled the little-known American repertoire of Georges Delerue (1925-1992). This is still partly the case in 2017.
 
Although Robert Lafond mainly used digital sampling techniques for these new recordings, he achieved an impressive degree of realism in the reconstruction of a symphony orchestra. He respects the melodic line of each work and brings out all the nuances of the harmonization. These versions remastered at the cutting edge of technology allow one to appreciate Lafond’s work even more.
 
More than ever, Georges Delerue's legacy is a vibrant celebration of life, often reaching a peak in the expression of intense, often contrasting feelings. Thus, in the same piece melancholy and jubilation can be linked in the most natural way possible.

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Originally, only the soundtrack to Mister Johnson came in the form of a short concerto for piano and orchestra. We had the idea of extending this classical approach to other scores that lent themselves to such treatment. This resulted in the Volume 1 Concerto, of which each movement is devoted to the main theme of a different film. As a complement, the album opens with a solo rendition of the Nobody Runs Forever main theme. 
 
On Volume 2, it‘s the lengthy The Escape Artist suite that stands out above all. It is said to be the first score written by Delerue after his installation in the United States in the early 1980s. Evocative of the world of childhood, this music remains one of the most appreciated of his American period. The composer would use a similar heart-breaking music box theme in Joe Versus the Volcano, one of his last assignments.
 
The remastered versions of THE GEORGES DELERUE UNPUBLISHED FILM MUSIC albums arranged by Robert Lafond are available for download and streaming on most Internet music boutiques. For the best sound quality, we recommend as always 7digital which offers the FLAC 16-bit option.

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