It’s his centennial this year, and it’s been marked on a few occasions, some releases, some concerts. But not terribly much.
He’s a favourite composer of mine. Not top 10, but just outside. True, I have a hard time listening to many Delerues in a row, but if I want a dose of that bittersweet, elegant style that only he could do, there are few things better.
Hard to pick just one favourite, but if someone put a gun to my head, I’d probably pick BLACK ROBE.
Oh, and by the way, if anyone wants to see a fun Delerue documentary, directed by Ken Russell, look no further than the 1966 film DON’T SHOOT THE COMPOSER — which even has Delerue sorta “acting”. It’s only an hour and well worth your time:
Interstingly BLACK ROBE is also a favorite of mine. I like a lot of him but often its a bit too much theme and minor variations. Truffaut scores, SALVADOR in a more unusal action mode at times oder DAY OF THE DOLPHIN come to mind. Would love to get some release of his miniseries score to SWORD OF GIDEON.
TOo bad, our French-German broadcaster was supposed to show the two Paris concerts even as a live stream these days. But due to a strike on Radio France that was canceled. Currently does not look as if it is recorded at all and maybe ends up on their site’s mediathek later.
I was hoping maybe slint had something to contribute in regards to Delerue. I know he’s as into French film music as I am (should do a topic on that, but I’m afraid I’m going to explode in enthusiasm).