French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
of
contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...
Gramophone
A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
' "Review: ''Concerto pour une Voix ''"">Concerto pour une Voix">"Review: ''Concerto pour une Voix ''" May 1973. Accessed 18 November 2010. His real name is Christian Saint-Preux Langlade.
Biography
Saint-Preux grew up in the small village of Mervent en Vendée. By 1968 he had already released several
45 rpm recordings of his compositions, including ''Une étrange musique'' (''A Strange Music'') which reached #71 on the French record chart">chart
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
s that year.Infodisc Détail par Artiste: Saint-Preux . Accessed 18 November 2010 (in French). In August 1969, he took part in Poland's Sopot International Song Festival with his first major composition ''La valse de l'enfance'' (''The Waltz of Youth''). The song was Luxembourg's entry in the festival and was sung by Henri Seroka with Saint-Preux conducting the
symphony orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...
. The song won the ''Grand Prix de la Presse'' award at the festival and was released in that same year on ''Seroka'' (Festival FX 1583) and as a single on the EMI/Odeon label.Encyclopédisque Saint-Preux Accessed 18 November 2010 (in French). While in Poland he composed what was to become his biggest hit, ''
Concerto pour une Voix
Concerto pour une Voix (''Concerto for one Voice'') is a contemporary classical song written by the French composer Saint-Preux in 1969, combining
elements from popular music and electronic music.
The piece was first sung by Danielle Licari.
...
'' (''Concerto for One Voice'').
When Saint-Preux returned to France, René Boyer, head of the music publishers Fantasia, took him under his wing and arranged to have ''Concerto pour une Voix'' recorded. Although originally written as a purely instrumental work for trumpet and strings, Saint-Preux heard the French singer, Danielle Licari rehearsing in another studio and decided to record it with her voice taking the part of the trumpet using a vocalise technique (similar to scat singing in jazz). The song, released on the Disc'AZ label in 1969, made both her career and his. In a few months it had sold over 3,000,000 copies in France alone,''
L'Express
''L'Express'' () is a French weekly news magazine headquartered in Paris. The weekly stands at the political centre in the French media landscape, and has a lifestyle supplement, ''L'Express Styles'', and a job supplement, ''Réussir''.
History ...
'' Issues 991-1002 Presse-Union (1970) p. 43. and gained recognition outside France as well. In the week of August 22, 1970, it entered the charts in Mexico at #10 and Japan at #20, eventually winning a Gold disc and a Japanese "Oscar" for the best original music. In 1970 Dalida recorded an adaptation of the song for Barclay Records with lyrics specially written for it by Eddy Marnay. Dalida's version is also known as "Chaque Nuit", the first line of the lyrics. Since that time ''Concerto pour une voix'' has been recorded by many other musicians, including Maxim Saury, Caravelli, Aimable Pluchard, and Raymond Lefèvre. An excerpt from the original Licari version appears in Wyclef Jean's 1997 album ''
The Carnival
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...
'', and the song was also performed in
André Rieu
André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu (; is a Dutch violinist and conductor best known for creating the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra.
Rieu and his orchestra have turned classical and waltz music into a worldwide concert touring act. He re ...
's 2007/2008 ''In Wonderland'' tour. In the Rieu show, ''Concerto pour une Voix'' was performed by a woman dressed as an angel singing from high above the orchestra.
In 1972 Saint-Preux was signed by CBS France, and by 1973 he was listed as one of the artists on its roster who had achieved "consistent chart success". During the 1970s he released several LP albums, including ''Concerto'', containing the ''Concerto pour une Voix'' sung by Danielle Licari as well as several other tracks of instrumental music with the trumpeter Pierre Thibaud and flautist Michel Plockyn as soloists and Saint-Preux on the piano. The title song from his 1975 album ''Your Hair'', inspired by
Baudelaire
Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited fro ...
's prose poem ''Un Hemisphere dans une chevelure'' and sung by French vocalist André Allet, reached #1 in the French charts.
Two of Saint-Preux's larger scale works were his ''Symphonie pour la Pologne'' (''Symphony for Poland''), recorded in 1977 with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and ''Les Cris de la liberté'' (''The Cries of Liberty''). Saint-Preux composed ''Les Cris de la liberté'', an hour long hymn to peace and human rights, to aid humanitarian projects. It was first performed on July 14, 1989, at the Place de la Concorde during the celebrations for the bicentennial of the French Revolution.Mission du Bicentenaire de la Révolution française et de la Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen ''Le Bicentenaire de la Révolution: répertoire numérique détaillé des archives de la Mission du Bicentenaire'' Archives Nationales (1991) p. 29. . During this event Saint-Preux met Pope John Paul II, to whom he also dedicated the work. In 2005, Saint-Preux adapted ''Concerto pour une Voix'' for two singers. This latter version, ''Concerto pour deux Voix'' (''Concerto for Two Voices''), was recorded in 2005 by the composer's daughter Clémence and
Jean-Baptiste Maunier
Jean-Baptiste Maunier (, born 22 December 1990) is a French actor and singer. He is best known for his role in the 2004 French film '' Les Choristes''.
Early life
Jean-Baptiste Maunier was born to Thierry Maunier, a cameraman, and Muriel Maunier ...
who starred in the film, '' Les Choristes''. Clémence is also the soloist on Saint Preux's album ''Jeanne la Romantique'' (released in 2009).Gourdon, Julien "Clémence dans la peau de Jeanne la Romantique" Charts in France (chartsinfrance.net). September 26, 2005. Accessed 18 November 2010.
Discography
*''
Concerto pour une voix
Concerto pour une Voix (''Concerto for one Voice'') is a contemporary classical song written by the French composer Saint-Preux in 1969, combining
elements from popular music and electronic music.
The piece was first sung by Danielle Licari.
...
'' (1969)
*''Le piano sous la mer'' (1972)
*''La passion'' (1973)
*''La fête triste'' (1974)
*''Your hair & Missa Amoris'' (1975)
*''Concerto pour piano'' (1975)
*''Samara'' (1976)
*''Symphonie pour la Pologne'' (1977)
*''Expressions'' (1978)
*''To be or not'' (1980)
*''Le piano d'Abigaïl'' (1983)
*''Atlantis'' (1983)
*''Odyssée'' (1986)
*''Phytandros'' (1991)
*''The last opera'' (1994)
*''Free Yourself'' (1999)
*''Concerto pour deux voix'' (2005)
*''Jeanne la Romantique'' (2007)
*''Le Désir'' (2009)