William Sheller (born William Desboeuf on 9 July 1946) is a French

classical composer This is a list of classical music composers by era. With the exception of the overview, the Modernist era has been combined with the Postmodern. Overview Preset = TimeHorizontal_AutoPlaceBars_UnitYear ImageSize = width:1100 height:auto bari ...

and singer-songwriter. A prominent artist of French

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

since the 1970s, William Sheller has the particularity of being one of the few singers of French

chanson A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic s ...

who has benefited from a solid background in classical music. This has influenced his repertoire with a sophisticated musical style, combining elements of classical music with

and

symphonic rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initi ...

Biography

Born in Paris to an American soldier and a French mother, William Desboeuf was raised in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

until he was 7. He then went back to France to live with his mother's parents, who worked in the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and the Palais Garnier. William left school at 16 to study composition with teacher Yves Margat (himself a student of

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...

) and later

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...

and

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

at the

Paris conservatoire The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

. He was training for the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

but turned to pop music after hearing the

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

. Since then, Sheller has had a successful career both as a classical composer and as a pop singer. His works often mix both genres. For example, some of his songs include carefully crafted orchestral passages (the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

introduction to ''Le nouveau monde'') as well as instruments that are seldom found in pop music (such as a

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

in ''Les miroirs dans la boue'' and a

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

in ''Fier et fou de vous''). On the other hand, his ''Lux aeterna'' is written for orchestra, choir and rock band. He has toured several times with transcriptions of his songs for voice and orchestra as well as for voice and

piano quintet In classical music, a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly a string quartet (i.e., two violins, viola, and cello). The term also refers to the group of musicians that plays a pian ...

. Additionally, he has also written

film music A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

(

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...

) and songs or

arrangements In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

for other artists (

Dalida Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida, was an Italian-French singer and actress born in Egypt. She sang in eleven languages and sold millions of records internationally. Her best known son ...

Joe Dassin Joseph Ira Dassin (; 5 November 1938 – 20 August 1980) was an American–French singer-songwriter and actor. He was the son of film director Jules Dassin. Early life Dassin was born in New York City to American film director Jules Dassin (19 ...

, Barbara... etc.).Duboc, Olivier
"William Sheller"
''AllMusic''. Retrieved 14 December 2010. The "Introït" from his ''Lux aeterna'' (1972) was heavily sampled for the title track from '' Deltron 3030'' (2000), produced by

Dan the Automator Daniel M. Nakamura better known by his stage name Dan the Automator, is an American record producer from San Francisco, California. He is the founder of the publishing company Sharkman Music and the record label 75 Ark. Early life Nakamura was bo ...

Music

Classical works

*1972: ''Lux aeterna'' *1977: ''La sirène'' ballet for the

Paradis Latin The Paradis Latin is a theater at number 28, rue du Cardinal Lemoine, in the Latin Quarter of Paris, in the fifth arrondissement, near Notre-Dame, the Panthéon, and the Tour d'Argent restaurant. The closest métro stations are Cardinal Lemoine a ...

*1984: String quartets "Book 1 and 2" by "Quatuor Pasquier" *1985: ''Suite française'' *1990: Cello concerto *1992: ''Symphonie pour un jeune orchestre'' *1993: Trumpet concerto *1994: ''Symphonie alternative'' *1995: ''Symphonie de poche'' *1998: ''Élégies pour violoncelle et orchestre'' *2003: New recording of the string quartets "Book 1 & 2" + "Les Viennois" by the

Parisii Quartet The Parisii Quartet is a French string quartet ensemble founded in 1981. Members * Arnaud Vallin, first violin (2002-....) - Thierry Brodard (1981-2002) * Doriane Gable (2013-....) second violin - Jean-Michel Berrette, (1981-2013) * Dominique ...

*2004: Symphony in three movements "Sully" *2006: Recording of symphonic works in ''Ostinato''

Albums

*1975: ''Rock'n dollars'' *1976: ''Dans un vieux rock'n'roll'' *1977: ''Symphoman'' *1980: ''Nicolas'' *1981: ''J'suis pas bien'' *1982: ''Olympia 82'' (live) *1983: ''Simplement'' *1984: ''Wiliam Sheller et le quatuor Halvenalf'' (live) *1986: ''Univers'' *1989: ''Ailleurs'' *1991: ''Sheller en solitaire'' (live) *1993: ''Le nouveau monde'' *1994: ''Albion'' *1995: ''Olympiade'' (live) *2000: ''Les machines absurdes'' *2001: ''Live au Théâtre des Champs-Élysées'' (live) *2004: ''Épures'' *2005: ''Parade au Cirque Royal'' (live – filmed concert, available on DVD) *2008: ''Avatars'' *2015: ''Stylus''

Singles

*1968: "Couleurs" *1968: "Les 4 saisons" *1969: "Adieu Kathy" *1969: "Leslie Simone" *1970: "Living East, Dreaming West" *1970: "She Opened the Door" *1976: "Saint-Exupery Airway" *1976: "Fier et fou de vous" *1976: "J'me gênerai pas pour dire que j't'aime encore" *1976: "La toccatarte" (with

Catherine Lara Catherine Lara (born Catherine Bodet; 29 May 1945) is a French violinist, composer, singer, and author. Over a career spanning more than five decades, she has established herself as an icon in French pop/rock music as well as the neo-classical g ...

) *1976: "Les petites filles modèles" *1982: "Message urgent" *1982: "Rosanna Banana" *1983: "Chanson lente" *1983: " Les filles de l'aurore" *1983: "Mon Dieu que j'l'aime" *1984: "I keep movin' on" *1991: " Un homme heureux" *1993: "Vienne" *1998: "Centre ville" *2008: "Tout ira bien"

Compilations

*1987: ''Master série'' *1993: ''Carnet de notes'' *1998: ''Tu devrais chanter'' *2004: ''Promenade française'' *2005: ''Chemin de traverse'' (totalling his 30 years of songs) *2016: ''Préférences'' (totalling his 40 years of songs)

Film music

*1969: Soundtrack from the film ''

Erotissimo ''Erotissimo'' is a 1969 French-Italian comedy film directed by Gérard Pirès. It was entered into the 19th Berlin International Film Festival. Cast * Annie Girardot as Annie * Jean Yanne as Philippe * Francis Blanche as Le polyvalent (Tax co ...

'' *1980: Soundtrack from the film ''Retour en force'' *1981: Soundtrack from the film ''Ma femme s'appelle reviens'' *1988: Soundtrack from the film ''Envoyez les violons'' *1993: Soundtrack from the film ''L'écrivain public'' *1997: Soundtrack from the film '' Arlette''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheller, William 1946 births Living people French male singers French film score composers French male film score composers Philips Records artists