Yann Tiersen (France, 1970), composer.

Yann Tiersen – La valse d’Amélie

Yann Pierre Tiersen ( Brest , France , June 23 , 1970 ), known as Yann Tiersen , is a musician and composer French , one of the leading exponents of minimalism . He has composed the soundtrack for the films Amélie , Good Bye, Lenin! and Tabarly . He is characterized by his multi-instrumentalist facet, and he mainly plays violin , piano and accordion , among others.

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During his childhood, he studied in different conservatories in Rennes, Nantes and Boulogne, among others. He studied the violin, the piano and later composition, although he was not limited to these instruments, as he also has a great technique on the accordion and the toy piano.

Another instrument to highlight is the electric guitar, which he has made the main instrument of his concerts since the release of the album On Tour.

He develops his youth influenced by rock, song (he had a rock band as a teenager), and classical music, in particular thanks to his studies at the conservatory. This mixture was an essential basis for a good understanding of his music, and he came to mix and even mix instrumental rock with more classical scores throughout his career.

In 1995, he published his first album, under the Sine Terra Firme label (later renamed Ici d’Ailleurs), entitled La valse des monsters, which largely resumed his work for theater and cinema. Yann Tiersen’s multi-instrumental faculty can be found in his produced album, 17 totally instrumental pieces with a multitude of nuances, sounds and instruments.

A year later, he published Rue des cascades, a disc which included his first vocal song (which gave the album its title) with the collaboration of singer Claire Pichet, and which found only regional success. The following year, in 1998, Yann’s music exploded, and this theme would become the main theme of the soundtrack of the film La vie revée des anges by Erick Zonca.

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Before releasing his new album, he made several collaborations with different musicians from his country, the most notable being the eponymous album with Bästard, in which Tiersen together with the French band Bästard move away from his traditional norms and enter the world nebula of music. postrock and experimentation.

The collaboration with Claire Pichet is repeated in Le Phare (1998), her third album which also welcomes a new guest: Dominique A, this being one of the most complete albums and with the best reviews of the European independent scene.

Later, during the summer of 1999, he presented his album Tout est calme, this time giving his music a more rock aspect, while he was accompanied by his friends from the group Le Moine Marius, led by Christian Quermalet. And that same year, comes another album entitled Black Session, recorded on December 9 during a concert surrounded by confirmed musicians from his country such as Neil Hannon, Noir Désir, Les Têtes Raides or Mathieu Boogaerts.

In 2001 he published L’Absente, closer to the new French song, among the guests included: The Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Lisa Germano, Neil Hannon (from La Divine Comédie), Dominique A, Françoiz Breut, Les Têtes Raides, Sacha Toorop (from Zoop Hopop), Natacha Regnier, Christian Quermalet (from The Married Monk), Marc Sens, Christine Ott and a string quartet.

The same year, she published the album which earned her the greatest number of media ovations: The soundtrack of the fabulous destiny of Amélie Poulain, (and for which she received the Victoire de la Musique for best original group), which although he has a few new songs, mostly made up of old compositions from his first three albums.

With this soundtrack, she would gain worldwide public recognition. In 2002, with an orchestra and a series of guest artists (including Dominique A. and Christian Quermalet) she released C’etait ici, which compiled her best live songs on a double album.

After a massive tour in 2003, Yann Tiersen returned to collaborations, this time with American rocker Shannon Wright, with whom he composed an album of the same title in just 20 days in which Shannon’s indie rock mixes with the instrumentation. particular of Tiersen in a total of 10 subjects.

After L’absente, 5 years will pass without publishing their own album until 2005 saw the light of day Les Retrouvailles (Los Reencuentros), composed and recorded on the island of Ouessant, place of refuge and inspiration for Tiersen . On this album, he collaborates again with Dominique A., as well as Miossec, Stuart Staples (from Tindersticks), Liz Fraser (from Cocteau Twins) and Jane Birkin.

This disc is supplemented by a DVD officially released on July 12 under the title of The crossing, a film directed by Aurélie du Boys and in which we can see all the making of this latest album which he will present in concert throughout the year of 2005 and 2006 with a radical change in his live music, more arranged and close to the post-rock that he has always admired.

This new sound is included in Yann Tiersen’s next live album, entitled On Tour, which is officially released on November 13, 2006, always accompanied by a musical film directed by Aurelié du Boys who accompanies the Breton musician during the tour.

A large part of the recordings, belonging to both the film and the album, come from his concerts in Spain and in particular in Madrid, the city where he played twice in one year during the presentation of the Homecoming.

The composition of his themes includes the manipulation of various instruments, among which it is worth highlighting the accordion, cello, banjo, harpsichord and melodica among others.

Films like The Dream Life of Angels (1998, Erick Zonca), Alice and Martin (1998, André Téchiné), Qui Plume la Lune? (1999, Christine Carrière), Amélie (2001, Jean-Pierre Jeunet), Goodbye, Lenin! (2003, Wolfgang Becker) and Tabarly (2008, Pierre Marcel) were written by Yann Tiersen, who previously worked in music in the theater world.

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