R.I.P. Michel Legrand

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Romain
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R.I.P. Michel Legrand

Post by Romain »

Michel Legrand (24 February 1932 - 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand is a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many memorable songs. He is best known for his often haunting, jazz-tinged film music. His celebrated scores for the films of French New Wave director Jacques Demy, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967), earned Legrand his first Academy Award nominations. Legrand won his first Oscar for the song "The Windmills of Your Mind" from The Thomas Crown Affair (1968).


Academy Award nominations
Best Original Score, Substantially Original Score: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1965)
Best Original Score for a Motion Picture (not a Musical): The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
Best Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score: The Young Girls of Rochefort (1968)
Etc.

Best Original Dramatic Score: Summer of '42 (1971) (won)
Best Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score: Yentl (1983) (won)
Best Original Song:
"I Will Wait For You" from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1965)
"The Windmills of Your Mind" (won) from The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
"What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" from The Happy Ending (1969)
"Pieces of Dreams" from Pieces of Dreams (1970)
"How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" from Best Friends (1982)
"Papa, Can You Hear Me?" and "The Way He Makes Me Feel" both from Yentl (1983)
Nick
Running Up That Hill
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Re: R.I.P. Michel Legrand

Post by Nick »

I thought his name sounded familiar. Turns out he’s the uncle to Victoria Legrand, lead singer of Beach House.

R.I.P.
Brad
Higher Ground
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Re: R.I.P. Michel Legrand

Post by Brad »

Thanks Romain. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is my favorite film of 1964, in no small part because of the memorable music. Appreciate the tribute.
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Rob
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Re: R.I.P. Michel Legrand

Post by Rob »

One of the greats. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is of course the most famous, but my heart is with what is usually seen as the second place Demy film: The Young Girls from Rochefort. Admittedly, I didn't know he was still alive. Rest in peace.
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Romain
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Re: R.I.P. Michel Legrand

Post by Romain »

I prefer "Les demoiselles de Rochefort" they broadcast it again yesterday on television and there is not a single second of music that is not perfect... it is of incredible beauty. Perhaps less moving than the "Umbrellas of Cherbourg" but so beautiful.

Lalaland is clearly a huge homage to this film.
Harold
Into the Groove
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Re: R.I.P. Michel Legrand

Post by Harold »

Legrand lived long enough to compose a brand-new score for Orson Welles' The Other Side of the Wind, the great director's unfinished final film, shot in the 1970s but finally completed (as close to Welles' original vision as could be reconstructed) and released by Netflix in late 2018. The film is a fascinating, frustrating mess (it really could hardly be anything else), but Legrand's music helps hold it together. R.I.P.
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