Yann Tiersen
Yann Tiersen | |
---|---|
ANTI- | |
Website | www.yanntiersen.com |
Yann Pierre Tiersen (born 23 June 1970) is a French Breton musician and composer.[1][2] His musical career is split between studio recordings, music collaborations, and film soundtracks songwriting. His music incorporates a large variety of classical and contemporary instruments, primarily the electric guitar, the piano, synthesisers, and the violin, but he also includes instruments such as the melodica, xylophone, toy piano, harpsichord, piano accordion, and even a typewriter.
Tiersen is often mistaken for a soundtrack composer; he himself states that "I'm not a composer and I really don't have a classical background,"[3] but his real focus is on touring and recording studio albums, which are often used for film soundtracks. Tracks taken from his first three studio albums were used for the soundtrack of the 2001 French film Amélie.[4]
Biography and career
The early years: 1970–1992
Tiersen was born in 1970 in
Debut and national acclaim: 1993–2000
Let's live in an enormous world of sound we can use randomly, with no rules at all. Let's play with sound, forget all knowledge and instrumental skills, and just use instinct — the same way punk did.
—Yann Tiersen[8]
Before releasing film scores under his own name, Tiersen recorded background music for a number of plays and short films. During the summer of 1993, Tiersen stayed in his apartment with an electric guitar, a violin and a piano accordion, recording music on his own; he was guided by what he calls "a musical anarchic vision". By the end of the summer, Tiersen had recorded over forty tracks, which would most be used later on for his first two albums. Tiersen's debut album, La Valse des monstres, limited to 1,000 copies, was first released in June 1995 by independent record label Sine Terra Firma, and then reissued by Nancy-based record label Ici d'ailleurs in 1998 as the second album of its catalogue.[9] The 17-track-album was inspired by and written for the theatrical adaptations of Tod Browning's 1932 cult classic Freaks, and Yukio Mishima's 1955 version of Noh play The Damask Drum.[10] In April 1996, one year later, he released Rue des cascades, a collection of short pieces recorded with a toy piano, a harpsichord, a violin, a piano accordion, and a mandolin.[11] The title track, sung by French solo singer Claire Pichet, was used the following year for the Palme d'Or nominated French drama film The Dreamlife of Angels,[12] and several tracks received greater exposure when they were featured on the Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film Amélie, five years later.[8] Tiersen usually plays most of the music instruments himself during both studio recording sessions and his live sets; he has won theatrical appeal as a one-man show and was invited to play, among others, at the 1996 edition of the Avignon Festival, the oldest live arts festival in France.[13]
I was amazed with the way the lighthouse rays revealed some hidden details of the land, how we can rediscover something we have in front of us everyday, only thanks to a light pointing at it.
—Yann Tiersen[8]
Tiersen rose to domestic fame upon the release of his third studio album,
During that period, Tiersen provided a new arrangement and played
In 1999, Tiersen together with The Married Monk, Claire Pichet, and Olivier Mellano released his first collaboration album, Tout est calme. The 26 minutes, 10 tracks mini album peaked at number 45 on the French Albums Chart.[15] The album produced one single, "Les Grandes marées", and Tiersen also featured on The Divine Comedy's single "Gin Soaked Boy" released on that same year, on three tracks for Françoiz Breut's second studio album Vingt à Trente Mille Jours (English: Twenty to Thirty Thousand Days), and on Têtes Raides' Gratte-poil, both released in 2000.
Amélie and global recognition: 2001–2009
The hard part was making a selection, because all his tracks worked with the film's images!
Tiersen remained relatively unknown outside France until the release of his
While he was writing the film score for Amélie, Tiersen was also preparing his fifth studio album L'Absente.[2] The album was characterized by several contributions including 35-member Ensemble Orchestral Synaxis conducted by Guillaume Bourgogne, viola player Bertrand Lambert, violinists Yann Bisquay and Sophie Naboulay, Natacha Régnier, and saxophonist Grégoire Simon, and long-time collaborators Dominique A, Christine Ott, Lisa Germano, Neil Hannon, Têtes Raides, Christian Quermalet, Marc Sens, and Sacha Toorop.[19] The album, which was released on 5 June 2001 through EMI France, was preceded by two promotional singles for "A quai" and "Bagatelle" respectively. Tiersen provided strings and vibraphone to two tracks, "Roma Amor" and "Holidays", featured on R/O/C/K/Y, the third studio album by The Married Monk.
At this time he was married to Belgian actress Natacha Régnier, co-star of The Dreamlife of Angels. Régnier became a singer and Tiersen wrote three songs for her including his arrangement of Georges Brassens' "Le Parapluie", a song featured on the tribute album Les Oiseaux de passage, released in 2001. That same year they toured in France and abroad. They have a daughter, Lise, born in 2002, but Tiersen and Régnier have since divorced.[20] In this period, Tiersen also took his music out around the world, playing shows with a full orchestra and an amplified string quartet.[8] From 15 to 17 February 2002, Tiersen with many of the collaborators who participated in the recording sessions for L'Absente plus Claire Pichet, violinists Nicolas Stevens and Renaud Lhoest, bassist Jean-François Assy, viola player Olivier Tilkin, and uilleann pipes, bagpipes, and low whistle player Ronan Le Bars, performed live at the Cité de la Musique (City of Music) in Paris. Part of these three concerts went on to form Tiersen's second live album C'était ici (It Was Here), which was released through EMI France on 30 September 2002.[21]
Tiersen's skills as a composer of film scores were much in demand, and the soundtrack for Amélie was soon followed by the
Tiersen's list of collaborators continued to grow album after album and in October 2004 he released In 2006, he also released two singles, "La Mancha" and "La Rade", and he was featured on The Endless Rise of the Sun, the third studio album by electronic group Smooth, Raides à la ville extended play by Katel, and 13m² by David Delabrosse.
After a five-year absence as a composer of film scores, Tiersen provided the
Dust Lane and Skyline: 2010–present
The name Dust Lane partly came from the image of the dirt road going into Gaza.
—Yann Tiersen[27]
October 2010 saw the release of Tiersen's sixth studio album titled
October 2011 saw the European release of his seventh studio album, Skyline was released in North America via ANTI- Records on 17 April 2012, and it was followed by the Skyline Tour with dates in the United States, Canada, Iceland, Spain, Portugal, France, Slovak Republic, Austria, Finland and the United Kingdom.
On 3 August 2016, it was announced that Tiersen married Emilie Quinquis in Ushant, Brittany.[35] Quinquis stated that she and Tiersen were married on 31 July 2016.[36] On 6 April 2017 they gave birth to a son.[37][38][39][40]
Music
Styles and instruments
[There is] no frontier between classical music and popular music, you are free to work with whatever you want. For me it’s natural to use lots of different instruments and textures and sounds and noises because life is like that.
—Yann Tiersen[41]
I didn’t know French musette music at all. Even people like Jacques Brel — I discovered Brel through Scott Walker. My parents listened to Brel, of course, but when you’re a teenager you’re not interested. So it was only when I heard Scott Walker's versions that I thought "this is fucking good", you know. The only French singer I listened to was Serge Gainsbourg.
—Yann Tiersen[27]
Tiersen's music is influenced by the classical training he received as a child, by American and British
I couldn’t play a brass instrument — I tried but I was really bad at it — I couldn’t play the flute, but the piano accordion was a keyboard so it was easy for me.
—Yann Tiersen[27]
Tiersen started playing the piano and the violin at a young age.
Film scores
Tiersen's ability to compose music that can be easily used for
Following the box-office success of Amélie,[2][13] Tiersen's skills as a composer of film scores were much in demand, and this led him to compose the music for Good Bye, Lenin! by Wolfgang Becker. Although the soundtrack for Amélie consisted mainly of pieces that Tiersen had previously released on his first two albums, the soundtrack for Good Bye, Lenin! was conceived from scratch, except for "Comptine d'un autre été : L'après-midi", which is also featured on Amélie's soundtrack.[8]
Tiersen returned to making film soundtracks in 2008 after a years-long break, creating the score for a documentary about the sailor Éric Tabarly.[8]
Collaborations
Tiersen has always composed his music in solitude, starting from simple melodies to which he added subsequent layers. His first album,
It is at this point in his career, around the end of the nineties, that his collaborations begin to grow. In 1997, he collaborated with French rock band Noir Désir, the following year Tiersen and Dominique A released the single for "Monochrome",[citation needed] and, in collaboration with French electronic rock band Bästard, the EP Bästard ~ Yann Tiersen,[citation needed] while 1999 saw the releases of Tout est calme, a collaboration mini album by Yann Tiersen, The Married Monk, Claire Pichet, and Olivier Mellano,[citation needed] and of his first live album, Black Session: Yann Tiersen. The live album, recorded in December 1998, features Tiersen with Claire Pichet, Dominique A, The Divine Comedy's singer and songwriter Neil Hannon, Noir Désir's singer and songwriter Bertrand Cantat, singer and illustrator Françoiz Breut, anglophone French rock band The Married Monk, French folk rock group Têtes Raides, the string quartet Quatuor à cordes, guitarist and composer Olivier Mellano, and author Mathieu Boogaerts.[citation needed] The soundtrack for Amélie saw for the first time the introduction of a full orchestra, the 35-member Ensemble Orchestral Synaxis, and of an ondes Martenot played by Christine Ott.[citation needed] Both will participate in the recording sessions for his next album, L'Absente, which also includes American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Lisa Germano, Belgian actress and singer Natacha Régnier, Neil Hannon, and Têtes Raides, among others.[19]
Tiersen's list of collaborators continues to grow. His second live album,
Tiersen has contributed, either in part or in full, to the realization of several records among which stand out "
Charity work
In 2011, Tiersen collaborated with the Yellow Bird Project (YBP) to design a t-shirt,[56] which was sold to raise money for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The main reason he chose to support MSF, is for their work as one of the three charities helping refugees in Libya at the time.[57] A live video session was also filmed in the MSF London offices to promote the T-shirt and raise awareness for the cause.[58]
Discography
Studio albums
Year | Album | Peak chart positions | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
FRA
[15] |
BEL (Fl) [59] |
BEL (Wa) [60] |
SWI [61] | ||
1995 | La Valse des monstres
|
139 | — | — | — |
1996 | Rue des cascades
|
51 | — | — | — |
1998 | Le Phare
|
50 | — | — | — |
2001 | L'Absente
|
8 | — | — | — |
2005 | Les Retrouvailles
|
6 | 96 | 40 | 48 |
2010 | Dust Lane
|
36 | 96 | 97 | — |
2011 | Skyline
|
172 | — | — | — |
2014 | ∞ (aka Infinity)
|
104 | 102 | 101 | — |
2016 | EUSA | 21 [62] |
67 | 38 | 76 |
2019 | All | 66 [63] |
63 | 116 | 50 |
2019 | Portrait | 94 | — | 124 | — |
2021 | Kerber | 97 | — | 71 | — |
2022 | 11 5 18 2 5 18 | — | — | — | — |
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country. |
Soundtracks
Year | Album | Peak chart positions | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FRA
[15] |
AUT [64] |
BEL (Fl) [59] |
BEL (Wa) [60] |
NL [65] |
SWI [61] |
US [66][n 1] | ||||
2001 | Amélie
|
1 | 35 | 3 | 28 | 31 | 2 | 2 | ||
2003 | Good Bye Lenin!
|
49 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2008 | Tabarly
|
122 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country. |
Live albums
Year | Album | Peak chart positions | |
---|---|---|---|
FRA
[15] |
SWI [61] | ||
1999 | Black Session: Yann Tiersen
|
— | — |
2002 | C'était ici
|
8 | 64 |
2006 | On Tour
|
160 | — |
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country. |
Singles and EPs
Charting
Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | Certifications | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FRA
[15] |
AUT [64] |
BEL (Fl) [59] |
BEL (Wa) [60] |
SWI [61] | ||||
2013 | "Comptine d'un autre été : L'après-midi" | 187 | 41 | — | — | 34 | • BPI: Silver [67] | |
2016 | "Porz goret" | 181 [68] |
— | — | — | — |
Others
- Rue des cascades (7" vinyl EP) (1996)
- Black Session (EP promo) (1998)
- "La vie rêvée des anges" (CD single) (1998)
- "Les grandes marées" (1999)
- "Comptine d'un autre été : L'après-midi" (2001)
- "À quai" (CD single promo) (2001)
- "Bagatelle" (CD maxi promo) (2001)
- 3 titres inédits au profit de la FIDH (part of the On Aime, On Aide collection, composed to raise funds for the FIDH, sold exclusively at Fnac) (2003)
- "Kala" (2005)
- "La mancha" (2006)
- "La rade" (2006)
- Palestine (vinyl EP) (2010)
- "Ashes" (2010)
- "Monuments" (2011)
- "I'm Gonna Live Anyhow" (2011)
Collaborations
Year | Record | |
---|---|---|
1998 | "Monochrome"
|
— |
1998 | Bästard ~ Tiersen
|
— |
1999 | Tout est calme
|
45 |
2004 | Yann Tiersen & Shannon Wright
|
60 |
2010 | The Dark Age of Love
|
— |
2015 | ESB
|
— |
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country. |
Contributions
- One Trip/One Noise (by Noir Désir) (1998)
- "À ton étoile" (arrangements, strings, vibraphone, bell, mandolin, electric guitar and bass)
- "Gin Soaked Boy" (by The Divine Comedy) (1999)
- Vingt à Trente Mille Jours (by Françoiz Breut) (2000)
- "Porsmouth" (vibraphone), "Vingt à trente mille jours" (vibraphone), "L'heure bleue" (violin), "Le verre pilé" (vibraphone); arrangements
- Gratte-poil (by Têtes Raides) (2000)
- "Cabaret des nues" (violin)
- R/O/C/K/Y (by The Married Monk) (2001)
- "Roma Amor" (strings, vibraphone), "Holidays" (strings), and "Cyro's Request" (vibraphone)
- Les oiseaux de passage (tribute to Georges Brassens) (2001)
- cover of "Le parapluie" with Natacha Régnier
- Absent Friends (by The Divine Comedy) (2004)
- "Sticks & Stones" (accordion); "Anthem for Bored Youth" (accordion), a track appearing only on the French limited edition
- The Belgian Kick (by The Married Monk) (2004)
- viola on "Love Commander" and "Totally Confused"
- Lucky Dog Recordings 03-04 (by Stuart A. Staples) (2005)
- "She Don't Have to Be Good to Me" (piano)
- The Endless Rise of the Sun (by Smooth) (2006)
- "The Endless Rise of the Sun" (keyboards)
- Raides à la ville (by Katel) (2006)
- "La Vielle" (violin)
- 13m² (by David Delabrosse) (2006)
- production and arrangements
- Solitude Nomade (by Christine Ott) (2009)
- "Pensées sauvages" (violin)
- Finistériens (by Miossec) (2009)
- music and arrangements
- Li(f)e (by Sage Francis) (2010)
- production and arrangements on "The Best of Times"
- Soyons désinvoltes, n'ayons l'air de rien (2×CD+DVD Deluxe edition) (by Noir Désir) (2011)
- "À ton étoile (Yann Tiersen Mix)" (arrangements, strings, vibraphone, carillon, mandolin, bass, and electric guitar)
DVDs
Year | Title | Director | Description |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | La Traversée | Aurélie du Boys | Documentary about the recording and composition of Les Retrouvailles in Ouessant. |
2006 | On Tour | Aurélie du Boys | Documentary about the world tour of 2006. Featured performers: Marc Sens, Grégoire Simon, Diam's, Katel, Elizabeth Fraser, DD La Fleur, Christine Ott, Stéphane Bouvier, Ludovic Morillon. |
Notes
References
- ^ Salarich, Albert (6 April 2007). "Yann Tiersen: not only about Amelie". Cafebabel.com. Jennifer O'Boyle (trans.). Archived from the original on 18 December 2014.
- ^ a b c d Hubbard, Michael (2002). "Interview: Yann Tiersen". Features. MusicOMH.
- ^ Rojas, Andrea (17 February 2011). "More than just a couple of soundtracks". Entertainment. The Gauntlet. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016.
- ^ "Albums". Yann Tiersen Official Website. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011.
- ^ "Yann Tiersen : " La solution est globale : la révolution "" [Yann Tiersen: "The Solution Is Global: The Revolution"]. La Gazette de Berlin (in French) (35). 2010. Archived from the original on 7 September 2010.
- ^ a b "Yann Tiersen". Everything2.com.
- ^ Hubbard, Michael (24 February 2002). "Composer Tiersen serenades Amelie". Entertainment. BBC News. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Yann Tiersen". All Tomorrow's Parties.
- ^ AllMusic
- OCLC 1836711.
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- ^ AllMusic
- ^ a b c "Festival de Cannes: The Dreamlife of Angels". Festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 20 August 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
- ^ a b c d Phares, Heather. "Yann Tiersen – Biography". AllMusic.
- ^ AllMusic
- ^ a b c d e f g "CHARTS FRANÇAIS – Yann Tiersen". Lescharts.com.
- ^ a b "Palmarès 1999 – 24 ème cérémonie des César" [Awards 1999 – 24th César Ceremony] (in French). Académie des César.
- ^ a b "JEUNET, JEAN-PIERRE: FABULOUS DESTINY OF AMÉLIE". Urban Cinefile. 13 December 2001.
- ^ Hung, Steffen. "Soundtrack / Yann Tiersen – Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain". Lescharts.com. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
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- ^ "3 titres inédits au profit de la FIDH – On aime, on aide". Fnac.com.
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- ^ a b c d e Randell, Edward (2010). "Interview: Yann Tiersen". Features. MusicOMH.
- ^ "Dust Lane". Yann Tiersen Official Website. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013.
- ^ "Yann Tiersen, Dust Lane". Catalog. ANTI-.
- ^ "Yann Tiersen • Dust Lane". Releases. Mute Records.
- ^ AllMusic
- ^ AllMusic. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
- ^ "Elektronische Staubband (avec Yann Tiersen) (F)" (in French). La Route du Rock. 2012. Archived from the original on 6 June 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
- ^ "ATP curated by Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel)". All Tomorrow's Parties. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ "Ouessant. Yann Tiersen se marie en breton". Le Telegramme. 3 August 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ "TINY FEET". Facebook.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ "TINY FEET". Facebook.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ "TINY FEET". Facebook.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ France 3 Bretagne (4 November 2017). "Bali Breizh gant Émilie Quinquis/Tiny Feet". YouTube. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "TINY FEET on Instagram: "One year of poetry 😍"". Instagram.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ "Yann Tiers[e]n – Music Sans Frontières". Classical Music Magazine. 2 April 2011. Archived from the original on 5 April 2011.
- ^ "Erik Satie: His music, the vision, his legacy". Lectures and Events. Barnard's Inn Hall: Gresham College. 16 April 2010. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013.
- ^ "The Most Influential People in Classical and Dance". New York. 8 May 2006.
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- ^ "Charity Tshirt at Yellow Bird – Yann Tiersen". Archive.is. 17 September 2013. Archived from the original on 17 September 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ Gibson, Dan (27 March 2012). "Let's Watch a Yann Tiersen Video and Buy His T-Shirt". Tucson Weekly. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
- ^ a b c "CHARTS VLAANDEREN – Yann Tiersen". Ultratop.be.
- ^ a b c "CHARTS BELGIQUE FRANCOPHONE – Yann Tiersen – Albums". Ultratop.be.
- ^ a b c d "Schweizer Hitparade – Yann Tiersen". Swisscharts.com.
- ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnés - SNEP". www.snepmusique.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014.
- ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes – SNEP (Week 8, 2019)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
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- ^ "BRIT Certified - bpi".
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- ^ "E S B". Bureau B record label. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
External links
This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. (March 2019) |
- Official website
- Yann Tiersen at IMDb
- Yann Tiersen at AllMusic
- Yann Tiersen discography at Discogs
- Yann Tiersen Sheet Music Archive compiled by Vladimir Yatsina
- Concert photos by Laurent Orseau (Black Session)
- Concert photos by Laurent Orseau (La Route du Rock 1998)
- Music Video for La Noyée from the Amelie soundtrack
- Article on Yann Tiersen at Everything2.com
- Article on Yann Tiersen and piano at Scribd
- Yann Tiersen in Lebanon Event Review
- Red Alert – Live Review