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 se ...
which also combines elements from
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). ''Funk ...
and
electronic music
Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromech ...
.''
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">charts 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, ...
. 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
Danielle Licari is a French singer who was active in the 1960s and 1970s. She's now remembered primarily as the vocalist in Concerto pour une Voix.
Career
In 1964, she dubbed the singing in the movie ''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'' for the ro ...
rehearsing in another studio and decided to record it with her voice taking the part of the trumpet using a
vocalise
A vocal warm-up is a series of exercises meant to prepare the voice for singing, acting, or other use.
There is very little scientific data about the benefits of vocal warm-ups. Relatively few studies have researched the effects of thesexerci ...
technique (similar to
scat singing
In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium. ...
in
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...
). 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
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
and a Japanese "Oscar" for the best original music. In 1970
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 ...
recorded an adaptation of the song for
Barclay Records
Barclay is a French record company and label founded by Eddie Barclay in 1953.
Eddie Barclay was a bandleader, pianist, producer, and nightclub owner. With his wife, Nicole, who was the vocalist in his band, he started Barclay. The catalogue in ...
with lyrics specially written for it by
Eddy Marnay
Edmond Bacri known by the professional name Eddy Marnay (Algiers, 18 December 1920 – 3 January 2003), was a French songwriter. In his career, he wrote more than 4000 songs, including works for Édith Piaf, Frida Boccara and Céline Dion. ...
. 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
Caravelli (born Claude Vasori; 12 September 1930, Paris, France – 1 April 2019, Cannet, France) was a French orchestra leader, composer and arranger of orchestral music.
Biography
The son of an Italian father and a French mother, Vasori was ...
Raymond Lefèvre
Raymond Lefèvre (20 November 1929 – 27 June 2008) was a French easy listening orchestra leader, arranger and composer.
Biography and career
Born on 20 November 1929 in Calais, France, Raymond Lefèvre is best known for his interpretation o ...
. An excerpt from the original Licari version appears in
Wyclef Jean
Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, ...
's 1997 album '' The Carnival'', 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'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
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn ...
to peace and human rights, to aid humanitarian projects. It was first performed on July 14, 1989, at the
Place de la Concorde
The Place de la Concorde () is one of the major public squares in Paris, France. Measuring in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées.
...
during the celebrations for the bicentennial of the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
, 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
''Les Choristes'' ("The Chorus" or "The Chorus Singers") is an 1877 pastel on monotype by French artist Edgar Degas. Part of a series of similar works depicting daily public entertainment at the time, it shows a group of singers performing a sc ...
''. 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)