Written by Hoctro, translated from my Vietnamese article. Translation done by Claude AI.
In this short article, the author hopes that if you have already listened to Raymond Lefèvre's orchestral music (abbreviated: RL), you will join in recalling a brilliant orchestral arranger; and if you have not yet heard it, please discover and listen to a few dozen of his finest compositions.
Biography
According to the book "Les Arrangeurs de la Chanson Française" by Serge Elhaik, published in 2018, maestro Raymond Lefèvre was born on November 20, 1929, nearly a century ago. He grew up in a family that, while not middle-class, was deeply passionate about music. His father could play the clarinet, piano, and cello. RL studied flute and piano from an early age, winning first prizes in both instruments in his hometown of Calais, as well as a first prize in music theory. Realizing that Calais lacked the resources for advanced study, he asked his parents to allow him to go to Paris in 1946, at only 16 years old. He subsequently passed the entrance exam for the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris.
Knowing his parents could not afford to support him, in his second month in Paris he began seeking work playing piano for dance bands and orchestras. He gradually developed a taste for popular music and jazz, and by 1949 became the pianist and arranger for Hubert Rostaing's band. A few years later he became pianist for Bernard Hilda's band, which at the time directed the most famous supper-club orchestra in Paris. He also toured with Bernard Hilda throughout Italy, Spain, Monte Carlo, and even the United States.
Around the mid-1950s, RL met Franck Pourcel, a maestro with an already-established grand orchestra who recorded for Pathé–Marconi. Franck invited him to arrange some pieces and play piano for the band. Through Franck, RL was introduced to Paul Mauriat, which marked the beginning of a close friendship among the three.
In 1956, RL decided to form his own band under the name "Raymond Lefèvre et son grand orchestre." He also signed a contract as musical director for Barclay Records, responsible for arranging music for new singers — the first of whom was none other than the beloved diva Dalida, with many famous pieces such as "Bambino," "Love in Portofino," "O Sole Mio," "La Chanson d'Orphée," etc. In addition, he served as conductor and arranger for television programs from the late 1950s through the early 1970s, including "Musicorama," "Palmarès des Chansons," and "Cadet Rousselle." He also composed film scores for the six-film series "Les Gendarmes de Saint-Tropez," starring comedian Louis de Funès, and several subsequent films.
Only in 1972 — having by then achieved world fame, especially in Japan with "La Reine de Saba," which earned him repeated invitations to tour the country over many years — did he finally slow his extraordinary pace of work, concentrating instead on composing for his grand orchestra. The 1970s and 1980s continued to bear witness to his achievements in harmony and orchestration, with albums covering French, American, British, and Italian music, as well as classical renewals such as "Soul Symphonies 1, 2, 3 & 4," "Back to Bach," etc. His finest orchestral works have been companions to countless music lovers from the mid-1950s to this day, and will remain so far into the future…
Figure 2 – Covers of several compilation CDs produced in Japan – Source: personal collection.
A Journey Back Through History via Raymond Lefèvre's Orchestral Works
When one looks back to explore the music of the 1960s through the early 1990s, listeners rediscover gems from a golden era of popular music, rendered with RL's very refined orchestral style. Not only do we find English and American pieces such as those by The Beatles, we also encounter French and Italian songs, and classical works rejuvenated with electric guitar, bass, and drums. Representative English and American titles include "Strangers in the Night," "A Whiter Shade of Pale," "The World We Know," "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "We Shall Dance," "Let Me Try Again," etc. We can also see that RL had a particular fondness for French music, offering listeners many outstanding pieces such as "La Bohème," "Un Homme et une Femme," "Love me, Please Love me," "Ame Caline (Soul Coaxing)," "La Reine de Saba," "13 Jours en France," "Que Je t'aime," "La Musica," "Viens Viens," "Rien Qu'une Larme," and many more…
After RL stopped recording new CDs, the Victor label created a series of five thematic albums, most notably three covering Italian music, French chanson (classic chanson category), and popularized classical music (see Figure 2).
- French Chanson: a compilation CD titled "Hymne a L'amour," featuring timeless chansons such as "Les Feuilles Mortes," "La Bohème," "La Mer," "La Vie En Rose," "L'important C'est La Rose," etc.
- Italian Music: a compilation CD titled "Da Troppo Tempo," with that piece and others of the same era such as "Io Che Non Vivo," "Un Grand Amore E Niente Piu," "Parole-Parole," etc.
- Popularized Classical Music with the album "Raymond Lefèvre Pop Classical": "Le Canon de Pachebel," "Aria de Bach," "Concerto Pour Une Voix," etc.
Raymond Lefèvre's Orchestral Style
If one can draw an overall comparison between the harmonic styles of Paul Mauriat (PM) and RL, PM's orchestral music has a mathematical precision, much like the music of J.S. Bach, whereas Raymond Lefèvre's can be likened to a certain school of architecture — it makes us feel "settled and at ease" within that architecture, day after day. Raymond's music does not carry an overtly brilliant, "genius" quality like W.A. Mozart's; rather, I find his music carries the character of L.V. Beethoven — subtle, reaching deeper into the inner self than the music of the other two masters (Bach and Mozart).
After listening extensively to scattered YouTube videos and mp3s of pieces I do not own on disc, combined with the pieces from the 10 CDs I purchased nearly 30 years ago during my very first visit to Paris, there are around 40 pieces that I particularly appreciate as most representative of this musical style:
Figure 3 – The contents of all CDs are written in Japanese first – Source: personal collection.
- Contemporary French Music: Après Toi, Sans Toi Je Suis Seul, Je T'aime – Moi Non Plus, Chez Laurette, Il Neige Sur Yesterday, Eux, La Reine De Saba, Emmanuelle, Goodbye Marylou, Belle Ile En Mer, La Maison Est En Ruine, Concerto Pour Une Voix, 13 Jours En France, Viens Viens, Un Jour Un Enfant, Que Je T'aime, Deux Amis Pour Un Amour, Mourir D'aimer, Une simple mélodie.
- Italian Music: Io Che Non Vivo, Da Troppo Tempo, Un Grand Amore E Niente Piu, Paroles-Paroles, Storie Di Tutti I Giorni, Donna Con Te, Le Colline Sono In Fiore, Qui Saura.
- European and American Music: Let Me Try Again, Yesterday Once More, Little Girl, Save Your Kisses For Me, A Whiter Shade Of Pale, We Shall Dance, Hotel California.
- Popularized Classical Music: Adagio De La Sonate Pathetique De Beethoven, Adagio Du Concerto En Do Mineur De Marcello, Aria De Bach, Le Canon De Pachelbel.
The pieces listed above are, in my humble opinion, the finest. Of course there are many other French chansons that are also beautiful, but I do not find their melodies as appealing as those above.
The common characteristic of all these arrangements is that they each have at least two or three melodic lines: the principal melody of the piece, and one or more secondary melodies that interweave with the main melody to enhance it, or create a harmonic balance that makes the music feel very settled — the listener feels comfortable and at ease, with no sense of unrest. These secondary melodies have clear structure and layering; they are not improvised. Raymond has a very scientific way of filling the pauses between musical phrases — I never find his pieces loose or thin; there is always something, first one element, then another, complementing each other in harmony. I leave you to discover for yourself how RL arranges the pieces above, because words cannot convey the delight and joy that comes from listening to his music.
Raymond Lefèvre's Music: Will It Endure Through Time?
In my personal view, the Japanese have acquired exclusive distribution rights to all the LPs and CDs that RL recorded. They have been gradually commercializing them — first for their own domestic market — with compilation albums, "the best of," and "deluxe" editions, in which the track names must appear in Japanese first, followed by the original song title, as seen in Figure 3 below. When I purchase Japanese-produced albums like those I mentioned, if I want the song names to display on my iPhone, I have to replace all the Japanese characters with the original titles — a very time-consuming process.
During his lifetime, when Serge Elhaik asked whether RL's grand orchestra ever performed at major concert halls, Raymond answered: "Never!" He added that Paul Mauriat shared the same fate — that the music of both maestros and other greats such as Franck Pourcel and Caravelli was beloved only by international audiences, while the French public remained indifferent. What a shame!
Having witnessed a French music connoisseur — Stéphane Lerouge — who has been very influential in collecting the legacy of past masters to create box-set Collections such as Ennio Morricone 1 & 2, then Michel Legrand, then Francis Lai, I often wonder why Stéphane does not put together a collection of Raymond Lefèvre's work to sell to international music collectors. Why allow such a treasure trove of music by a French maestro to fall into Japanese hands, leaving French and international audiences at a disadvantage? Japan stopped producing Raymond Lefèvre albums more than 15 years ago, and whatever they do sell is available only on their domestic market.
Exactly ten years ago (2014), when I concluded my third article on Paul Mauriat's orchestral music, I still felt the regret of having listened to Raymond Lefèvre's orchestral music just as much as Paul Mauriat's, yet not having managed to write a single article about him. This year, during the annual holiday break, I "firmly resolved" to write down an article about RL, sharing as well my feelings about the misfortune of not being able to collect his albums in the order shown in Figure 1 at the beginning of the article. This article is reasonably complete; I look forward to seeing you in the next musical reflection.
Warm regards,
Học Trò
12/25/2024
References
- "Les Arrangeurs de la Chanson Française" – Serge Elhaik. Published by Textuel, 2018.
- Raymond Lefèvre themed website: https://www.grandorchestras.com/lefevre
- Raymond Lefèvre Discography page from Victor Entertainment (in Japanese). CDs were only released once, mostly in 2009, and sold only in Japan — now out of print. Used copies on eBay average around $90 per disc. https://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/-/Discographylist/A002476.html
