People often say "Tell me what books you read, and I'll tell you what kind of person you are." I often think about that saying, and usually define my musical taste as "Tell me what music you listen to, and I'll guess whether you're an introverted or extroverted type." For nearly a year now, I've been listening frequently to Paul Mauriat's music, especially from the 1965-1980 period.
http://www.grandorchestras.com/mauriat/albums/discography-visual.html
Early Discoveries
Before discovering the website mentioned above, I had made two other remarkable discoveries about two Paul Mauriat fans: BoyFromParis and another person from Taiwan with the alias o1160507. These two individuals had uploaded nearly all the songs Paul arranged from 1965-1971, and scattered masterpieces from 1972 onward.
Having heard so many new and wonderful Paul Mauriat songs lately, I'm now torn—do I love Paul Mauriat or Raymond Lefèvre more? Previously, a distant cousin had "enlightened" me about Raymond Lefèvre, recording about 6-7 cassette tapes from his CDs for me. I listened to those tapes until they wore out. Later I traveled to France and bought 9 Raymond compilation CDs at the exorbitant price of $30 each (in 1996). But lately I find that during 1965-1975, Paul's music sounds much better than Raymond's arrangements from the same period.
My History with Paul's Music
My history of listening to Paul's music actually goes back much further than Raymond's. Perhaps it began with faintly hearing "Love Story" or "A Time For Us" before 1975? Hearing music drifting from somewhere while strolling the streets with my father, or visiting family friends and catching some music?
Growing up, my first real "impression" of Paul came from "Alla Figaro," the background music for World Cup '86. At the time I didn't know the title—I just knew that whenever I turned on the TV and heard that music, the match was about to start :-)
Additionally, in documentaries about the Mekong Delta, Saigon television often played background music without crediting who performed it. Only later when I heard Paul again did I learn the origin—pieces Paul himself composed and arranged, like "Minuetto," "Adieu l'Été Adieu la Plage," and especially "Nocturne" and "Petite Melodie."
Classics In The Air
Later (1986-1990), I still didn't pay much attention to Paul's music, but I knew and listened to songs from his "Classics In The Air" trilogy. Thanks to that trilogy, I came to know and love many classical pieces like Bach's "Prelude in C." I still admire and thank Paul for introducing classical music to young people through this "classics made easy" approach.
The Rediscovery
Since I started blogging in Vietnamese regularly, especially after discovering the webpage created by Paul Mauriat super fans, I've become truly passionate about his music, particularly from 1965 to 1975. Each year, according to the discography, he regularly released five to six LPs. His creative output was truly astounding—unprecedented.
What I love most is that he found the best French and Euro-American songs and re-arranged them, thereby supplementing my knowledge of French and American music from that period.
To discuss his arranging artistry during this period could go on forever, but I want to emphasize one point: the clarity and modernity of his arrangements. When listening, no one would think these songs were written in the 60s. Some later Beatles songs (66-70) don't have arrangements noticeably superior to Paul's from the same period.
For each song, Paul extracted its essence, then infused his Paul quality, arranging and orchestrating to make it more splendid, more refined. For example, in "Même si tu revenais," the deep piano carrying the main melody makes it more alluring, while the arpeggiated piano sweep in section 2 makes the main melody beautiful in a different way. His string writing is also fantastic—sometimes sighing, sometimes harmonizing with the main melody.
French Music and "Joie de Vivre"
In the previous section, I mentioned the talented, versatile musician of French music: the conductor of the grand orchestra bearing his name, Le Grand Orchestre de Paul Mauriat. In his catalog of over 1,000 arrangements, a significant portion—nearly two hundred songs—are French songs from the 1940s-50s like "Comme d'habitude" and "La vie en rose," and especially songs that have become immortal from 1965 to 1980.
From the 1930s-50s, French music continued to perfect its own pop style, recognized worldwide as "la chanson française," with iconic songs like "La vie en rose" performed by the legendary Édith Piaf. In this genre, one sees emotions that are both elevated and simple, melodies that are captivating, and song development that is straightforward.
Sad sentiments exist but aren't the majority. Listeners perceive small joys, romantic love, love of nature. Upon reflection, the music reflects an attitude, a way of living very famous among the French: "joie de vivre" (joy of living).
This is clearly expressed in how Paul Mauriat chose to present to listeners, with songs like:
- "Le ciel, le soleil et la mer"
- "Un homme et une femme"
- "Que je t'aime"
- "Je t'aime... moi non plus"
- "Et bonjour à toi l'artiste"
Listening to his music, one feels happy, the day passes quickly, one feels eager to live along with the captivating rhythm of melody and tempo.
Les Matins d'Hiver (Winter Mornings)
Recently I tried finding French songs Paul arranged in the 70s, and found many outstanding ones beyond those I already knew. Among the lesser-known ones was "Les matins d'hiver." Seeing how beautifully he arranged it, I checked who performed the original—it turned out to be Gérard Lenorman.
As soon as the music starts, there's excitement, with a fast-tempo piano intro. Then comes the verse with gentle strings, but with a syncopated bass line and many rests. Then a string "hook" creates a "flashback" effect.
The drums casually keep time with the bass, barely playing the first half of the verse, only the second half, and when playing fills, that's when it really gets lively. The chorus becomes an anthem of ultimate elation—it can't get more joyful.
Most Famous French Arrangements (1971-1977)
Here's a list of the most famous songs Paul arranged—anyone who knows French music must know these:
- Tombe la neige
- Après toi
- Ce n'est rien
- La décadanse
- L'avventura
- Summer of '42
- Une belle histoire
- La maladie d'amour
- Rien qu'une larme
- Tu te reconnaîtras
- Viens viens (Rain rain)
- Le premier pas
- Emmanuelle
- Et bonjour à toi l'artiste
- L'été indien (Africa)
- Il a neigé sur Yesterday
- L'oiseau et l'enfant
- Michèle
Paul particularly favored music from artists like Stone et Charden, Gérard Lenorman, Michel Fugain, and Julien Clerc.
The Cooling of French Music
Suddenly, around 1977-1978, Paul stopped arranging many French songs. Why? Two main reasons:
- The rise of disco music - The mid-70s saw disco's coronation with Donna Summer, The Bee Gees, ABBA, Boney M. French music followed the trend but lost the charm and lyricism. Where were those smooth melodies over syncopated drum rhythms? Replaced by monotonous disco beats.
- The Japanese market - Paul's orchestral music became an indispensable spiritual nourishment for the Japanese. He performed thousands of concerts in Japan, from 1968 until his farewell Sayonara Concert in Osaka in 1998. Japanese audiences were indifferent to French music, preferring American hits, so French songs gradually disappeared from his albums.
Dutton Vocalion CDs
Only recently has the Japanese music industry's monopoly been broken by Dutton Vocalion, a small company specializing in remastering old LPs at reasonable prices.
http://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk
If you're in Europe or the USA, you can buy these CDs for about $20 each. This is a rare opportunity not to be missed.
Did We Fall in Love Through the Japanese?
For middle-aged people over 40 like us, we probably only know a few representative Paul Mauriat songs like: "Love Is Blue," "El Bimbo," "Minuetto," "Penelope," "Toccata," "La Reine de Saba," "La chanson pour Anna."
These CDs were made by the Japanese, who held the monopoly on remixing Paul's arrangements. We kept hearing those same songs, not knowing that Paul had many other wonderful arrangements, especially during French music's prime from 1970-77.
If possible, try to buy one or two of the original Dutton Vocalion CDs. Truly, listening from CD is 10 times better than YouTube!
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