Georges Delerue

Le violon s'invite au cinema 1

Getting to grips with an orchestral score with the aim of reducing it to one or two instruments has always seemed to me to be a very delicate wager and art. Producing a simplified transcription is a perilous exercise requiring musical knowledge and a great deal of thought, motivation and enthusiasm. Furthermore, when it is not the composer himself venturing into the forest of notes, the musician who takes on the task needs a sufficiently deep understanding of, and musical affinity with, the creator of the work to be able to keep to the main path without wandering off along sidetracks. To plunge into another person's work also requires humiliry and a lot of talent. The spirit of the work must be retained, it must not be reduced to dry bones stripped of their flesh and lacking in charm. For the vibrant essence of the work to be released, the score and the resonance of the notes must be inhaled like a perfume. In this respect, the work of Régis Boulier has been exemplary, allowing us to enter immediately into the musical heart of Georges Delerue. It is thanks to Régis that music which would have remained inanimate, imprisoned in the shadow of the original manuscript, has been given a second life. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to him for having given the music this chance. Last but not least, in these particularly difficult times, I would like to thank Editions Combre for having taken on Georges Delerue and for courageously continuing an essential task in order that music may live. Colette Delerue