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Biography
Yann Tiersen was born June 23, 1970 in Brest, France. He grew up in Rennes,
Brittany's cultural capital and spent his childhood there, where he studied classical
piano and violin, starting at a very young age. Yann proved to have little aptitude for
schoolwork, yet turned out to be a star pupil at the local conservatoire. He then
continued his training at several other musical academies including those in Rennes,
Nantes, and Boulogne.
As a teenager in the early 1980’s he was influenced by the punk subculture. At
the age of thirteen, he broke his violin then bought an electric guitar and formed a rock
band, after moving to Rennes. It may have been destiny that Rennes was home to a
three-day music festival, known as the Rencontres Trans Musicales. Yann attended the
festival and was riveted by raw acts like Nirvana, Einstürzende Neubauten, Nick Cave
and the Bad Seeds, The Cramps, Television, and Suicide. A few years later, when his
band broke up, he bought a cheap mixing board, an 8-track reel-to-reel audio tape
recorder, and started recording music solo with a synthesizer, sampler, and a drum
machine. In the summer of 1993, Yann stayed in his apartment, recording music alone,
starkly with an electric guitar, a violin, and an accordion, guided by his vision of “a
musical anarchy”. By the end of that summer, he had recorded over forty tracks, which
would form most of his first two albums.
In 1995, he released his first album La Valse Des Monstres. He released this
album on Independent record label, Sine Terra Firma. This album was released again
on the Nancy-based record label Ici d'Ailleurs, in 1998 as the second album of its
catalogue. One year later, in April 1996, he released Rue des Cascades, a collection of
short pieces recorded with a toy piano, harpsichord, violin, accordion, and mandolin. He
gained success in France in 1998 with the release of his third album Le Phare. Yann
had made his mark in the mainstream with his single from this album, which featured
singer Dominique Ane. Being in the mainstream eye carried him to his first collaboration
album with The Married Monk, Claire Pichet, and Olivier Mellano, titled Tout est Calme.
In April 2000, Yann headed across the Channel to perform in the UK for the first
time, supporting legendary French chanson star Juliette Gréco when she appeared at
the Barbican Centre in London. Yann returned to the studio to guest on Françoiz Breut's
new album (released in the summer of 2000), then hit the road again on his own
account, in the autumn of that year.
2001 proved to be a veritable turning point in Yann’s career. Whilst working on
his new album L’Absente, he was contacted about writing the soundtrack for Guillaume
Laurant and Jean-Pierre Jeunut’s Le Fabuleux d’Amelie Poulain, which was released as
Amelie in the U.S. Reluctant to do another project during the production of L’Absente,
he took the job. Yann only spent three weeks, revising many songs from other albums
and writing a few, new ones for this soundtrack. The album was released on Virgin
Records on in November. This proved to be a wise career choice, selling 200,000
copies in his homeland.
On April 10th, the multi-talented musician released his long awaited album
L’Absente, which music critics promptly showered with rave reviews. The musician
kicked off a major tour in April 2001, performing with a backing group of two female
vocalists and a string ensemble. Yann and his band brought the house down when they
performed at the Printemps de Bourges festival on April 18th, and caused another stir on
June 21st, playing in front of the French Houses at the annual Fête de la Musique.
Just a few days after such successful shows, Yann joined veteran French pop
star Jacques Higelin, on the esplanade outside the Hôtel de Ville in Paris, to celebrate
the centenary of the 1901 "Association" law. Yann kept up his hectic schedule over the
summer, performing at a number of major music festivals including Les Eurockéennes
in Belfort and La Route du Rock in St Malo in August. In the autumn of 2001 Yann
embarked upon an extensive national tour, playing concerts in some fifteen different
cities, up and down the country on top of three dates in Paris, at the Olympia. The tour
ratcheted up a notch in February 2002, with a performance at one of London's most
prestigious venues, the Royal Albert Hall. Yann went on to appear at the Cité de la
Musique in Paris, performing three exceptional concerts with l'Ensemble orchestral
Synaxis, conducted by Guillaume Bourgogne. These special concerts, which involved
the presence of some 50 musicians on stage, were co-produced by the Cité de la
Musique and the Printemps de Bourges festival.
Yann kicked off 2003 recording the soundtrack of German director Wolfgang
Becker's Goodbye Lenin. The Synaxis ensemble performed the 18 tracks that Yann
wrote. The film came out in February, in Germany and later, in other countries and was
a major success across Europe while Yann worked on demos for a more personal
album. He then met Canadian artist, Shannon Wright in early 2004. Discovering they
had similar artistic sensibilities, they decided to play together and work on a joint
project.
A long-awaited solo album finally hit the record stores in May 2005. Partly
recorded on the Ile d'Ouessant, off the coast of Brittany (as was his Le Phare), the
album, titled Les Retrouvailles, found Yann returning to a more familiar musical world.
Yann quickly hit the road for a series of rock-oriented concerts, playing in France,
Ireland, Japan and Spain – proving that his music knows no borders.
After a series of dates across Australia, Indonesia, and China, Yann performed at
Le Bataclan, in Paris, on 11 December 2006. Following this, he shut himself away in a
studio to work on the soundtrack to Pierre Marcel's documentary about French roundthe world yachtsman, Eric Tabarly. The film, Tabarly, hit French cinema screens in June
2008. In September and October 2009, Yann hit the road again for a European tour with
Orka.
Yann released a new album on 4 October 2010, named Dust Lane. Most of it
was put together on Ushant Island off the Breton coast, the site of his inspiring, holiday
home. This sixth creation, with its symphonic rock atmosphere, was completely different
from his past work. Steering away from a traditional verse and chorus line structure, the
composer plunged into a world of vintage keyboards, analogical textures, electric
guitars and back-up singers.
As soon as the album was released (on the London-based Mute label), Yann set
off for the USA to perform a series of concerts. He returned to France on November 22,
2010 for a date at the Elysée-Montmartre and then carried on with his tour of America
and Europe in 2011. In July he played Italy, the UK, and the Czech Republic. On the
18th of February 2012, Yann with Lionel Laquerriere, and Thomas Poli, presented his
side project, Elektronische Staubband, at La Route du Rock music festival in SaintMalo. It was about an hour of krautrock, electronic, and experimental music involving a
dozen of synthesizers and analog keyboards with the first three pieces of the set list
taken from Dust Lane and the remaining five from Skyline. 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.
“L’absente” Music History
This piece was written for the album L’absente and was released in 2001. Yann
Tiersen was working on the L’absente album when the French film director Jean-Pierre
Jeunette approached Yann about being involved in the film Amelie(news.bbc.co.uk).
The translation for L’absente is “The Absent”. The L’absente album made it to number
41 on the French album chart. L’absente is a piano solo that is greatly the influenced by
Erik Satie and Michael Nyman.(musicomh.com)
My interpretation of the song is that somebody is missing, or has decided to
leave and the song goes through the process of finding or winning them back. The
song is an emotional rollercoaster that kept me interested the whole way.
“L’absente” Listening Guide
0:00 Music begins, Timing is 4/4, tempo is 90, and volume is piano. The music is calm,
but depressing. I am imagining that a loved one is missing, or has decided to leave,
and depression has set in.
0:10 Volume changes to mezzo piano.
1:08 Music speeds up. The right hand is playing 8th Notes and the left hand is playing
the melody. It feels like there is a frantic search for the lost loved one, or a need to win
the heart of the loved one back.
1:25 Crescendo begins.
1:27 Volume is mezzo forte.
1:34 The melody moves to the right hand, the left hand is playing 8 th notes. Volume is
mezzo piano. This part does not feel as frantic as the previous part, but there still feels
like there is a sense of urgency. There may be a feeling that the loved one will be found
or won back.
2:10 Decrescendo.
2:17 Tempo changes to 120. The melody moves back to the left hand. The right hand is
playing 16th notes. The Volume is mezzo forte. This part feels very frantic as if there is
a fear that all hope will be lost of finding or winning back the heart of the loved one.
2:33 Both hands are playing 16th notes.
2:49 Volume changes to forte.
3:10 Music ends. It feels like all hope is lost and the search has been given up. There is
no feeling of relief or closure, the song just ends.
“Comptine D’un Autre Ete” Piano Version Music History
This song was written specifically for the soundtrack Amelie in 2001. It is a romantic
comedy about a shy waitress who changes the lives of people around her. By subtle
hints and manipulation she changes their lives for the better. The song is played in two
versions for the movie being solo piano and full orchestra. (imd.com)
The director of this movie, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, heard a CD by Yann and was
impressed. He asked Yann to compose pieces for the movie. This movie has pieces
from Yann’s first three albums and other pieces can be found on his fourth CD that he
was writing at the same time. “Comptine D’un Autre Ete” can only be found on this
soundtrack. (news.bbc.co.uk)
This soundtrack hit the US Billboard top world music albums in spot number 2 in 2001.
It was number 1 in French Albums Chart and number 3 in Belgian Albums Chart.
(lescharts.com)
“Comptine D’Un Autre Ete” Listening Guide
Timed composition
This piece is in quadruple meter 4/4 time.
0:00 The song starts with just the left hand playing bass clef. The left hand stays pretty
much the same through the entire song. The left hand never changes dynamically, it
never crescendos or decrescendos.
0:14 The melody comes in and it is simple. The texture is monophonic.
0:35 Same melody and added chords to the right hand.
0:55 The right hand changes to 16th notes and the texture is heterophonic.
1:17 Back to the original melody, up an octave.
1:28 Texture is Polyphonic with added chords.
1:37 the same chords are being played but an octave higher
1:58 Back to 16th notes, a little bit more complex in the right hand.
2:19 Melody changes a little bit but stays complex
2:39 Melody changes again, less complex.
2:58 More chords in right hand again but same melody
3:20 Different chords are added and it changes to a new melody
3:41 Back to first melody and a little bit more complex
3:53 Same melody but at a higher range.
4:00 Still on theme, same melody, less complex
4:24 16th notes are played, the melody is the same but extra notes are added. Texture
is heterophonic.
The accompaniment stayed the same throughout the piece. There were no key changes
or major texture changes in this piece.
“L’autre Valse D’Amelie” (Live)
This song was published in 2001 by Virgin records as part of the soundtrack to
the film Amelie. Yann was commissioned by the director the film to create the
soundtrack from new and previously recorded tracks. When asked about putting the
soundtrack together Yann said “for me it is like a game [...] I don't have a precise idea
when starting to write of which instruments will be used. It is a bit of instinct. I try to see
what fits" (musicomh.com). The soundtrack was incredibly successful was nominated
for a BAFTA award.
“L’autre Valse D’Amelie” Listening Guide
0:00- Theme A : Percussion begins the song with a steady beat in 3/4 time with no
syncopation. Within 3 seconds a piccolo begins. The song is in Rondo form so the
different themes continue to repeat themselves throughout the piece.
0:06- Theme B begins. The same tempo continues.
0:24-Theme B continues on an ascending scale. Tempo stays the same. The
percussion is still heard in the background keeping the rhythm with no syncopation.
0:35 -Theme C begins. A Variation on Themes A and B. Also in an ascending scale.
The
percussions dynamic change in Theme C and is played louder.
0:42- Theme D beings. A variation on the scale melody. The percussion plays one note
every other measure during Theme D.
1:04- Theme A returns - played an octave higher. The percussion resumes playing the
normal rhythm in 3/4 time. Throughout the different themes the music has a very “light
and airy” feel to it.
1:22- Theme B returns and is played an octave higher
1:32 - Theme C returns an octave higher. The percussions do not change their dynamic
with this theme change.
1:42- Section D returns an octave higher, with a slight variation on the melody
2:00 - Tempo slows. The melody continues to ascend.
2:20. Final note played.
2:21- End of song.
“La Noyee 2” Music History
“La Noyee” was originally published in 2001 on the Amelie soundtrack and later
included on the C’etait ici live album. Yann’s music has very French feel, especially in
“La Noyee” which features the accordion and the clarinet. However, when he is
composing music does not worry about defining his music or the genre it will fit into. In a
2002 interview said “ its not my job to try and define my music. To keep the enthusiasm
for creating, an artist should not care about genres.(musicomh.com).
“La Noyee 2” Listening Guide
0:00 Song begins with the first theme. It is in 3/4 time. The accordion gives the rhythm
with syncopation.
0:14- The texture builds as the clarinet is added. It plays its own melody,Theme B,
while the accordion continues playing theme A.
0:30- The texture continues to build as a second accordion is added playing the theme
B while the first accordion continues to play theme a.
0:32- A fourth instrument is added and plays one whole note for a measure, then jumps
and octave and holds the next note for a measure, and continues in that pattern for the
rest of the song.
0:43- Theme C begins with all instruments playing together. The song feels like a waltz.
Its slowly builds, but keeps the same tempo through most of the song.
0:44- A cello is added and plays theme C with the rest of the instruments. It starts off in
the background and then grows to be one of the most noticeable instruments.
0:55- The cello stays at the forefront and continues in the same theme as the rest of the
instruments, but plays at a slower tempo.
0:58- All instruments begin to play theme A again with a thick texture.
1:11- The chords in theme A begin to ascend
1:12- Theme D is played by the chimes at a faster tempo while the Theme A is played
by the rest of the instrument. With the added chimes it changes the feel of it and sounds
more like a song in a circus than a waltz.
1:27 - Chimes repeat Theme D with the tempo growing faster and faster. Theme A
continues in the background
1:35- The tempo changes again. Continues to grow.
1:43- Accordion one begins Theme B again with all of the instruments playing at
different octaves.
1:58- The cello stops playing
2:14- An oboe joins in with the main melody
2:19- All other instruments stop playing and the oboe plays one last low note.
2:20- End of Song.
“Le Moulin” Music History
“Le Moulin” is one of the few songs Yann composed for the Amelie soundtrack that
wasn’t taken from a previous album. It has not been featured on later solo albums. The
song is another beautiful piano solo on this album that went platinum in Canada
(cria.ca). The album was released on Virgin records in 2001.
“Le Moulin” Listening Guide
0:00- Piano beings playing a background beat in 3/4 time.
0:09- Accordion begins playing Theme A piano while the piano continues to hold the
beat in the background.
0:49- Accordion stops playing. The piano picks up Theme A and continues to play the
background beat with his left hand.
1:18- Piano plays Theme A over again with the right hand playing in octaves and the
left hand continuing the background beat with slight variations.
1:45 -Piano beings Theme B that slowly builds. Background beat builds and is slightly
more complex.
1:57 - Theme B is repeated on octave higher.
2:12-Piano returns to Theme A
2:45- Theme A is repeated again in a higher octave.
3:09 -Theme B is repeated
3:22- Theme B repeated again an octave higher while the right hand plays in octaves.
3:35 -The tempo begins to slow.
3:42- end of song
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http://www.cria.ca/gold/0407_g.php