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85-475: Yann Pierre Tiersen (born 23 June 1970) is a French Breton musician and composer. His musical career is split between studio recordings, music collaborations, and film soundtracks songwriting. His music incorporates a large variety of classical and contemporary instruments, primarily the electric guitar, the piano, synthesisers, and the violin, but he also includes instruments such as the melodica , xylophone , toy piano , harpsichord , piano accordion , and even

170-539: A car or a bicycle wheel . Tiersen plays all of these instruments himself either in the studio or on a live set. Tiersen's ability to compose music that can be easily used for film scores was evident from the beginning. All tracks from his debut album, La Valse des monstres , were conceived for stage adaptations and plays. The title track of his second album, Rue des cascades , was used for The Dreamlife of Angels by Erick Zonca , and several tracks from both albums plus three songs from Le Phare are featured on

255-469: A typewriter . Tiersen is often mistaken for a soundtrack composer; he himself states that "I'm not a composer and I really don't have a classical background," but his real focus is on touring and recording studio albums, which are often used for film soundtracks. Tracks taken from his first three studio albums were used for the soundtrack of the 2001 French film Amélie . Tiersen was born in 1970 in Brest , in

340-794: A Breton diaspora within the French borders and in the overseas departments and territories of France ; it is mainly established in the Paris area , where more than one million people claim Breton heritage. Many Breton families have also migrated to the Americas, predominantly to Canada (mostly Quebec and Atlantic Canada ) and the United States . The only places outside Brittany that still retain significant Breton customs are in Île-de-France (mainly Quartier de Montparnasse in Paris), Le Havre and Îles des Saintes , where

425-448: A CD of Tiersen, and the director found it absolutely superb. Jeunet bought all of Tiersen's albums, and then contacted him to see if the Breton composer was interested in writing the film score for Amélie . In two weeks, Tiersen composed nineteen pieces for the film and also allowed the production to take anything they wanted from his other records. Amélie received great critical acclaim and

510-479: A DVD short film entitled La Traversée , directed by Aurélie du Boys, which documents the making of the album in Ushant, and incorporates an animated video for the non-album track "Le Train" and live versions of a handful of songs. The album produced a single, "Kala", sung by Elizabeth Fraser, and Tiersen also played piano on Staples' solo debut album, Lucky Dog Recordings 03-04 . The subsequent world tour of 2006 replaced

595-839: A Film , and of the World Soundtrack Academy award. The soundtrack album charted in many countries, including the number one position on the French Albums Chart . While he was writing the film score for Amélie , Tiersen was also preparing his fifth studio album L'Absente . The album was characterized by several contributions including 35-member Ensemble Orchestral Synaxis conducted by Guillaume Bourgogne, viola player Bertrand Lambert, violinists Yann Bisquay and Sophie Naboulay, Natacha Régnier , and saxophonist Grégoire Simon, and long-time collaborators Dominique A, Christine Ott , Lisa Germano , Neil Hannon, Têtes Raides, Christian Quermalet, Marc Sens, and Sacha Toorop. The album, which

680-737: A collaboration album with American singer-songwriter Shannon Wright , and, in the same year, he is featured on The Divine Comedy 's album Absent Friends . In 2005, Tiersen released his fifth studio album Les Retrouvailles . The album features several collaborators including the Orchestre National de Paris, singers Elizabeth Fraser, Jane Birkin, Stuart A. Staples, Dominique A, and Miossec, strings players Jean-François Assy, Frederic Dessus, Guillaume Fontanarosa, Bertrand Causse, Anne Causse Biragnet, Armelle Legoff, Frédéric Haffner, flute player Elliott, drummer Ludovic Morillon, and ondes Martenot player Christine Ott . Les Retrouvailles also includes

765-542: A collaboration mini album by Yann Tiersen, The Married Monk, Claire Pichet, and Olivier Mellano, and of his first live album, Black Session: Yann Tiersen . The live album, recorded in December 1998, features Tiersen with Claire Pichet, Dominique A, The Divine Comedy 's singer and songwriter Neil Hannon , Noir Désir's singer and songwriter Bertrand Cantat , singer and illustrator Françoiz Breut , anglophone French rock band The Married Monk, French folk rock group Têtes Raides ,

850-565: A collection of short pieces recorded with a toy piano , a harpsichord , a violin, a piano accordion , and a mandolin . The title track, sung by French solo singer Claire Pichet , was used the following year for the Palme d'Or nominated French drama film The Dreamlife of Angels , and several tracks received greater exposure when they were featured on the Jean-Pierre Jeunet 's film Amélie , five years later. Tiersen usually plays most of

935-614: 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 . Tiersen was also chosen by Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in March 2012 in Minehead , England. Skyline was released in North America via ANTI- Records on 17 April 2012, and it was followed by

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1020-492: A few French celebrities such as Marion Cotillard , Suliane Brahim , Malik Zidi , Patrick Poivre d'Arvor , Yoann Gourcuff , Nolwenn Leroy and Yann Tiersen . After 15 years of disputes in the French courts, the European Court of Justice recognized Breton Nationality for the six children of Jean-Jacques and Mireille Manrot-Le Goarnig; they are "European Citizens of Breton Nationality". In 2015, Jonathan Le Bris started

1105-543: A five-year absence as a composer of film scores, Tiersen provided the background music for Tabarly , a 2008 documentary film by Pierre Marcel about the French sailor, two-time champion of the Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race , and father of French yachting Éric Tabarly . The documentary was released in June 2008, exactly ten years after Tabarly's death. Éric Tabarly was lost on the night of 12–13 June 1998 in

1190-649: A full orchestra and an amplified string quartet. From 15 to 17 February 2002, Tiersen with many of the collaborators who participated in the recording sessions for L'Absente plus Claire Pichet, violinists Nicolas Stevens and Renaud Lhoest, bassist Jean-François Assy, viola player Olivier Tilkin, and uilleann pipes , bagpipes , and low whistle player Ronan Le Bars, performed live at the Cité de la Musique ( City of Music ) in Paris. Part of these three concerts went on to form Tiersen's second live album C'était ici ( It Was Here ), which

1275-578: A group of Breton families settled in the mid-17th century. In the late fourth century, large numbers of British auxiliary troops in the Roman army may have been stationed in Armorica . The ninth-century Historia Brittonum states that the emperor Magnus Maximus , who withdrew Roman forces from Britain, settled his troops in the province. Nennius and Gildas mention a second wave of Britons settling in Armorica in

1360-618: A legal battle against the French administration to claim this status. The Breton community outside Brittany includes groups of Bretons in the Greater Paris area, Le Havre , and Toulon . Groups with Breton heritage also live in other countries, most notably in Canada and the United States. In Paris, Bretons used to settle in the neighborhood around the Montparnasse train station, which is also

1445-481: A light pointing at it. —Yann Tiersen Tiersen rose to domestic fame upon the release of his third studio album, Le Phare ( The Lighthouse ) in 1998. The album was recorded in self-imposed seclusion on the isle of Ushant ( Breton : Enez Eusa , French: Ouessant ) at the end of the English Channel which marks the most north-western point of territorial France. Tiersen spent two months there, living in

1530-469: A one-man works. It is at this point in his career, around the end of the nineties, that his collaborations begin to grow. In 1997, he collaborated with French rock band Noir Désir , the following year Tiersen and Dominique A released the single for "Monochrome", and, in collaboration with French electronic rock band Bästard, the EP Bästard ~ Yann Tiersen , while 1999 saw the releases of Tout est calme ,

1615-497: A one-off tribute formation, and to Li(f)e , the fourth solo studio album by hip-hop artist Sage Francis . October 2011 saw the European release of his seventh studio album, Skyline . The nine-track album, a follow on from his Dust Lane , was once again recorded at Tiersen's home on the island of Ushant in the south-western end of the English Channel , with further parts recorded in Paris, San Francisco, Berlin, and Nashville . It

1700-496: A rented house. At night-time, he would watch the Phare du Creach , one of the most powerful lighthouses in the world, and was fascinated by the stunning scenery repeated every night. Le Phare , which featured Claire Pichet , French singer and songwriter Dominique A , and Belgian drummer and percussionist Sacha Toorop, sold over 160,000 copies, confirming Tiersen's status as one of the most innovative artists of his generation and commencing

1785-452: A revival. This includes the Tro Breizh , which takes place in the shrines of the seven founding saints of Breton Christianity. The Christian tradition is widely respected by both believers and nonbelievers, who see it as a symbol of Breton heritage and culture . Breton religious tradition places great emphasis on the " Seven Founder Saints ": A pardon is the patron saint's feast day of

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1870-743: A rock-oriented sound, with the only difference that Skyline has a higher number of contributors than Dust Lane . Tiersen has contributed, either in part or in full, to the realization of several records among which stand out " Gin Soaked Boy " and Absent Friends by The Divine Comedy, Vingt à Trente Mille Jours by Françoiz Breut , Lucky Dog Recordings 03-04 by Stuart A. Staples , and Li(f)e by Sage Francis , as well as records by Noir Désir, Têtes Raides, The Married Monk, French electronic trio Smooth, Katel, David Delabrosse, Christine Ott, or Miossec. In 2011, Tiersen, with Lionel Laquerriere and Thomas Poli, has also started Elektronische Staubband,

1955-411: A run of successful albums. Three songs from this album, "La Dispute", "La Noyée" and "Sur le fil" were later featured on the 2001 soundtrack Amélie , while "L'Homme aux bras ballants", written and composed by Dominique A , was also featured on Laurent Gorgiard's 1997 short animation soundtrack of the same name. Its single "Monochrome", sung by Dominique A , was a radio hit and propelled the album into

2040-529: A side project on electronic music . This new project is expected to lead to the release of a new album in 2013. In 2011, Tiersen collaborated with the Yellow Bird Project (YBP) to design a t-shirt, which was sold to raise money for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The main reason he chose to support MSF, is for their work as one of the three charities helping refugees in Libya at the time. A live video session

2125-462: A singer and Tiersen wrote three songs for her including his arrangement of Georges Brassens ' "Le Parapluie", a song featured on the tribute album Les Oiseaux de passage , released in 2001. That same year they toured in France and abroad. They have a daughter, Lise, born in 2002, but Tiersen and Régnier have since divorced. In this period, Tiersen also took his music out around the world, playing shows with

2210-476: A years-long break, creating the score for a documentary about the sailor Éric Tabarly . Tiersen has always composed his music in solitude, starting from simple melodies to which he added subsequent layers. His first album, La Valse des monstres , is almost entirely performed by him alone playing all the instruments, with the exception of "Quimper 94" and "Le Banquet" with drums and charleston provided by Laurent Heudes. His second album, Rue des cascades , saw

2295-488: Is influenced by the classical training he received as a child, by American and British punk subculture , and by the music he used to listen to as a teenager. His musical style is deceptively easy to recognize but difficult to define. It varies greatly from one album to another and with time. His melancholic music and composing techniques mix classical and folk music elements with pop and rock ones. His delicate but deeply emotional style has been linked to Frédéric Chopin and

2380-446: Is like that. —Yann Tiersen I didn’t know French musette music at all. Even people like Jacques Brel — I discovered Brel through Scott Walker . My parents listened to Brel, of course, but when you’re a teenager you’re not interested. So it was only when I heard Scott Walker's versions that I thought "this is fucking good", you know. The only French singer I listened to was Serge Gainsbourg . —Yann Tiersen Tiersen's music

2465-524: Is spoken only in Upper Brittany, where Breton used to be spoken as well but it has seen a decline and has been less dominant in Upper Brittany since around the year 900. Currently, most Bretons' native language is standard French . Historically, Brittany and its people have been counted as one of the six Celtic nations . The actual number of Bretons in Brittany and France as a whole is difficult to assess as

2550-510: The binioù-kozh . The basic clarinet ( treujenn-gaol ) had all but disappeared but has regained popularity over the past few years. Nowadays groups with many different styles of music may be found, ranging from rock to jazz such as Red Cardell , ethno-rock, Diwall and Skeduz as well as punk . Some modern fest-noz groups also use electronic keyboards and synthesisers, for example Strobinell , Sonerien Du , Les Baragouineurs , and Plantec . Breton cuisine contains many elements from

2635-444: The hanter dro , and the plinn . During the fest-noz , most dances are practised in a chain or in a circle with participants locking pinky fingers; however, there are also dances in pairs and choreographed dances with sequences and figures. Two main types of Breton music are a choral a cappella tradition called kan ha diskan , and music involving instruments, including purely instrumental music. Traditional instruments include

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2720-466: The Cité de la Musique in Paris, features more than 50 musicians. Yann Tiersen & Shannon Wright , a collaboration album with American singer and songwriter Shannon Wright , was released in October 2004, and his 2005 album, Les Retrouvailles , features vocals from Stuart Staples of Tindersticks , English actress and singer Jane Birkin , Breton singer and songwriter Miossec , Elizabeth Fraser ,

2805-760: The Deixonne Law . This law allowed Breton language and culture to be taught 1–3 hours a week in the public school system on the provision that a teacher was both able and prepared to do so. In modern times, a number of schools and colleges have emerged with the aim of providing Breton-medium education or bilingual Breton/French education. There are a number of Breton language weekly and monthly magazines. Newspapers, magazines and online journals available in Breton include Al Lanv (based in Quimper), Al Liamm , Louarnig - Rouzig , and Bremañ . Several radio stations broadcast in

2890-561: The Duchy of Brittany . The first two kingdoms seem to derive their names from the homelands of the migrating tribes in Britain, Cornwall (Kernow) and Devon ( Dumnonia ). Bro Waroc'h ("land of Waroch ", now Bro Gwened ) derives from the name of one of the first known Breton rulers, who dominated the region of Vannes (Gwened). The rulers of Domnonée, such as Conomor , sought to expand their territory, claiming overlordship over all Bretons, though there

2975-561: The Irish Sea when he was struck by a gaff of his Pen Duick during heavy swell and knocked overboard from his yacht near Wales while on his way to the Fife Regatta in Scotland. His body was recovered five weeks later off the coast of Ireland by a French fishing trawler . The documentary, narrated by Tabarly himself, traces his sporting career until his last meal in Ushant. Before the end of

3060-684: The Skyline Tour with dates in the United States, Canada, Iceland, Spain, Portugal, France, Slovak Republic, Austria, Finland and the United Kingdom. On 3 August 2016, it was announced that Tiersen married Emilie Quinquis in Ushant, Brittany. Quinquis stated that she and Tiersen were married on 31 July 2016. On 6 April 2017 they gave birth to a son. [There is] no frontier between classical music and popular music, you are free to work with whatever you want. For me it’s natural to use lots of different instruments and textures and sounds and noises because life

3145-455: The bombard (similar to an oboe) and two types of bagpipes ( veuze and binioù kozh ). Other instruments often found are the diatonic accordion , the clarinet , and occasionally violin as well as the hurdy-gurdy . After World War II , the Great Highland bagpipe (and binioù bras ) became commonplace in Brittany through the bagado ù (Breton pipe bands) and thus often replaced

3230-452: The government of France does not collect statistics on ethnicity. The population of Brittany, based on a January 2007 estimate, was 4,365,500. There is reason to believe that this number includes the department of Loire-Atlantique , which the Vichy government separated from historical Brittany in 1941. It is said that, in 1914, over one million people spoke Breton west of the boundary between

3315-463: The parish . It often begins with a procession followed by mass in honour of the saint. Pardons are often accompanied by small village fairs. The three most famous pardons are: There is an ancient pilgrimage called the Tro Breizh (tour of Brittany) which involves pilgrims walking around Brittany from the grave of one of the Seven Founder Saints to another. Currently, pilgrims complete

3400-451: The punk subculture , and bands like The Stooges and Joy Division . When he was 13, he broke his violin, bought an electric guitar, and formed a rock band. Tiersen was living in Rennes back then, home to the three-day music festival Rencontres Trans Musicales , which is held annually in December. That gave him the opportunity to see acts like Nirvana , Einstürzende Neubauten , Nick Cave and

3485-577: The string quartet Quatuor à cordes, guitarist and composer Olivier Mellano, and author Mathieu Boogaerts , as well as his usual collaborators and friends, Claire Pichet and Dominique A. The album was recorded by France International, mastered by Radio France , and released in CD format one year later on 2 November 1999. In 1999, Tiersen together with The Married Monk, Claire Pichet, and Olivier Mellano released his first collaboration album, Tout est calme . The 26 minutes, 10 tracks mini album peaked at number 45 on

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3570-766: The string quartet Quatuor à cordes, guitarist and composer Olivier Mellano, and author Mathieu Boogaerts . The soundtrack for Amélie saw for the first time the introduction of a full orchestra, the 35-member Ensemble Orchestral Synaxis, and of an ondes Martenot played by Christine Ott . Both will participate in the recording sessions for his next album, L'Absente , which also includes American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Lisa Germano , Belgian actress and singer Natacha Régnier , Neil Hannon, and Têtes Raides, among others. Tiersen's list of collaborators continues to grow. His second live album, C'était ici , recorded during three concerts performed in February 2002 at

3655-467: The 1980s, bilingual roadsides have been placed around the department as a way to regain a sense of cultural heritage. From 1880 to the mid-20th century, Breton was banned from the French school system and children were punished for speaking it. This was similar to Britain's enforcement of English, not Welsh, being used in Welsh schools during the 18th and early 19th centuries. The situation changed in 1951 with

3740-505: The Bad Seeds , The Cramps , Television , and Suicide . A few years later, when his band parted, Tiersen bought a cheap mixing desk , an 8-track reel-to-reel tape recorder , and started recording music on his own with a synthesiser, a sampler , and a drum machine . Let's live in an enormous world of sound we can use randomly, with no rules at all. Let's play with sound, forget all knowledge and instrumental skills, and just use instinct —

3825-400: The Breton and Gallo-speaking region—roughly 90% of the population of the western half of Brittany. In 1945, Breton speakers consisted about 75% of the population. Today, in all of Brittany, at most 20% of the population can speak Breton. 75% of the estimated 200,000 to 250,000 Breton speakers using Breton as an everyday language are over the age of 65. A strong historical emigration has created

3910-512: The Breton language: Arvorig FM , France Bleu Armorique , France Bleu Breizh-Izel , Radio Bro Gwened , Radio Kerne , and Radio Kreiz Breizh . Television programmes in Breton are available on Brezhoweb , France 3 Breizh , France 3 Iroise , TV Breizh and TV Rennes . A fest-noz is a traditional festival (essentially a dance) in Brittany . Many festoù-noz are held outside Brittany, taking regional Breton culture outside Brittany. Although

3995-849: The European Union , Best Film at the European Film Awards , the German Film Awards for Outstanding Film, Best European Film at the Goya Awards , Best Foreign Language Film for the London Film Critics' Circle , and it was also listed in the Empire magazine 2010's list of "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema". Tiersen was the recipient of the German Film Awards for Outstanding Music. On 15 November 2003, Tiersen with Stuart A. Staples ,

4080-459: The European mainland, including the areas colonised by the ancestors of the Bretons. In eastern Brittany, a regional langue d'oïl , Gallo , developed. Gallo shares certain areal features such as points of vocabulary, idiom, and pronunciation with Breton, but is a Romance language . Neither language has official status under French law; however, some still use Breton as an everyday language. As of

4165-507: The French Albums Chart. The album produced one single, "Les Grandes marées", and Tiersen also featured on The Divine Comedy's single " Gin Soaked Boy " released on that same year, on three tracks for Françoiz Breut's second studio album Vingt à Trente Mille Jours (English: Twenty to Thirty Thousand Days), and on Têtes Raides' Gratte-poil , both released in 2000. The hard part was making a selection, because all his tracks worked with

4250-485: The Philippines. The album is preoccupied with mortality; during the recording sessions Tiersen lost his mother and a close friend. The recordings started out as simple song based tracks with Tiersen playing acoustic guitar, mandolin and bouzouki . New layers were added to the recordings creating a more complex sound. Then an array of vintage synthesisers and electric guitars were added to create further textures. The album

4335-491: The age of thirteen, he broke his violin and bought an electric guitar. Tiersen only returned to his beginnings instrument years later, after searching for string sounds to sample . For his music albums, Tiersen composes and makes arrangements incorporating many instruments, including keyboards such as the piano, electric piano , Fender Rhodes , organs, harpsichord , Bontempi and toy pianos, Korg and Moog synthesizers, Mellotron , piano accordions and melodica , strings as

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4420-400: The charts. Le Phare was his first album to climb to number 50 in the French Albums Chart . During that period, Tiersen provided a new arrangement and played strings , vibraphone , bell , the mandolin, the electric guitar and bass guitar for the song "À ton étoile" by French rock band Noir Désir which was featured on their 1998 remix album One Trip/One Noise . He recorded songs for

4505-560: The circuit over the course of several years. In 2002, the Tro Breizh included a special pilgrimage to Wales, symbolically making the reverse journey of the Welshmen Paul Aurelian, Brioc, and Samson. According to Breton religious tradition, whoever does not make the pilgrimage at least once in his lifetime will be condemned to make it after his death, advancing only by the length of his coffin every seven years. Some pagan customs from

4590-500: The decade, Tiersen also contributed to Christine Ott 's debut solo album Solitude Nomade , and to Miossec's seventh studio album Finistériens . The name Dust Lane partly came from the image of the dirt road going into Gaza. —Yann Tiersen October 2010 saw the release of Tiersen's sixth studio album titled Dust Lane . The album was two years in the making and was largely recorded in Ushant , France. Further parts were recorded in

4675-400: The department of Finistère , part of Brittany in northwestern France, into a French family of Belgian and Norwegian origins. He started learning to play the piano at the age of four, the violin at the age of six, and received classical training at several musical academies, including those in Rennes , Nantes , and Boulogne-sur-Mer . In the early 1980s, he was influenced as a teenager by

4760-430: The film's images! — Jean-Pierre Jeunet Tiersen remained relatively unknown outside France until the release of his score for the acclaimed film Amélie (Original French title: Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain , English: The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain ) in 2001. French film director Jean-Pierre Jeunet had something else in mind for the film score, but one day one of his production assistants put on

4845-461: The following century to escape the invading Anglo-Saxons and Scoti . Modern archaeology also supports a two-wave migration. It is generally accepted that the Brittonic speakers who arrived gave the region its current name as well as the Breton language , Brezhoneg , a sister language to Welsh and Cornish. There are numerous records of Celtic Christian missionaries migrating from Britain during

4930-690: The lead singer of indie band Tindersticks , actress and singer Jane Birkin , singer and songwriter Christophe Miossec , and Dominique A released 3 titres inédits au profit de la FIDH ( 3 New Tracks for the Benefit of FIDH ), a three-track CD that was part of the On Aime, On Aide benefit collection for raising funds for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). Tiersen's list of collaborators continued to grow album after album and in October 2004 he released Yann Tiersen & Shannon Wright ,

5015-513: The legacy of these emigrants. The Breton people are predominantly members of the Catholic Church , with minorities in the Reformed Church of France and non-religious people . Brittany was one of the most staunchly Catholic regions in all of France. Attendance at Sunday mass dropped during the 1970s and the 1980s; however, other religious practices, such as pilgrimages , have experienced

5100-463: The many film scores he wrote during his lengthy career and who is the reason for Tiersen to be often called the Gallic Michael Nyman. I couldn’t play a brass instrument — I tried but I was really bad at it — I couldn’t play the flute, but the piano accordion was a keyboard so it was easy for me. —Yann Tiersen Tiersen started playing the piano and the violin at a young age. In 1983, at

5185-579: The multi-instrumental ensemble with electric guitars and an ondes Martenot, and produced his third live album, On Tour , which was released together with a DVD, directed by Aurélie du Boys, about the tour, in November 2006. In 2006, he also released two singles, "La Mancha" and "La Rade", and he was featured on The Endless Rise of the Sun , the third studio album by electronic group Smooth, Raides à la ville extended play by Katel, and 13m² by David Delabrosse. After

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5270-415: The music for Good Bye, Lenin! by Wolfgang Becker . Although the soundtrack for Amélie consisted mainly of pieces that Tiersen had previously released on his first two albums, the soundtrack for Good Bye, Lenin! was conceived from scratch, except for "Comptine d'un autre été : L'après-midi", which is also featured on Amélie' s soundtrack. Tiersen returned to making film soundtracks in 2008 after

5355-489: The music instruments himself during both studio recording sessions and his live sets; he has won theatrical appeal as a one-man show and was invited to play, among others, at the 1996 edition of the Avignon Festival , the oldest live arts festival in France. I was amazed with the way the lighthouse rays revealed some hidden details of the land, how we can rediscover something we have in front of us everyday, only thanks to

5440-479: The old pre-Christian tradition remain the folklore of Brittany. The most powerful folk figure is the Ankou or the "Reaper of Death". There are four main Breton dialects: Gwenedeg ( Vannes ), Kerneveg ( Cornouaille ), Leoneg ( Leon ) and Tregerieg ( Trégor ), which have varying degrees of mutual intelligibility. In 1908, a standard orthography was devised. The fourth dialect, Gwenedeg, was not included in this reform, but

5525-729: The other great masters of Romantic music , and also to Erik Satie , the colourful figure of the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde whose work was a precursor to later artistic movements such as minimalism , repetitive music , and the Theatre of the Absurd . Tiersen is also compared to one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century, the American minimalism , classical– contemporary classical , and ambient music composer Philip Glass , and to British minimalist music composer, pianist, librettist and musicologist Michael Nyman , known for

5610-420: The participation of French soloist singer Claire Pichet , who provided vocals on two tracks on the album, "Rue des cascades" and "Naomi", and François-Xavier Schweyer, who played cello on "C'était ici" and "La Fenêtre". Le Phare saw his first collaboration with French singer and songwriter Dominique A . Claire Pichet and drummer Sacha Toorop are also featured on this album, but both albums can be considered as

5695-621: The retinue of William the Conqueror. Following his service at Hastings, he was rewarded with large estates in Yorkshire . At the time of his death, he was by far the richest noble in England. His manorial holding at Richmond ensured a Breton presence in northern England. The Earldom of Richmond later became an appanage of the Dukes of Brittany. Many people throughout France claim Breton ethnicity, including

5780-575: The same way punk did. —Yann Tiersen Before releasing film scores under his own name, Tiersen recorded background music for a number of plays and short films. During the summer of 1993, Tiersen stayed in his apartment with an electric guitar, a violin and a piano accordion , recording music on his own; he was guided by what he calls "a musical anarchic vision". By the end of the summer, Tiersen had recorded over forty tracks, which would most be used later on for his first two albums. Tiersen's debut album, La Valse des monstres , limited to 1,000 copies,

5865-636: The second wave of Breton colonisation, especially the legendary seven founder-saints of Brittany as well as Gildas . As in Cornwall, many Breton towns are named after these early saints. The Irish saint Columbanus was also active in Brittany and is commemorated at Saint-Columban in Carnac . In the Early Middle Ages , Brittany was divided into three kingdoms— Domnonée , Cornouaille (Kernev), and Bro Waroc'h ( Broërec )—which eventually were incorporated into

5950-485: The soundtrack of several films, including the award-winning and multi-nominated film The Dreamlife of Angels (French: La Vie rêvée des anges ) (1998), André Téchiné 's Alice et Martin (1998) and Christine Carrière's Qui plume la lune? (1999). Tiersen also recorded Bästard ~ Yann Tiersen , a three-track-extended-play released in 1998 in collaboration with French electronic rock band Bästard, and his first live album, Black Session: Yann Tiersen . The live album

6035-451: The soundtrack to Jean-Pierre Jeunet 's film Amélie . Another track form Le Phare , "L'Homme aux bras ballants", is the soundtrack to a short animation film by Laurent Gorgiard. Tiersen's pieces are also featured on Alice et Martin by André Téchiné , and Qui plume la lune? by Christine Carrière. Following the box-office success of Amélie , Tiersen's skills as a composer of film scores were much in demand, and this led him to compose

6120-619: The terminus of the Paris- Brest railway. Famous Breton Americans and Americans of Breton descent include John James Audubon , Jack Kerouac , and Joseph-Yves Limantour . From 1885 to 1970, several thousand Bretons migrated to the United States, many of them leaving the Black Mountains of Morbihan . In June 2020, a replica of the Statue of Liberty was dedicated in Gourin , Morbihan, to celebrate

6205-539: The traditional dances of the fest-noz are old, some dating back to the Middle Ages , the fest-noz tradition is itself more recent, dating back to the 1950s. Fest-Noz was officially registered on Wednesday, December 5, 2012, by UNESCO on the "Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity." There are many traditional Breton dances, the most well-known being gavottes , an dro ,

6290-502: The violin, viola, violone and the cello, different types of electric, acoustic or bass guitars, mandolin , banjo , ukulele , bouzouki and oud , brasses , like horns , and woodwind instruments such as the saxophone, clarinet, bassoon, pipe , oboe and the flute, percussions like drums, vibraphone , marimba , tubular bells , tom drum , cymbal , glockenspiel and tam-tam , or the sounds produced by Leslie speaker , music box , carillons , typewriters , cooking vessels , chairs,

6375-463: The vocalist for the pioneer alternative rock group Cocteau Twins , and the Orchestre National de Paris. The subsequent world tour produced his third live album On Tour , which replaced the multi-instrumental ensemble of Les Retrouvailles with a more rock-oriented sound. The soundtrack to Tabarly saw Tiersen return to minimalism , in fact most of the compositions featured on the album are for solo piano. But his two subsequent albums return to have

6460-529: Was a box-office success. The film went on to win the Best Film award at the European Film Awards , four César Awards , including Best Film and Best Director , two BAFTA Awards , including Best Original Screenplay, and was nominated for five Academy Awards . The soundtrack was a mixture of both new and previously released material, and Tiersen was also the recipient of the César Award for Best Music Written for

6545-564: Was also filmed in the MSF London offices to promote the T-shirt and raise awareness for the cause. Charting Others Bretons The main traditional language of Brittany is Breton ( Brezhoneg ), spoken in Lower Brittany (i.e., the western part of the peninsula). Breton is spoken by around 206,000 people as of 2013. The other principal minority language of Brittany is Gallo ; Gallo

6630-554: Was constant tension between local lords. Bretons were the most prominent of the non-Norman forces in the Norman conquest of England . A number of Breton families were of the highest rank in the new society and were tied to the Normans by marriage. The Scottish Clan Stewart and the royal House of Stuart have Breton origins. Alan Rufus , also known as Alan the Red, was both a cousin and knight in

6715-453: Was first released in June 1995 by independent record label Sine Terra Firma, and then reissued by Nancy -based record label Ici d'ailleurs in 1998 as the second album of its catalogue. The 17-track-album was inspired by and written for the theatrical adaptations of Tod Browning 's 1932 cult classic Freaks , and Yukio Mishima 's 1955 version of Noh play The Damask Drum . In April 1996, one year later, he released Rue des cascades ,

6800-465: Was included in the later orthographic reform of 1941. The Breton language is a very important part of Breton identity. Breton itself is one of the Brittonic languages and is closely related to Cornish and more distantly to Welsh . Breton is thus an Insular Celtic language and is more distantly related to the long-extinct Continental Celtic languages , such as Gaulish , that were formerly spoken on

6885-957: Was recorded on 2 December 1998 as he played the opening act of the Rencontres Trans Musicales in the Salle Serreau at the Théâtre National de Bretagne in Rennes , for the C'est Lenoir French broadcast show on the public radio station France Inter . The album features the chamber pop group The Divine Comedy fronted by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Neil Hannon , the French rock band Noir Désir with singer and songwriter Bertrand Cantat , singer and illustrator Françoiz Breut , French rock band The Married Monk (Christian Quermalet, Philippe Lebruman, Etienne Jaumet, Nicolas Courret), French folk rock group Les Têtes Raides (Christian Olivier, Grègoire Simon, Pascal Olivier, Anne-Gaëlle Bisquay, Serge Bégout, Jean-Luc Millot, and Edith Bégou),

6970-557: Was released by Mute Records in Europe and ANTI- Records in the US. The record was promoted in a tour beginning in October 2010, starting in New York City. Dust Lane was preceded by the release of the vinyl EP PALESTINE and by the single for "Ashes". In 2010, Tiersen also contributed to the tribute album to cross-genre, experimental music group Coil The Dark Age of Love by This Immortal Coil,

7055-406: Was released on 5 June 2001 through EMI France, was preceded by two promotional singles for "A quai" and "Bagatelle" respectively. Tiersen provided strings and vibraphone to two tracks, "Roma Amor" and "Holidays", featured on R/O/C/K/Y , the third studio album by The Married Monk. At this time he was married to Belgian actress Natacha Régnier , co-star of The Dreamlife of Angels . Régnier became

7140-405: Was released through EMI France on 30 September 2002. Tiersen's skills as a composer of film scores were much in demand, and the soundtrack for Amélie was soon followed by the film score for Good Bye, Lenin! , a 2003 German Tragicomedy film directed by Wolfgang Becker . The film was both a commercial and a critical success and won several awards including the César Award for Best Film from

7225-584: Was subsequently mixed by producer Ken Thomas in Leeds , and mastered by Ray Staff in London. The album produced the singles for "Monuments" and "I'm Gonna Live Anyhow". On 18 February 2012, Tiersen with Lionel Laquerriere, and Thomas Poli, presented his side project, Elektronische Staubband, at La Route du Rock music festival in Saint-Malo . It was about an hour of krautrock , electronic , and experimental music involving

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