The French Dispatch [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

by Alexandre Desplat

Overview

Alexandre Desplat's fifth collaboration with film director Wes Anderson, The French Dispatch features a lean, jaunty chamber music score that looks to instruments like harpsichord, banjo, and tuba as well as piano and strings. Embellishing Anderson's hyperreal version of 1960s France and events surrounding a publication based on The New Yorker magazine, Desplat's light touch here was heavily inspired by the works of French pianist/composer Erik Satie. Interspersed with score tracks on the soundtrack are songs and instrumentals ranging from the Swingle Singers and accordionist Gus Viseur, to American crooner Gene Austin and ye-ye star Chantal Goya, to segments of '60s film scores by Ennio Morricone and Mario Nascimbene. Jarvis Cocker makes several voice appearances in the film as Tip-Top, a thinly veiled version of French pop singer Christophe on a cover of Christophe's 1965 hit "Aline." (Anderson and Cocker enjoyed making "Aline" so much that they recorded a whole Tip-Top album to accompany the soundtrack release.) Harpsichord and tuba open the soundtrack on Desplat's stately "Obituary," which adds plucked strings and a simple piano melody before expanding its palette to include woodwinds and brass -- usually with just one player representing each instrument or section -- as they rotate solos. Most of the rest of the score follows that track's example, with one-note-at-a-time keyboard lines and the feel of a combo more than an ensemble. Some of the more distinctive score entries take the form of the waltzing "Mouthwash de Menthe," the swinging "Kidnappers Lair," and "Blackbird Pie," which is musically illustrated by fluttery woodwinds and fanfare-like brass. While most of the 30 minutes of score here were tracked at Abbey Road Studios in London, the piano solos were recorded remotely by Jean-Yves Thibaudet, who captures the fanciful, off-balance spirit of the project on pieces like "Moses Rosenthaler." ~ Marcy Donelson

Product Details

Release Date:	11/19/2021
Label:	Abkco Records
UPC:	0018771878421

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Alexandre Desplat   Primary Artist
Chantal Goya   Primary Artist,Vocals
Gus Viseur   Primary Artist
The Swingle Singers   Primary Artist,Vocal Ensemble
Charles Aznavour   Primary Artist,Vocals
Jarvis Cocker   Primary Artist,Vocals
Georges Delerue   Primary Artist
Candy & Coco   Primary Artist,Ensemble
Boris Bjoern Bagger   Primary Artist,Guitar
Grace Jones   Primary Artist,Vocals
Gene Austin   Primary Artist,Vocals
Mario Nascimbene   Primary Artist
Ennio Morricone   Primary Artist
Detlef Tewes   Primary Artist,Mandolin
I Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni   Primary Artist
Joanna L'Estrange   Vocals (Background)
Corinne Chappelle   Violin
Julian Klein   Director
Dina Kanner   Director
Richard Simms   Bassoon
Julia Knight   Viola
Michael Thompson   French Horn
Patrick Savage   Violin
Andrew McKinney   Vocals,Double Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Caroline Dearnley   Cello
John Thurgood   French Horn
Gavin McNaughton   Bassoon
David Fuest   Clarinet,B-Flat Clarinet,Clarinet (Alto),Clarinet (Bass)
Gillianne Haddow   Viola
John Anderson   Cor Anglais,Oboe
Beatrix Lovejoy   Violin
Serafina Steer   Vocals,Harpsichord
Karen Jones   Alto,Flute
Stephen Mair   Double Bass
Corinne Chapelle   Violin
Emma Smith   Vocals (Background)
Dorina Markoff   Violin
John Mills   Violin,Orchestra Leader
Jeremy Isaac   Violin
Ben Buckton   Violin
Joanna Forbes L'Estrange   Vocals (Background)
Rachel Simms   Bassoon,Contrabassoon
Steve Morris   Violin
Chris Hill   Double Bass,Bass (Upright)
Mark Berrow   Violin
Owen Slade   Tuba
Bruce White   Viola
Deborah Widdup   Violin
Adam Betts   Drums,Vocals,Timpani
Chris Worsey   Cello
Andy Wood   Trombone,Trombone (Tenor)
Nick Cooper   Cello
Mikey Chung   Guitar
John Parricelli   Banjo,Guitar
Richard Pryce   Double Bass
Mary Scully   Double Bass
Allen Walley   Double Bass
Philip Cobb   Cornet,Trumpet
Simon Rayner   French Horn
Tim Gill   Cello
Richard Skinner   Bassoon
Jon Carnac   Clarinet,B-Flat Clarinet,Clarinet (Alto),E Flat Clarinet
Phillip Eastop   Trumpet,French Horn
Peter Lale   Viola
Paul Mauriat   Conductor
Skaila Kanga   Harp
Helen Kamminga   Viola
Sly Dunbar   Drums
Joely Koos   Cello
Helen Keen   Alto,Flute,Piccolo
Perry Montague-Mason   Violin
Jason Buckle   Guitar
Paul Clarvis   Drums,Percussion
Caroline Dale   Cello
Barry Reynolds   Guitar
Cool Sticky   Percussion
Natalia Bonner   Violin
Rachel Bolt   Viola
Tristan Fry   Timpani
Robbie Shakespeare   Guitar (Bass)
Wally Badarou   Keyboards
Jean-Yves Thibaudet   Piano,Soloist,Featured Artist
Cathy Thompson   Violin
Warren Zielinski   Violin
Boguslav Kostecki   Violin
Conrad Pope   Piano,Conductor
Ian Humphries   Violin
Everton Nelson   Violin
Patrick Kiernan   Violin
Simon Chamberlain   Harp,Cello,Piano,Celeste,Harpsichord

Technical Credits

Ashley Andrew-Jones   Assistant Engineer
Gianluca Massimo   Assistant Engineer
William Pittenger   Music Business Affairs
Jessica Dollinger   Licensing
Erin Hickey   Design Assistant
Bill Newlin   Score Wrangler
Pierre Fatosme   Producer
Jill Streater   Librarian
Jean-Jacques Debout   Composer
Ann Barnard   Librarian
Victor Ingeveldt   Interpretation
Cathy Bauer   Marketing
Susie Gillis   Orchestra Contractor
Drew Smith   Engineer,Recording
Meghan Currier   Music Coordinator
Dennis Wilkey   Arranger,Composer
Romain Allender   Programming,Music Assistant,Composer's Assistant
Nathalie Delon   Arranger
Daniel Georges Jacq Bevilacqua   Composer
Brian Fitzpatrick   Design
Alex Sadkin   Producer
Gus Viseur   Composer,Interpretation
Astor Piazzolla   Composer
Henry Creamer   Composer
Charles Aznavour   Composer,Producer,Interpretation
Jarvis Cocker   Producer
Wes Anderson   Producer,Executive Producer
Christophe   Composer
Georges Delerue   Composer
Robin Baynton   Editing,Score Mixer
John Prestage   Pro-Tools
Turner Layton   Composer
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart   Composer
Alisa Coleman   Executive Soundtrack Producer
Xavier Forcioli   Producer,Executive Producer
Jason Buckle   Producer
Johann Sebastian Bach   Composer
Barry Reynolds   Arranger,Composer
Grace Jones   Arranger
Greg Calbi   Mastering
Alexandre Desplat   Composer,Liner Notes
Mario Nascimbene   Composer
Teri Landi   Production Coordination
Ward Swingle   Recording Arranger
Jean-Yves Thibaudet   Composer
Randall Poster   Producer,Executive Producer,Recording Producer,Recording Supervision
Chris Blackwell   Producer
Ennio Morricone   Composer
Simon Rhodes   Mixing