Le Boucher

Music by Pierre Jansen

Difficult to classify, Pierre Jansen´s musical comments provided to Claude Chabrol's thrillers are of unique personality and presence.

The majestic music for La Decade Prodigieuse (1971) amazes immediately with its elegant grandeur for organ, piano and orchestra (Gothic atmosphere and impressionistic piano in a continuous suite of 18 minutes). Jansen versatility shows in the arias and waltzes of Landru, in monochromatic music (string quartet with clear influence of Bartok) in L'Oeil Du Malin, the sonic claustrophobia of Que La Bete Meure (thematic variations on rhythmic ostinato), or the "lyrical thriller" in the drama Juste Avant La string Nuit (1971).

"For me, film music should not evoke a single and specific emotion, it should add something more, should have an additional state" - C. Chabrol

"Something more" is exactly what can be heard on the music of Le Boucher (1969), the most radical work of Jansen, at least in this collection. With almost macabre atmosphere the unusual mix of chamber music sustained by electric bass lines and effects (harpsichord, marimba, prepared piano), creates a sonic ambience unparalleled. Musically was a precursor of what Ennio Morricone and other composers in the Italian thrillers would do. Impressive music in one of the most important releases of Ecoutez Le Cinema series.