Michel Legrand

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Michel Legrand (born February 24, 1932 in Paris) is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor and pianist.

He has composed over 200 film and television scores, several musicals, and made well over a hundred albums. He has won three Oscars (out of 13 nominations), five Grammys, and has been nominated for an Emmy. He was 22 when his very first album, I Love Paris, became one of the best-selling instrumental albums ever released. He is a virtuoso jazz and classical pianist, and an accomplished arranger and conductor who performs with orchestras all over the world.

In the early 1950s, Legrand was one of the first Europeans to work with legendary jazz innovators Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Stan Getz and Bill Evans. At that time they were at the height of their popularity, and to a European musician working with them seemed unattainable. But Legrand's talent and charm won over these great musicians, who made the records with him and left the memories to their descendants.

During various periods of creative work, Legrand became a conductor of different orchestras in St. Petersburg, Vancouver, Montreal, Atlanta and Denver. Many world stars (jazz, variety and even classical) recorded more than 100 albums with him. More than any other European songwriter, Legrand knew how to infiltrate into the repertoire of top singers such as Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Jack Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Perry Como, Lena Horne, Johnny Mathis, Dame Kiri te Kanawa, James Ingram, and most of all Barbra Streisand.

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Cinematic scores

Legrand is known principally as a composer of truly wonderful cinema music. After his songs appeared in Jacques Demy's films The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort, Legrand became famous. These were sung-through musicals where all the dialogue was set to music, a revolutionary concept. A new genre had been created where there could be no words without music.

Hollywood soon became interested in Legrand, bombarding him with orders to compose music for one film or to another. This was significant in an era where Americans were usually unwilling to collaborate with foreign musicians and actors; for many Europeans, the doors of Hollywood stayed closed. Relatively few received the chance to work there, and Legrand was lucky to be among them. Having begun to collaborate with Hollywood, Legrand had to stay for a long time at this wonderful place which was a dream for everybody who was connected with cinema. These days he divides his time between America and France at once, composing film scores (about 200 to date) for directors Jean-Luc Godard, Richard Brooks, Claude Lelouch, Clint Eastwood and many others.

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Awards

Rarely has a musician received as many awards as Michel Legrand. He has received 3 Oscars, 5 Grammys and numerous other awards and nominations. The following are some of the awards and nominations with which Legrand's works have been honored:

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Academy Award nominations

  • Music score, substantially original: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1965)
  • Original score for a motion picture, not a musical: The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  • Score of a musical picture, original or adaptation: The Young Girls of Rochefort (1968)
  • Original dramatic score: Summer of '42 (1971) (won)
  • Original song score or adaptation score: Yentl (1983)
  • Original song:
    • "I Will Wait for You" from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1965)
    • "The Windmills of Your Mind" (won) from The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
    • "What are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" from The Happy Ending (1969)
    • "Pieces of Dreams" from Pieces of Dreams (1970)
    • "How do You Keep the Music Playing?" from Best Friends (1982)
    • "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" (won) and "The Way He Makes Me Feel" both from Yentl (1983)
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Golden Globe nominations

  • Original Score:
    • The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
    • The Happy Ending (1969)
    • Wuthering Heights (1970)
    • Le Mans (1971)
    • Summer of '42 (1971)
    • Lady Sings the Blues (1972)
    • Breezy (1973)
    • Yentl (1983)
  • Original Song:
    • "The Windmills of Your Mind" from The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) (won)
    • "What are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" from The Happy Ending (1969)
    • "Pieces of Dreams" from Pieces of Dreams (1970)
    • "Breezy's Song" from Breezy (1973)
    • "Yesterday's Dreams" from Falling in love again (1980)
    • "The Way He Makes Me Feel" from Yentl (1983)
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Grammy Award nominations

  • Best arrangement accompanying vocalist: Happy Ending (Sarah Vaughn) (1972)
  • Song of the year: "The Summer Knows" from Summer of '42 (1972)
  • Best instrumental composition: "Brian's Song" [TV] (1972)
  • Best original score written for a motion picture or television special: The Three Musketeers (1974)
  • Best instrumental composition: "Images" (1982)
  • Best jazz performance by a Big Band: "Images" (1982)
  • Best original score album: Yentl (1983)
  • Best instrumental arrangement accompanying vocals: Yentl (Barbra Streisand) (1983)
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Emmy Award nominations

  • Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Limited Series or a Special (Dramatic Underscore): "A Woman Called Golda" [TV] (1982)
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Fennecus nominations

  • Song score, original or adaptation: Yentl (1983)
  • Original song: "The Way He Makes Me Feel" from Yentl (1983)
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Apex nominations

  • Original score, comedy: Best Friends (1982)
  • Original song, drama: "The Way He Makes Me Feel" from Yentl (1983)
  • Original song score/adaptation/compilation, drama: Yentl (1983)
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Australian Film Institute Award nominations

  • Best Original Music Score: Dingo (1991)
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Prix Moliere Award (France)

  • Best musical: Le Passe-Maraille
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ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers)

  • Henry Mancini Award for Le Passe-Maraille
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Golden Eagle Award

  • Outstanding contribution to world cinema (2002)
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Filmography

  • Beau fixe (short) (1953)
  • Lovers Net (Les amants du Tage) (1954)
  • Charmants garcons (1958)
  • L'Americain se detend (TV) (1958)
  • Le Triporteur (1958)
  • L'Amerique insolite (documentary) (1958)
  • Lola (1960)
  • Terrain vague (co-composer) (1960)
  • A Woman is a Woman (Une femme est une femme) (1960)
  • The French Game (Le coeur battant) (1960)
  • Les Portes claquent (1960)
  • Cleo from 5 to 7 (Cleo de 5 a 7) (1961)
  • The 7 Capital Sins (Les sept peches capitaux) (co-composer) (1961)
  • The Winner (Une coeur gros comme ca) (documentary) (1961)
  • Retour a New York (documentary) (1962)
  • Comme un poisson dans l'eau (1962)
  • Eva (1962)
  • Une grosse tete (1962)
  • My Life to Live (Vivre sa vie) (1962)
  • Bay of Angels (La baie des anges) (1962)
  • L'Amerique lunaire (documentary) (1962)
  • Histoire d'un petit garcon devenu grand (1962)
  • Le joli mai (1962)
  • Illuminations (documentary) (1963)
  • Le grand escroc (1963)
  • L'Empire de la nuit (1963)
  • Love Is A Ball (1963)
  • The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les parapluies de Cherbourg) (1964)
  • A Ravishing Idiot (Une ravissante idiote) (1964)
  • Band of Outsiders (Bande a part) (1964)
  • Fascinante amazonie (1964)
  • Les amoureux du France (documentary) (1964)
  • La Douceur du village (documentary) (1964)
  • A Matter of Resistance (La vie de chateau) (1965)
  • Quand passent les faisans (1965)
  • Tender Scoundrel (Tendre voyou) (1965)
  • Monnaie de singe (1965)
  • The Young Girls of Rochefort (Les Demoiselles de Rochefort) (1966)
  • Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? (Qui etes-vous, Polly Maggoo?) (1966)
  • The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean (1966)
  • L'an 2000 (1966)
  • Gold and Lead (L'or et le plumb) (1966)
  • A Matter of Innocence (Also: Pretty Polly) (1967)
  • L'homme a la Buick (1967)
  • How to Save a Marriage -- And Ruin Your Life (1967)
  • Michel's Mixed Up Musical Bird (TV) (1968)
  • Sweet November (1968)
  • The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  • The Swimming Pool (La piscine) (1968)
  • Play Dirty (1968)
  • Ice Station Zebra (1968)
  • Castle Keep (1969)
  • The Happy Ending (1969)
  • Picasso Summer (1969)
  • Pieces of Dreams (1969)
  • The Go-Between (1970)
  • The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart (1970)
  • Wuthering Heights (1970)
  • The Swashbuckler (Les maries de l'an II) (1970)
  • Donkey Skin (Peau d'ane) (1970)
  • The Lady in the Car With Glasses And a Gun (La dame dans l'auto avec des lunettes et un fusil) (1970)
  • Un peu de soleil dans l'eau froide (1970)
  • Le mans (1970)
  • Brian's Song (TV) (1970)
  • Summer of '42 (1971)
  • La vieille Fille (1971)
  • A Time for Loving (Also: Paris Was Made For Lovers) (1971)
  • Lady Sings the Blues (1972)
  • Portnoy's Complaint (1972)
  • Les feux de la Chandeleur (1972)
  • The Impossible Object (1972)
  • One Is a Lonely Number (1972)
  • The Adventures of Don Quixote (TV) (1973)
  • A Doll's House (1973)
  • The Nelson Affair (Also: A Bequest to the Nation) (1973)
  • The Outside Man (Un homme est mort) (1973)
  • The Hostages (Le gang des otages) (1973)
  • Forty Carats (1973)
  • Cops and Robbers (1973)
  • Breezy (1973)
  • The Three Musketeers (1974)
  • Our Time (1974)
  • It's Good To Be Alive (TV) (1974)
  • The Most Important Event Since Man Walked on the Moon (L'Evenement le plus important depuis que l'homme marche sur la lune) (1974)
  • The Savage (Le sauvage) (1975)
  • Gulliver's Travels (1975)
  • F for Fake (1975)
  • Sheila Levine is Dead -- and Living in New York (1975)
  • Cage Without a Key (TV) (1975)
  • Gable and Lombard (1976)
  • Ode to Billy Joe (1976)
  • Le voyage de noces (1976)
  • The Smurfs and the Magic Flute (La flute a six schtroumpfs) (animated) (1976)
  • The Other Side of Midnight (1977)
  • Routes to the South (Les routes du sud) (1978)
  • Mon premier amour (1978)
  • Lady Oscar (1978)
  • The Fabulous Adventures of Baron Munchhausen (animated) (1979)
  • Atlantic City (1980)
  • The Hunter (1980)
  • The Mountain Men (1980)
  • Bolero (Les uns et les autres) (1980)
  • Hinotori (co-composer) (1980)
  • Falling in Love Again (1981)
  • What Makes David Run? (Qu'est-ce qui fait courir David?) (1981)
  • La cadeau (1981)
  • Your Ticket Is No Longer Valid (1982)
  • La revanche des humanoides (animated) (1982)
  • Best Friends (1982)
  • A Woman Named Golda (TV) (1982)
  • The Gift (1982)
  • Yentl (1983)
  • Never Say Never Again (1983)
  • A Love in Germany (Un amour en Allemagne) (1983)
  • Secret Places (1984)
  • The Jesse Owens Story (TV) (1984)
  • Micki and Maude (1984)
  • Love Songs (Paroles et musique) (1984)
  • Palace (1985)
  • Partir revenir (1985)
  • Train to Hell (Train d'enfer) (1985)
  • Parking (1985)
  • Promises to Keep (TV) (1985)
  • Crossings (miniseries) (1986)
  • As Summers Die (cable) (1986)
  • Sins (miniseries) (1986)
  • Casanova (TV) (1987)
  • Social Club (Club de recontres) (1987)
  • Spirale (1987)
  • Switching Channels (1988)
  • Three Seats For the 26th (Trois places pour le 26) (1988)
  • Five Days in June (Cinq jours en juin) (1989)
  • Escape from Paradise (Fuga dal Paradiso) (1990)
  • Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less (miniseries) (1990)
  • Dingo (1991)
  • Gaspard et Robinson (1991)
  • The Burning Shore (1991)
  • (La Montagna dei Diamanti) (miniseries) (1991)
  • The Pickle (1993)
  • Ready to Wear (Pret-a-Porter) (1994)
  • Les enfants de lumiere (1995)
  • The Ring (miniseries) (1995)
  • Aaron's Magic Village (animated) (1997)de:Michel Legrand

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