here is someone that is completly forgotten. Even if he had a small career because he died very young, he wrote many great scores. I think it would be great to have a box set like Vladimir Cosma. There is too many cds that always have the same themes over and over. I wonder if i am alone on earth that feel he is among the great because there are people that don t even know he existed.
I really love his works that are available in the Écoutez le Cinéma! series. You are right, his early death was an immeasurable loss to film music. Just a few days ago he was mentioned in the thread on this board "Composers you wish had scored more films". I fully agreed: "The James Dean of motion picture scoring".
I'm not sure though if his music resembled Morricone's. But he certainly matched Morricone's versatility, and also the quality level of his work.
its not me who called him a french Morricone, i have read it somewhere in some magazine or cd booklet. All i know is that there is a lot of music unreleased even if there is a lot of cd of his music.
Francois de Roubaix is not forgotten by me! And I don't think he's forgotten by film connoisseurs who are familiar with pre-1975 French cinema.
Born in the late 1930s and writing scores at a young age, de Roubaix might also be considered as a French Richard Rodney Bennett (though stylistically different).
After providing music in the early 1960s for documentary shorts and television, de Roubaix progressed onwards onto the film scene, having a banner year in 1967 scoring no less than 6 features including 3 Alain Delon films (Julien Duvivier's DIABOLICALLY YOURS and Robert Enrico's LES AVENTURIERS and Jean-Pierre Melville's LE SAMOURAI). While some of his comedy scores are slight and not particularly memorable, such as the Brigitte Bardot vehicle LES NOVICES, de Roubaix wrote outstanding and unforgettable music for a Harry Kumel cult favorite DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS (perhaps the best movie with which to introduce English-speaking audiences to Francois de Roubaix). DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece of a film score, not easy to describe to those who've never heard it or heard of it - my clumsy attempt at its description would be the sort of boldness of Brian May's THIRST blended with the lyricism and pop sensibilities of a Francis Lai (with a cimbalom).
de Roubaix's music has an 'immediacy' to it which is dynamic and attention-grabbing, making him a sort of French Gerald Fried as well ...
[now, how can we entice those who were born in the 1980s, '90s and beyond to view non-English cinema from before they were born?...]
To me he's one of the greatest film composers that has ever lived. Have everything that has been released, yet would welcome a big boxed set. Odeon France released a nice 2 CD set in the 90's that feel belongs in every collection of film music.
Utter shame Roubaix died so young since he was certainly on track to greatness.
He wasn't on track... he was already there and shall forever remain great.
As a composer he was way ahead of his time. True, he had a pop sensbility in the vein of Lai, but he was also a one man band. Litterally recording stuff in his basement, making innovative use electronics, using various techniques to manipulate recordings and playing many of the parts himself. In short, he was an "homme orchestre" and a briliant composer.
Sadly, he left us way too soon (in a tragic sea diving accident - his great passion) and his talent is sorely missed.
As a composer he was way ahead of his time. True, he had a pop sensbility in the vein of Lai, but he was also a one man band. Litterally recording stuff in his basement, making innovative use electronics, using various techniques to manipulate recordings and playing many of the parts himself. In short, he was an "homme orchestre" and a briliant composer.
... de Roubaix wrote outstanding and unforgettable music for a Harry Kumel cult favorite DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS (perhaps the best movie with which to introduce English-speaking audiences to Francois de Roubaix). DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece of a film score, not easy to describe to those who've never heard it or heard of it - my clumsy attempt at its description would be the sort of boldness of Brian May's THIRST blended with the lyricism and pop sensibilities of a Francis Lai (with a cimbalom).
True, his music for DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS is really a masterpiece and I'm wondering almost every day, why it was never released in complete form on CD.
funny, because this morning i was about to go to you tube to put some clips and you pick the same i was about to share. If De Roubaix lived older i m sure we would also have 2 big box of music like they did with Vladimir Cosma. Now, all we have is some themes, some scores. i know De roubaix since 1978 and i did not know the score for DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS was so good because all i knew is a track on a compilation. Sadly, its only 1 example because there is for sure more unknown gems !
i know De roubaix since 1978 and i did not know the score for DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS was so good because all i knew is a track on a compilation.
Interesting, because this track from "les plus belles musiques de..." must be a re-recording. Some of the original music was released on 45 under the french title LES LEVRES ROUGES (see youtube link above).
