EMI was one of the producing companies for the film, but Columbia Pictures still holds the copyright to the film as a whole. It may take some collaboration between Sony and StudioCanal.
The original 45 single with two Legrand tracks was on EMI.
James
Forgive me. I just looked at my copy. It's on Columbia/Pathe Marconi. EMI is very much prominent in the artwork and that was why I thought it was EMI.
J
The British version of that 45 was on the Columbia / EMI label.
The above listing is for the U.S. edition, which I should think would be identical to the U.K. edition that I have.
It is very well documented, and there is an account of the score. After Losey complained that Bennett’s score, although excellent musically, was not right for the film, Bennett wrote to him that he could not understand “what the music ought to do”, and he suggested that perhaps the film should not have a score at all. This was thought by the executive producers to be “uncommercial”, so Losey turned to Legrand, and the result was as Mr Bond described above.
It is interesting that otherwise masterful directors are often incompetent when it comes to their understanding of music scoring. John Ford was an example. Losey at least realised the great importance of music in film, as Bennett has stated, but he had no grasp whatever of how it worked. When he asked Bennett to compose a new score for The Go-Between, he suggested “....something electronic. Or jazz?”
Hartop writes that people either love or hate Legrand’s score, and from his words, it seems that he is more in agreement with the latter opinion than the former.
I’ll admit that Legrand’s The Go-Between is my favourite film score; but I think it could be objectively argued that no score ever complemented a film more perfectly.
Apart from the “pop” versions of the theme, this score has been hard to get. As mentioned above, there was a 1979 LP record and reel-to-reel tape, reissued on CD by Sony Japan. Legrand conducted this complete recording, and played one of the two pianos. It is very similar to the original soundtrack recording, but mixed sufficiently differently that I consider it inferior (in particular, the piano lines are not as distinct). The original recording would make a wonderful CD release.
The accordionist Maurice Larcange recorded the orchestral version of the title theme, no mean feat, and it is available on CD:
More recently, Legrand again recorded the entire suite. This time, the piano parts were given to harpsichord (played by Legrand) and harp (played by Catherine Michel). This very interesting version permits the two piano parts to be clearly differentiated by the listener.
In Todd Haynes' new film, "May December," does anyone know if Legrand's "Go-Between" is just a needle-drop for the trailer, or have they repurposed Legrand's music for the film?
'The score, by Marcelo Zarvos, is actually an adaptation and reorchestration of Michel Legrand’s music for Joseph Losey’s 1971 forbidden-romance drama The Go-Between.'
In Todd Haynes' new film, "May December," does anyone know if Legrand's "Go-Between" is just a needle-drop for the trailer, or have they repurposed Legrand's music for the film?
'The score, by Marcelo Zarvos, is actually an adaptation and reorchestration of Michel Legrand’s music for Joseph Losey’s 1971 forbidden-romance drama The Go-Between.'
As I didn't know Legrand's score for The Go-Between and had no idea who was the composer for the film when I saw it last month I was tremendously impressed by the score. Haynes really gives the score a lot of room and it fits the film perfectly. My guess is that Legrand's music was already decided upon as a part of the movie's fabric during shooting. And as the music is essentially unknown except for the few who are familiar with Losey's film it does not distract the audience. Haynes is one of the few director's who really uses his scores as a major tool for his filmmaking style and like Far from Heaven and Carol this is excellent. The movie is very good, too and I would be surprised if Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore didn't get nominated for it.
As I didn't know Legrand's score for The Go-Between and had no idea who was the composer for the film when I saw it last month I was tremendously impressed by the score. Haynes really gives the score a lot of room and it fits the film perfectly. My guess is that Legrand's music was already decided upon as a part of the movie's fabric during shooting. And as the music is essentially unknown except for the few who are familiar with Losey's film it does not distract the audience. Haynes is one of the few director's who really uses his scores as a major tool for his filmmaking style and like Far from Heaven and Carol this is excellent. The movie is very good, too and I would be surprised if Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore didn't get nominated for it.
Thanks for the input, John. I have enjoyed Haynes' films and Zarvos' scores before, not to mention the high-caliber performers, so I'm glad to hear this is a good film.
Pardon my knee-jerk reaction to hearing the Legrand score in this context. Needle drops tend to have that effect on me, especially when I have a strong emotional connection to an original score foisted into another film – like "The Thing" in "Hateful Eight," or the smorgasbord of soundtracks plastering the Netflix Julia Roberts 2018 thriller "Homecoming." I was so distracted by the music in those instances. But if they've used Legrand's themes with some skill and dramatic purpose, I'll be interested to give it a shot. They are fine filmmakers, and the reviews are intriguing.
I'd urge you to check out Joseph Losey's 1971 film. It's a haunting piece, and the score plays a large part in elevating the tension and sense of romantic longing in the drama.
Although I 've never seen Losey's film, I have enjoyed Legrand's score tremendously ever since I picked up an LP that combined it (as the second portion) with his "Umbrellas of Cherbourg." Very interested to see how it works in this new film.
Somewhere in my collection is a rather poor video telecast of Legrand and Delerue playing the pianos on a performance of THE GO-BETWEEN with Morricone conducting!
Here's filmmaker Todd Haynes talking with some passion about Marcelo Zarvos' Legrand adaptation in "May December." I've cued this Letterboxd interview to the point where they discuss "The Go-Between" among six films that Haynes cites as influences on his film – the others being "Persona," "Sunset Boulevard," "The Graduate," "Manhattan" and "Sunday Bloody Sunday":
I found my way to this discussion via the current THR Directors roundtable with Haynes, Ava Duvernay, Bradley Cooper, Greta Gerwig, Blitz Bazawule and Michael Mann. It's worth a watch for anyone interested. It's a good mix of personalities and stories.
When Haynes talked about THE GO-BETWEEN and Legrand specifically, I got curious to see what was available and found this remarkable suite. Given the length it appears to be the "Theme & Variations" suite from the CBS Masterworks LP release (later reissued on CD by Sony Japan)?
As always this Board is invaluable -- in reading through this thread I realized that I had absolutely no representation of this score in my collection although I love the film and its music. So after searching at various sites, I snagged a copy of the Japanese CD Release of the London Symphony Suite recording with "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" on Amazon/Japan. And it won't break the bank. Thanks everyone!
As always this Board is invaluable -- in reading through this thread I realized that I had absolutely no representation of this score in my collection although I love the film and its music. So after searching at various sites, I snagged a copy of the Japanese CD Release of the London Symphony Suite recording with "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" on Amazon/Japan. And it won't break the bank. Thanks everyone!
