Tiersen's debut album, La Valse des monstres, limited to 1,000 copies, was first released in June 1995 by independent record label Sine Terra Firma, and then reissued by Nancy-based record label Ici d'ailleurs in 1998 as the second album of its catalogue. By the end of the summer, Tiersen had recorded over forty tracks, which would most be used later on for his first two albums. During the summer of 1993, Tiersen stayed in his apartment with an electric guitar, a violin and a piano accordion, recording music on his own he was guided by what he calls 'a musical anarchic vision'. Let’s play with sound, forget all knowledge and instrumental skills, and just use instinct - the same way punk did.īefore releasing film scores under his own name, Tiersen recorded background music for a number of plays and short films. Let’s live in an enormous world of sound we can use randomly, with no rules at all. A few years later, when his band parted, Tiersen bought a cheap mixing desk, an 8-track reel-to-reel tape recorder, and started recording music on his own with a synthesiser, a sampler, and a drum machine. That gave him the opportunity to see acts like Nirvana, Einstürzende Neubauten, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Cramps, Television, and Suicide. Tiersen was living in Rennes back then, home to the three-day music festival Rencontres Trans Musicales, which is held annually in December. When he was 13, he broke his violin, bought an electric guitar, and formed a rock band. In the early 1980s, he was influenced as a teenager by the punk subculture, and bands like The Stooges and Joy Division. He started learning to play the piano at the age of four, the violin at the age of six, and received classical training at several musical academies, including those in Rennes, Nantes, and Boulogne-sur-Mer. Tiersen was born in 1970 in Brest, in the department of Finistère, part of Brittany in northwestern France, into a French family of Belgian and Norwegian origins.

Biography and career The early years: 1970–1992 Tracks taken from his first three studio albums were used for the soundtrack of the 2001 French film Amélie. Tiersen is often mistaken for a soundtrack composer as he is quoted about himself: 'I'm not a composer and I really don't have a classical background,' but his real focus is on touring and recording studio albums, which are often used for film soundtracks. His music incorporates a large variety of classical and contemporary instruments, primarily the electric guitar, the piano, synthesisers and the violin, but also instruments such as the melodica, xylophone, toy piano, harpsichord, piano accordion or even typewriter. His musical career is split between studio recordings, music collaborations and film soundtracks songwriting. Maybe you think classical music isn’t for you? Or you know a little and want to know more? Or perhaps it's been a lifetime love? Regardless, you definitely need to meet Joanna & The Maestro.Yann Tiersen (born 23 June 1970) is a French Breton musician and composer. Who was better: Mozart or Beethoven? Why do certain pieces of music make us feel a certain way? What do conductors actually do? They also discuss the great composers and symphonies, and the often-remarkable stories behind them, all delivered in Joanna and Stephen’s unique, engaging and affectionate way. Joanna is the enthusiastic amateur - asking the questions she’s always wanted to ask - and Stephen is The Maestro, providing the answers. On this, their new podcast, the pair welcome you into their home for a personal, fascinating and funny journey through a musical world. You probably know Joanna Lumley, but you may not be aware that her husband Stephen Barlow is a famed conductor, composer and musician - and the pair of them are passionate about classical music. Joanna Lumley and her husband Stephen Barlow invite you into their home for a fascinating, funny journey into their shared love of music.

La valse d amelie