Amélie is the soundtrack album to the 2001 film of the same name.
Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet was introduced to the accordion and piano-driven music of Yann Tiersen by his production assistant. Greatly impressed, he immediately bought Tiersen's entire catalogue and eventually commissioned him to compose pieces for the film. Before discovering Tiersen, Jeunet wanted composer Michael Nyman to score the film.
The soundtrack features compositions from Tiersen's first three albums, as well as new items, variants of which can be found on his fourth album, L'Absente, which he was writing at the same time.
The music features parts played with accordion, piano, harpsichord, banjo, bass guitar, vibraphone, and even a bicycle wheel at the end of "La Dispute" (which plays over the opening titles in the motion picture).
"Les Jours Tristes", was co-written with Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy. The track later received English lyrics, and was released by The Divine Comedy as a B-side to the Regeneration single, "Perfect Lovesong". The English-language version also appeared on Tiersen's L'Absente.
"The Child", by Alex Gopher also features on the film soundtrack; however, it is not on this album.
Track listing
Personnel
Musicians Yann Tiersen – piano, toy piano, carillon, banjo, mandolin, guitar, harpsichord, vibraphone, accordion, bass, melodica Ensemble Orchestral Synaxis – orchestra on "Les Jours tristes" and "À quai" Christine Ott – ondes Martenot on "À quai" Christian Quermalet – drums on "Les Jours tristes"
Production Uwe Teichert – mastering Fabrice Laureau – mixing Marc Bruckert – artwork Laurent Lufroy – film poster
Awards and nominations The list is made with information from IMDb.
Awards 2001 — World Soundtrack Award for Best Original Score of the Year 2002 — César Award for Best Music Written for a Film
Nominations 2001 — BAFTA Award for Best Film Music 2001 — World Soundtrack Award for Soundtrack Composer of the Year 2001 — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Original Soundtrack of the Year
Charts
Weekly charts + 2001–2003 weekly chart performance for Amélie Chart (2001–2003) Peakposition Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) 65 European Albums (Music & Media) 16
+ 2013 weekly chart performance for Amélie Chart (2013) Peakposition
+ Weekly chart performance for "Comptine d'un autre été : L'après-midi" Chart (2010–2013) Peakposition
Year-end charts + 2001 year-end chart performance for Amélie Chart (2001) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) 18 European Albums (Music & Media) 61 French Albums (SNEP) 11
+ 2002 year-end chart performance for Amélie Chart (2002) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) 40 Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) 155 European Albums (Music & Media) 63 French Albums (SNEP) 33 US World Albums (Billboard) 6
+ 2003 year-end chart performance for Amélie Chart (2003) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 25 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) 65 French Albums (SNEP) 194
Certifications and sales
Covers
The band New Found Glory covered "J'y suis jamais allé" on their second covers album From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II. The song was also used by Expression Crew in their dance act Marionette.
Pianist and composer Dmytro Morykit arranged and plays a cover version of "Comptine d'un autre été : L'après-midi".
References