Getting Into Cinema

 

CAROLINE RODGERS

LA PRESSE

 

It’s a story of music and a story of films, but it’s especially a story of friendship.  Bruno Pelletier and Guy St-Onge first rubbed shoulders in professional settings for years before becoming friends five years ago during a tour of Notre-Dame de Paris in Europe.  They promised each other to make a disc together and it’s finally been done with Musique & cinéma.

 

“Each of the songs has been part of a film’s soundtrack,” says Bruno Pelletier.  “They’re not title songs like Titanic.  Instead we chose pieces and artists associated with films that we like and interpreted these songs, giving them new breath.”

 

That’s what one will find on the album filled with songs as varied as Le coeur est un oiseau, from the Québécois film Le party, and Calling You from Bagdad Café.  Thanks to the recent film, Gabrielle, they were able to include Ordinaire by Robert Charlebois.

 

“It’s music that has been played in films, but the cinematographic aspect of Guy’s arrangements have kind of become our own short film, according to the intention that we gave to the song when we interpreted it.  A piece like Schefferville, Le dernier train, which is from the film Le dernier glacier, is very different from Michel Rivard’s original version, which is more country.  We went in another direction and, when you listen to Michel’s text with our version, it’s a whole other way of telling that story.”

 

For the two musicians, the best gift is receiving commentary from some of the creators of these songs, to whom they have presented their interpretations.

 

“It’s truly a reward when they tell us : I was humbled, you’ve brought it to new places, you’ve made people discover the song.  That happened to me years ago for La manic by Georges Dor.  These are great songs that we’re continuing to keep alive.” — Bruno Pelletier

 

MAKE THE WORDS RESONNATE

 

The great quality of Guy St-Onge is to pay a great amount of attention to the texts to create his orchestrations, according to Bruno Pelletier.

 

“He looks at the text to reconstruct everything musically,” says the singer.  “He’s like a tailor who does everything custom made.”

 

“In the song Schefferville, for example, there is a phrase that says, ‘I saw my father cry on the kitchen table,” says Guy St-Onge.  “This phrase, for me, carries the weight of the world.  It’s what I love about my work: I am an animator of words.  When people tell me that they have rediscovered the text, I know I’ve succeeded.  I love that more than people talking to me about arrangements.”

 

The singer’s favorite song? “One of my absolute favorites is La complainte à mon frère, which is perhaps the least known from the album.  It has a story: it was created by Jean Lapointe and is part of the film Les orders, by Michel Brault, a powerful film for everyone.  In the disc’s booklet, there are photos of objects that belonged to Michel Brault which were loaned to us by his son.  I really love what we’ve done with it.”

 

The two musicians will soon undertake a concert tour throughout Québec with Music & cinéma.

 

“For the shows, it’s piano and voice in an intimate setting.  But our ultimate goal is to do a symphonic version in concert, like what one hears on the album.  I don’t know when, but we’re going to do it.”

 

CHANSON

Musique & cinéma

Bruno Pelletier and Guy St-Onge

Musicor

In stores next Tuesday

 

 

Translated by Ashlee R. Estep