La Valse des monstres

La Valse des monstres
Studio album by Yann Tiersen
Released	June 1995
Recorded	March–April 1995
Genre	Modern classical, classical crossover
Length	44:54
Label	Sine Terra Firma, Ici d'ailleurs
Yann Tiersen chronology
— La Valse des monstres (1995) Rue des cascades (1996)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

La Valse des monstres (English: The Monsters Waltz) is the first album released by Yann Tiersen. It includes several pieces he wrote for short films and the accompaniment for plays in addition to original pieces. The first eleven tracks were written for the theatrical adaptations of Freaks, a 1932 American Pre-Code horror film directed by Tod Browning, and the last six pieces for the theatrical representation of the classic Japanese musical drama The Damask Drum rewritten by Japanese author, poet and playwright, Yukio Mishima in 1955.^[2] Only 1,000 copies were pressed when it was released in June 1995 by Sine Terra Firma, and then it was reissued by Ici d'ailleurs in 1998 in CD and LP formats. Two tracks, "La Valse des monstres" and "Le Banquet", found a wider audience six years later when they were featured on the soundtrack to Jean-Pierre Jeunet's acclaimed film Amélie.^[3]

Track listing

All music composed by Yann Tiersen.^[4]

Freaks

1. "Mouvement introductif" – 2:06
2. "La Valse des monstres" – 3:42
3. "Frida" – 1:33
4. "Quimper 94" – 2:53
5. "Ballendaï" – 2:13
6. "Comptine d'été n° 17" – 2:12
7. "Cléo au trapèze" – 2:06
8. "La Valse des monstres" – 2:08
9. "Le Banquet" – 1:32
10. "Comptine d'été n° 17" – 2:32
11. "Mouvement introductif" – 5:37

Le Tambourin de soie (English: The Damask Drum)

12. "La Rue" – 1:22
13. "Iwakichi" – 3:13
14. "Hanako" – 2:48
15. "La Plaisanterie" – 2:59
16. "Le Compteur" – 4:02
17. "Mouvement introductif" – 1:49

Personnel

Musicians Yann Tiersen – piano, violin, clavecin, accordion, toy piano, melodica, carillon, carillon (tubular bells), charleston Laurent Heudes – drums and charleston on "Quimper 94", drums on "Le Banquet"

Production Yann Tiersen – engineering, mixing Jonz – mastering Frank Loriou – artwork Gilles André – photography

Charts

Chart (2001)	Peak position
French Albums Chart[5]	139

References

1. La Valse des monstres at AllMusic
2. Mishima, Yukio (1967). Five modern nō plays. translated from the Japanese by Donald Keene. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle. ISBN 0-8048-1380-9. OCLC 1836711.
3. "Yann Tiersen". All Tomorrow's Parties. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
4. La Valse des monstres at Discogs (list of releases)
5. "Yann Tiersen - Rue des cascades / La Valse des monstres". lescharts.com. Retrieved 10 May 2012.