L'ORDINATEUR DES POMPES FUNÈBRES / DIS-MOI QUE TU M'AIMES

First time on CD. More than 65 minutes of music never released before.
8-page CD booklet with French and English liner notes by Nicolas Magenham.

In collaboration with Gruppo Sugar, Music Box Records is pleased to present on the same CD two original motion picture soundtracks composed and conducted by Claude Bolling: L’Ordinateur des pompes funèbres (Gérard Pirès, 1976) and Dis-moi que tu m’aimes (Michel Boisrond, 1974).

Directed in 1976 by Gérard Pirès, based on Walter Kempley’s novel The Probability Factor, L’Ordinateur des pompes funèbres (The Undertaker Parlor Computer) tells the story of Fred (Jean-Louis Trintignant), a statistician who develops computer software capable of programming the death of loved ones he wishes to see disappear, beginning with his wife Gloria (Lea Massari). This is an homage to the American film noir genre. The film is a mix of police story and black humour. Claude Bolling composed a jazzy score and alternates between sombre and mysterious moods (blended with a Mancini-style of humour), and parts written for a big band, expressing the murderous impulses and madness of the hero. Some are pieces written in a serious tone and others in “new romantic” style, these serve to reinforce the satirical aspect of the film through employment of irony.

Dis-moi que tu m’aimes (Tell Me You Love Me) is a film, directed by Michel Boisrond, in which the humour in particular is inscribed in the vein of French bedroom farce, a genre Claude Bolling took a part in on many occasions in the 1970s. Claude Bolling’s sophisticated and inventive music is more often anchored in his own time, as shown by the presence of numerous pop themes typical of the 1970s. This present edition also includes the exquisite title song performed by the main actors, playing a deliberate retro pastiche card.

Music Box Records is very pleased to present the two unreleased scores composed by Claude Bolling in their first-ever complete presentations. Limited to 350 units, this release has been fully remastered from the session tapes and includes an 8-page booklet with liner notes by Nicolas Magenham, discussing the film and the score.