Francis Lai
Encyclopedia
Francis Lai
Francis Lai (born April 26, 1932, Nice
, Alpes-Maritimes
, France
) is a French
accordionist
, and composer
noted for his film score
s.
While in his twenties, Francis Lai left home and went to Paris
where he became part of the lively Montmartre
music scene. In 1965 he met filmmaker Claude Lelouch and was hired to help write the score for the film, Un homme et une femme (A Man and A Woman). Released in 1966, the film was a major international success, earning a number of Academy Awards
, and for the young Francis Lai, a Golden Globe Award
nomination for "Best Original Score". This initial success brought more opportunities to work for the film industry both in his native France as well as in Great Britain
and the United States
. He is known for his support of Mireille Mathieu
in many compositions and recordings. In 1969, he wrote the score for director René Clément's film, Rider On The Rain
("Le Passager de la Pluie"). It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
in September 1971.
In 1970 Francis Lai won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Score
and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for the film Love Story
. In the United States, the soundtrack
album went to No. 2 in the Billboard album charts and the film's theme, "Where Do I Begin
" was a hit single
with lyrics by Carl Sigman
for traditional pop singer Andy Williams
. The song would also be recorded successfully by Lai himself with a full orchestra
and by Henry Mancini
and Shirley Bassey
. Francis Lai also wrote the music for the 1978 Love Story sequel titled Oliver's Story
.
Lai has also had success with music written for softcore erotic films like Emmanuelle 2
(1975) and Bilitis
(1977).
His composition "Aujourd'hui C'est Toi" (Today it's You) is probably best known in the UK as the theme music for the long-running BBC
television
current affairs
documentary series Panorama
.
He also earned high praise for his score of the David Hamilton movie "Bilitis", a sound-track that sold over a million copies throughout the world.
In a career spanning forty years, Lai has also written music for television programs and alone or in collaboration with others has composed music for more than one hundred films and has personally written more than six hundred songs.
Award nominations:
Francis Lai (born April 26, 1932, Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, Alpes-Maritimes
Alpes-Maritimes
Alpes-Maritimes is a department in the extreme southeast corner of France.- History : was created by Octavian as a Roman military district in 14 BC, and became a full Roman province in the middle of the 1st century with its capital first at Cemenelum and subsequently at Embrun...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) is a French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
accordionist
Button accordion
A button accordion is a type of accordion on which the melody-side keyboard consists of a series of buttons rather than piano-style keys. There exists a wide variation in keyboard systems, tuning, action and construction of these instruments...
, and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
noted for his film score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
s.
While in his twenties, Francis Lai left home and went to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
where he became part of the lively Montmartre
Montmartre
Montmartre is a hill which is 130 metres high, giving its name to the surrounding district, in the north of Paris in the 18th arrondissement, a part of the Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on its summit and as a nightclub district...
music scene. In 1965 he met filmmaker Claude Lelouch and was hired to help write the score for the film, Un homme et une femme (A Man and A Woman). Released in 1966, the film was a major international success, earning a number of Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, and for the young Francis Lai, a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
nomination for "Best Original Score". This initial success brought more opportunities to work for the film industry both in his native France as well as in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He is known for his support of Mireille Mathieu
Mireille Mathieu
Mireille Mathieu is a French chanteuse, and pop singer. Hailed in the French press as the successor to Édith Piaf, she has achieved great commercial success, recording over 1200 songs in nine different languages, with more than 120 million records sold worldwide.-Childhood to early...
in many compositions and recordings. In 1969, he wrote the score for director René Clément's film, Rider On The Rain
Rider on the Rain
Rider on the Rain is a 1970 French mystery thriller film starring Charles Bronson, directed by René Clément, produced by Serge Silberman, with film music composed by Francis Lai.-Plot summary:...
("Le Passager de la Pluie"). It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
in September 1971.
In 1970 Francis Lai won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Score
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for the film Love Story
Love Story (1970 film)
Love Story is a 1970 romantic drama film written by Erich Segal and based on his novel Love Story. It was directed by Arthur Hiller. The film, well known as a tragedy, is considered one of the most romantic of all time by the American Film Institute , and was followed by a sequel, Oliver's Story...
. In the United States, the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
album went to No. 2 in the Billboard album charts and the film's theme, "Where Do I Begin
(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story
" Love Story" is a popular song published in 1970, with music by Francis Lai and lyrics by Carl Sigman. The song was first introduced as an instrumental theme in the 1970 film Love Story. The lyrics were added after the theme music became popular.-Covers:The song has been covered many times...
" was a hit single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
with lyrics by Carl Sigman
Carl Sigman
Carl Sigman was an American songwriter.-Biography:Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York, Sigman graduated from law school and passed his Bar exams to practice in the state of New York...
for traditional pop singer Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
. The song would also be recorded successfully by Lai himself with a full orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
and by Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
and Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
. Francis Lai also wrote the music for the 1978 Love Story sequel titled Oliver's Story
Oliver's Story
Oliver's Story is the sequel to the novel Love Story by Erich Segal, turned into a movie of the same name in 1978. It was directed by John Korty and starred Ryan O'Neal and Candice Bergen. The original music score was composed by Lee Holdridge and Francis Lai. Unlike the original film, Oliver's...
.
Lai has also had success with music written for softcore erotic films like Emmanuelle 2
Emmanuelle 2
Emmanuelle 2 is a 1975 French softcore erotica movie directed by Francis Giacobetti, and starring Sylvia Kristel. The screenplay was written by Bob Elia and Francis Giacobetti, based on novel Emmanuelle: The Joys of a Woman by Emmanuelle Arsan...
(1975) and Bilitis
Bilitis (film)
Bilitis is a 1977 French romantic drama film directed by photographer David Hamilton with film score by composer Francis Lai. It stars Patti D'Arbanville and Mona Kristensen as the title characters Bilitis and Melissa respectively.-Synopsis:...
(1977).
His composition "Aujourd'hui C'est Toi" (Today it's You) is probably best known in the UK as the theme music for the long-running BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
current affairs
Current affairs (news format)
Current Affairs is a genre of broadcast journalism where the emphasis is on detailed analysis and discussion of news stories that have recently occurred or are ongoing at the time of broadcast....
documentary series Panorama
Panorama (TV series)
Panorama is a BBC Television current affairs documentary programme, which was first broadcast in 1953, and is the longest-running public affairs television programme in the world. Panorama has been presented by many well known BBC presenters, including Richard Dimbleby, Robin Day, David Dimbleby...
.
He also earned high praise for his score of the David Hamilton movie "Bilitis", a sound-track that sold over a million copies throughout the world.
In a career spanning forty years, Lai has also written music for television programs and alone or in collaboration with others has composed music for more than one hundred films and has personally written more than six hundred songs.
Awards
- Academy Award for Best Music, Original ScoreAcademy Award for Original Music ScoreThe Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
for Love StoryLove Story (1970 film)Love Story is a 1970 romantic drama film written by Erich Segal and based on his novel Love Story. It was directed by Arthur Hiller. The film, well known as a tragedy, is considered one of the most romantic of all time by the American Film Institute , and was followed by a sequel, Oliver's Story...
(1970) - Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for Love StoryLove Story (1970 film)Love Story is a 1970 romantic drama film written by Erich Segal and based on his novel Love Story. It was directed by Arthur Hiller. The film, well known as a tragedy, is considered one of the most romantic of all time by the American Film Institute , and was followed by a sequel, Oliver's Story...
(1970) - César Award for Best Music Written for a FilmCésar AwardThe César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
for Itinéraire d'un enfant gâtéItinéraire d'un enfant gâtéItinéraire d'un enfant gaté is a French film directed by Claude Lelouch in 1988.-Synopsis:A foundling, raised in the circus, Sam Lion becomes a businessman after a trapeze accident. However, when he reaches fifty and becomes tired of his responsibilities and of his son Jean-Philippe, he decides to...
(1988)
Award nominations:
- Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for Un homme et une femme (1966)
- BAFTA Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music for Vivre pour vivre (1967)
- Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for Vivre pour vivre (1967)
- Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion PictureGrammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual MediaThe Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media has been awarded since 1960. Until 2001 the award was presented to the composer of the music alone. From 2001 to 2006, the producer and engineers shared in this award...
for Love StoryLove Story (1970 film)Love Story is a 1970 romantic drama film written by Erich Segal and based on his novel Love Story. It was directed by Arthur Hiller. The film, well known as a tragedy, is considered one of the most romantic of all time by the American Film Institute , and was followed by a sequel, Oliver's Story...
(1970) - BAFTA Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music for La Bonne annéeLa bonne annéeLa bonne année is a 1973 film directed by Claude Lelouch.-Synopsis:A gangster with his accomplice , prepares to take part in the "first psychological hold-up in the history of crime"...
(1973) - César Award for Best Music Written for a FilmCésar AwardThe César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
for BilitisBilitis (film)Bilitis is a 1977 French romantic drama film directed by photographer David Hamilton with film score by composer Francis Lai. It stars Patti D'Arbanville and Mona Kristensen as the title characters Bilitis and Melissa respectively.-Synopsis:...
(1977) - César Award for Best Music Written for a FilmCésar AwardThe César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
for Les Uns et les autresLes Uns et les AutresLes Uns et les Autres is a 1981 French film by Claude Lelouch. The film is a musical epic and it is widely considered as the director's best work with Un Homme et une Femme. It won the Technical Grand Prize at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival. In the United States, it was distributed under the name...
(1981) - César Award for Best Music Written for a FilmCésar AwardThe César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
for Hasards ou coïncidences (1998)