L'Été Meurtrier / La Reine Blanche

Remastered edition. Limited edition of 750 units.
12-page CD booklet with French and English liner notes by Sylvain Pfeffer.

2025 marks the 100th anniversary of Georges Delerue's birth. In collaboration with SND and TF1 Studio, Music Box Records proudly presents on the same CD two original motion picture soundtracks composed and conducted by Georges Delerue: L’Été meurtrier (One Deadly Summer, 1983) and La Reine blanche (The White Queen, 1991).

Adapted from Sébastien Japrisot’s eponymous novel, One Deadly Summer (a box-office success in 1983), starring Isabelle Adjani and Alain Souchon, marks the return of director Jean Becker to cinema, after a break of almost twenty years. Georges Delerue composed a dark and tormented score for the movie, including some pieces that are reminiscent of his scores for François Truffaut’s last films (The Woman Next Door and Confidentially Yours). The dark gem of the score is the jazz theme associated with Éliane (Elle) and accentuates the young woman’s aura of sensuality. In order to characterize the mechanical piano, a central element of the plot, Georges Delerue and Jean Becker chose an arrangement of the love song Roses de Picardie, becoming the obsessive and disturbing reminiscence of the rape. The score was nominated for the César Awards in 1984.

Jean-Loup Hubert’s fifth film The White Queen, starring Catherine Deneuve, Bernard Giraudeau and Richard Bohringer, is set in the post-war era, in the Nantes area in Western France, three years after the critical and popular success of The Grand Highway (1987). Georges Delerue provided a nostalgic score, filled with restrained emotion. The main theme, heard as early as the opening credits, develops a simple folk-like melody reminiscent of the sea shanties of sailors gone to face the open seas. The second theme (Jean), with a sadder tone, conveys the regrets of characters faced with the consequences of their past choices.

Supervised by Colette Delerue, this present edition features the two remastered original soundtrack albums. The package includes a 12-page booklet with liner notes by Sylvain Pfeffer, discussing the films and the scores. The CD release is limited to 750 units.

L’ÉTÉ MEURTRIER

1. Lello et son piano (Générique début) (2:06)

2. Elle (1:36)

3. Le samedi soir (1:58)

4. Nue dans la grange (1:38)

5. L'enfance (1:04)

6. Le viol (5:27)

7. Les souvenirs de Cognata (1:58)

8. Après le viol (3:36)

9. Chez L'ophtalmo (2:26)

10. Elle pleure (1:02)

11. Pin Pon console Elle (1:30)

12. La course cycliste (1:42)

13. Chez Ferraldo (0:51)

14. Elle malade (2:15)

15. L'hôpital et la mort (1:26)

16. La détermination de Pin Pon (1:14)

17. Gabriel et Elle (3:57)

Time • 35:56

LA REINE BLANCHE

18. Le Sainte-Marie (2:39)

19. Le retour (0:29)

20. Jean (1:31)

21. Les retrouvailles (0:57)

22. Lili (2:14)

23. Bamboulas sambas (1:56)

24. Yvon (1:25)

25. Rouge baiser (2:04)

26. Le jeu de puces (2:18)

27. La kermesse (2:41)

28. Les petits ballons (3:11)

29. L'aveu (3:17)

30. La robe fantôme (2:45)

31. Le pardon (1:04)

32. Le cha-cha de la Reine (1:32)

33. La fuite de Jean (1:05)

34. Le bar des îles (3:02)

35. Chez Rita (2:56)

36. Les adieux (1:41)

37. La petite récompense (0:42)

38. L'enfance (2:50)

Time • 42:30

Total Album Time • 79:44