Concert ‘France Musique – Sacem for film music Award’ – Samy Thiébault & Philippe Rombi – SUMMARY

On January 31sy, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France conducted by Bastien Stil performed a tribute to Philippe Rombi at the ‘France Musique – Sacem for film music Award’ concert, where the world premiere of the piece Crêtes happened, a piece commissioned by Radio France and composed by the winner of the contest Samy Thiébault (read more).

 

Our friend and collaborator Benoit Daldin was there and offers us this exclusive article for SoundTrackFest.

 

Philippe Rombi or the triumph of melody

Today’s film music sometimes pits melodists against “sound designers”, advocates of a more minimalist approach where atmosphere takes precedence over melody and leitmotifs. We will not resolve this debate here because the two approaches usually give good results, but what is certain is that the composer honored this January 31, 2025 in the auditorium of Radio France belongs to the first of these two categories.

The concert program was as follows:

 

Philippe Rombi, whose exclusively French career led him to write scores for all film genres, from the most independent to the most popular, well deserved his big tribute evening at the “Grande Maison”. The concert, broadcast live by France Musique, began with a piece by the winner of the SACEM award for film music 2024, Samy Thiebault, entitled “Crêtes” around the idea of earthly and spiritual adventure, a concept well developed in this symphonic poem in four parts.

 

Then came the part dedicated to Philippe Rombi: his melodic genius, his subtle science of orchestration, and his adaptability to all styles resulted in a program of great quality, defended with evident conviction by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and its conductor Bastien Stil, who further establishes his reputation for precision and mastery of colors in this repertoire that so many “classical” conductors still disparage.

 

Rombi is perhaps best known for his loyalty to some great French directors, from François Ozon, for whom he signed most of the original soundtracks of his films, to Christian Carion (whose music for “Joyeux Noël” remains one of his masterpieces) or even Christophe Barratier. Musically, and without ever copying them, he is a worthy heir of Legrand, Williams, Rota, Mancini, Jarre both in melodic originality and in the variety and richness of the orchestrations.

 

The first part of the program gived prominence to Ozon’s films, from the lyrical themes of Angel or Sous le Sable, to the sublime dialogue between strings, solo cello and piano of Dans la maison, passing through one of the most beautiful prayers one can imagine: Ave Maria, excerpt from Joyeux Noël, sung by Jolien de Gendt, unfortunately less moving than Natalie Dessay in the film version.

 

Rombi’s talent is to know how to integrate perfectly into the universe of the films he serves and the contrast between the universe of Ozon’s films and the rest of the programming is the absolute demonstration of this: the frenetic score of the two films of the animation Astérix by Alexandre Astier or that of the successful comedy Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis by Dany Boon are pleasant moments of this evening, with the help of a percussion table that seems to have so much fun playing this music while the public (re)discovers it.

 

Rombi’s science of orchestration works wonders in what can be considered among two of his most beautiful original soundtracks: Jeux d’Enfants and Une hirondelle a fait le Printemps, for which the composer himself was at the piano (a superb pianist, with an ethereal voice). Nor will we forget Potiche, Une nouvelle amie or La Nouvelle Guerre des boutons, but the highlight of the concert will still be this “Hymn of the Fraternized”, a moment of intense emotion from the film Joyeux Noël and which makes us wonder how such a piece has not yet become a standard for all the choirs of the world.

 

Philippe Rombi, visibly very moved, came out to greet a standing audience, demonstrating, if it were necessary, that beautiful music only needs itself to touch souls and that all these great composers who hide in dark rooms behind the characters of the films they magnify, finally have their place in full light, in the largest concert halls.

 

Article by Benoit Daldin

Pictures by Gorka Oteiza