Quartet Records, in collaboration with Gruppo Sugar, presents a Philippe Sarde and Claude Sautet
double-header, including the first and last collaboration between the composer and director, celebrating
perhaps the most important and influential professional relationship in the composer’s career.
LES CHOSES DE LA VIE (1970) stars Michel Piccoli, Romy Schneider and Lea Massari. The plot begins
when Pierre (Piccoli), a successful highway engineer, has a traffic accident. Seriously hurt, he lies waiting
for death and remembering his past love with two women in flashbacks. The film was a resounding
commercial success, and much of it was thanks to the brilliant, delicious score by Philippe Sarde. It was
only his second score (just after SORTIE DE SECOURS, also in 1972) and he was only 22 years old.
Romantic and melancholic, with one of the most famous and catchy melodies in French cinema history
(“La chanson d’Hélene,” performed by Romy Schneider and Michel Piccoli), the score by Philippe Sarde
for LES CHOSES DE LA VIE is a timeless classic.
Due to the success of the film and its music, a soundtrack album was issued by Philips in France and
CAM in Italy when the film was released internationally. Reissued several times on both CD and LP,
this new edition has been slightly expanded to include a seven-minute suite with the original version of
“L’accident” and some short cues omitted from the original LP, as well as the original Italian and German
versions of “La chanson d’Hélene” (also performed by Schneider and Piccoli).
NELLY ET MR. ARNAUD (1995) stars Emmanuelle Béart, Michel Serrault, Jean-Hugues Anglade and
Michael Lonsdale. The simply, intimate story is about the strange and special relationships that develops
between Nelly, a recently divorced woman, and M. Arnaud, a mature salesman just retired. This film was
the last by masterful director Claude Sautet, and his final collaboration with Sarde, with whom he had
been working since LES CHOSES DE LA VIE—a relationship spanning more than twenty years and ten
films. The delicate, subtle score for NELLY was conceived by the composer as a 12-minutes suite, here
receiving its complete premiere release. Not one more second of music was recorded for this film.
This album has been produced by Edouard Dubois and the composer, and mastered by Chris Malone
from first-generation master tapes courtesy of Gruppo Sugar, without the annoying Dolby Surround
afflicting all previous CAM editions. The richly illustrated package features liner notes by Gergely Hubai
discussing the films and scores. -QUARTET RECORDS
LES CHOSES DE LA VIE
1. La chanson d’Hélène (Vocal)* (2:53)
2. La chanson d’Hélène
(Instrumental) (2:04)
3. Générique (0:23)
4. Pierre et Hélène (0:58)
5. La Rochelle (1:53)
6. Soirée (Mozart) (4:40)
7. Prélude à l’accident (1:15)
8. L’accident ralentí (1:58)
9. L’isolement (1:06)
10. Vision de la noce et cauchemar (2:20)
11. Les choses de la vie (2:28)
12. La mort (1:39)
13. Les choses de la vie (Final) (1:28)
14. La chanson d’Hélène (Vocal – Italian
version)* (2:53)
15. Les choses de la vie (Suite) (6:27)
16. La chanson d’Hélène (Vocal – German
Version)* (2:53)
* Vocal: Romy Schneider and Michel Piccoli
17. NELLY ET MR. ARNAUD (Suite) (12:15)
Total Disc Time: 49:46
