The Sun was out this morning, then disappeared - so I'm back in the mood for haunting, melancholy music. 

Cello & Violin!

Quattro Corde Art Group plays Yann Tiersen's, "La Noyee". 

Here's more Yann Tiersen, "Esther" - notice the 5 strings?   

Love to hear this all violin, so I might have to learn this one! 

...guess I just need an attitude adjustment.

- Emily

@wtw -

🤭 I always think that!  It's why I LOVE my 5 string fiddle. 

My new 5 string VIOLA might be ready the end of this month - waiting to see if a good carbon composite bridge can be made!  

I need to learn some of these  - I already play many pieces by Cecile Corbel. 

Are you thinking of trying La noyée? 

- Emily

@Gordon Shumway -

Interesting angle and links - worthy of it's own thread... maybe after Fiddle Hell I can find out more. 😊

Gordon Shumway said

There are curious harmonic progressions that you only get in modern French music as heard mostly in movies. By modern, I don't mean Satie, I mean stuff from the last 40 years (i.e. Tiersen, after thinking about it, and bal-musette probably). I have wondered about finding out about it - if there is any theory behind it, but I wouldn't know where to start.

@Gordon Shumway -

I looked closer at your link & idea - so here's some of my personal observations, but you may need to give me specific examples to help me understand better.

I've only just started down the rabbit hole, hoping I understand what you are talking about, but think this might be a revival, stretching back to much earlier than 40 years.

So, roots...

There were 3 types of Bal-musette music/dancing establishments by 1900 - one considered seedy/bohemian.  Through WWI and the roaring 20's, people with money were traveling - looking for livelier entertainment in smaller, more intimate surroundings and types of more sensual dancing developed.  Bal-musette continued to become increasingly popular, hitting it's highest popularity at the end of  WWII.  Wikipedia also says Gypsy Jazz drew on Bal-musette styles, too - understandable. 

The music started with predominately bagpipes - and hurdy-gurdies have been around since the Middle Ages.  Then, Italian immigrants introduced the accordion - especially noted in the Auvergne region. 

To me there IS something VERY different in the feeling of music like Yann Tierson's.  Maybe like you said (harmonic progressions), or the structure.  I am definitely drawn to it. 

Interesting to find this in Traditional Folk dance music.  You can start to hear what I think we're talking about, in this video of Folk dancing samples of Auvergne.   One place - Starting at 1:17 - approximately 1 minute long (with close dancing) before jumping to another dance type! 

Did you check out any of the music in this thread?  This is where I get the same feeling - French Mazurkas & Valses. 

French Accordéon Diatonique Music for the Fiddle Thread

A fairly recent tune by Cecile Corbel - hearing elements HERE. 

Did you ever see the 1995 film, "The City of Lost Children" (La Cité des Enfants Perdus)? 

It's a French fantasy film (also available in English) - great because of the music.  Angelo Badalamenti (US) hit the mood 'spot on' with the score he composed. 

Here's Track #10 from it.  If you can get past the 1st minute where the organ sounds a bit Carnival-like, the strings take over. 

When I think of 'Bohemian', I also think of 'Gypsies' (and Artists 🤣), whether Romani or other Euopean/Eastern European people - maybe traveling minstrels?  I haven't been able to check & see if their Folk music had any influence on any of this.

Before I look closer, Am I WAY off here?

...now, I want to know the origin of creepy/melancholic Carnival Music! 

- Emily

I haven't seen "Delicatessen", but the Soundtrack is PERFECT for what we are discussing!  Carlos D'Alessio, was an Argentinian-born French Composer. (wiki) 

Some of the melancholy Circus music feel in there, also.  So, maybe that along with the inherent tuning of the Diatonic Accordion? 

Starts right off great in the 1st track. 

Then a lot of crazy stuff - like at 20:00 "Duo", then at 37:29 "The Streets of Paris", and 43:14 is the Delicatessen finish.  Other timestamps in the comments section.  I need to see this film! 

Delicatessen Soundtrack

There's an article at JSTOR by Richard R. Ness "A Lotta Night Music: The Sound of Film Noir".  

Abstract: Just as 1940s noir films represented a challenge to the security of home and family, their musical scores defied the emphasis on tonality common in classical Hollywood scoring practices.  Scores for the nostalgic second noir cycle are characterized by tension between atonal techniques and the return of more melodic elements. 

To me, Film Noir music can be Dark, have some Jazz elements and some Cabaret style. 

At ALLMUSIC - they have a list for some classic Film Noir music and Cabaret Style music overview. 

Film Noir: 16 Classic Tracks from the Dark Side of the Movies

One of the Noir pieces listed is from, "The Elephant Man" - back to the creepy Carnival music! 

On the Cabaret Genre: 

As a musical style, Cabaret refers to two different aspects of music. The "nightclubs" were initially opened to provide a place for painters, writers, musicians, and other artists to gather, talk, perform, and experiment. The key to understanding cabaret as a style is that the music was all experimental. Avant-garde styles, which were often reactions to (or against) current trends and conventions, were formulated in the cabarets. Other styles include the music that was performed in the cabarets when these clubs received their repute for being associated with vice. Cabaret music was considered bawdy, vampish, rhythmic, and often lewd, with numerous lyrical double entendres. Melodic lines could be smooth and soft when that form of stimulation was wanted from (and for) the audience, but most of the time lines were memorable -- filled with motions and extended interval leaps. There were few soft curves to these musical phrases. Cabaret music was intended as an energized form of entertainment.

Diatonic Accordions  

They have 1 to 3 rows of buttons - each row is tuned to a specific key.  So, there are only limited chords available. 

La Malle aux Accordéons explains that accordions are tuned for Tremolo -  so intentionally having one or more reed sets de-tuned!

Tremolo: Voices tuned apart. 

Tremolo is the sound effect produced when two identical notes have a slightly different pitch.

If these two notes (voices) are tuned exactly the same, we will hear only one voice, with a sound volume twice as high and a slightly different tone.

If one of the two notes is tuned slightly higher or lower than the other, an acoustic vibration effect will be heard. This phenomenon is known as thetremolo effect.

As this effect depends solely on the tuning performed on the instrument, it is possible to modify the amount of tremolo on any given accordion.

I have also read of 'Spot' tuning - where all the reeds are just tuned close, but NOT perfectly in tune. 

At the Fort Bend County Accordion Club site it's noted: 

The most common French Musette tuning of the three middle (clarinet) reeds is:

Low       Middle    High
A=436     A=440     A441.5

So, there IS intentional, built-in, discourse here!

Maybe emphasized - which could explain some of what we hear. 

...maybe along with the chosen key combinations (I haven't looked into, yet), but still wondering about the Circus/Carnival music connection. 

- Emily