Michel Legrand

Michel Jean Legrand 24 February 1932 26 January 2019 was a French musical composer arranger conductor jazz pianist and singer Legrand was a prolific composer having written more than 200 film and television scores in addition to many songs His scores for two of the films of French New Wave director Jacques Demy The Umbrellas of Cherbourg 1964 and The Young Girls of Rochefort 1967 earned Legrand his first Academy Award nominations Legrand won his first Oscar for the song The Windmills of Your Mind from The Thomas Crown Affair 1968 and additional Oscars for Summer of 42 1971 and Barbra Streisands Yentl 1983 Legrand was born in Paris France to his father Raymond Legrand who was himself a conductor and composer and his mother Marcelle DerMikaëlian who was the sister of conductor Jacques Hélian Raymond and Marcelle were married in 1929 His maternal grandfather was Armenian Legrand composed more than two hundred film and television scores He won three Oscars and five Grammys He studied music at the Conservatoire de Paris from the age of 11 working with among others Nadia Boulanger and graduated with top honors as both a composer and a pianist He burst upon the international music scene at 22 when his 1954 album I Love Paris became a surprise hit He established his name in the United States by working with such jazz stars as Miles Davis and Stan Getz His sister Christiane Legrand was a member of The Swingle Singers and his niece Victoria Legrand is a member of the dream pop band Beach House Legrand composed music for Jacques Demys films The Umbrellas of Cherbourg 1964 from which Recit de Cassard came and in turn in English became the standard Watch What Happens and The Young Girls of Rochefort 1967 from which the relyricized You Must Believe in Spring is considered a jazz standard Legrand appeared and performed in Agnès Vardas Cléo from 5 to 7 1961 He also composed music for Joseph Loseys Eva 1962 The Thomas Crown Affair 1968 which features The Windmills of Your Mind Ice Station Zebra 1968 The Picasso Summer 1969 The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun 1970 The GoBetween 1971 Summer of 42 1971 Clint Eastwoods Breezy 1973 The Three Musketeers 1973 Orson Welless lastcompleted film F for Fake 1974 TriStar Pictures 1998 family film Madeline and would later compose the score for Welless posthumously released movie The Other Side of the Wind 2018 He also composed the score for Yentl 1983 as well as the film score for Louis Malles film Atlantic City 1980 His instrumental version of the theme from Brians Song charted 56th in 1972 on the Billboards pop chart Legrand died of sepsis during the night of 2526 January 2019 at the American Hospital of Paris in NeuillysurSeine where he had been hospitalized for two weeks for a pulmonary infection His funeral was held in Paris at the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral on 1 February 2019 He was interred at the Père Lachaise Cemetery He remained active until his death and had concerts scheduled to take place in the spring Source Article Michel Legrand from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA