A Little Romance

Had Georges Delerue not won any Oscars, he would surely have been one of those composers that people would have singled out as more than worthy on many occasions - that job (sadly) seems to reside with Alex North. It would therefore seem a little churlish to say that A Little Romance was perhaps not the score that should bring Delerue the statue, but the recognition of a European composer is so rare that we must at least be impressed that the Academy noticed at all.

Having said that, A Little Romance is a charming, jazzy score that could only really come from Europe. The whole café atmosphere ambiance is very distinctive. The Claude Boelling style jazzy riffs replete with bouncy flute and a nicely hollow glockenspiel a quite infectious. Delerue often adds the orchestra to the smaller ensemble and does so here, most notably in the main title. The entire score is littered with charming vignettes such as the diminutive waltz of Julius Edmond Santorin, the laid back piano of Birthday Party and the lively Bicycle Race. The concse liner notes comment about the quieter baroque tracks which are by Vivaldi, most notably Love's Not Like That and The Young Lovers. I must admit that the comments are a little ambiguous as to who composed what, but it is clear that Delerue penned the more jaunty renaissance styled music of Off to Italy and the latter half of The Bicycle Race amongst others.

Varese head honcho, Robert Townson certainly has exquisite taste when it comes to underrated composers. His work to bring Delerue and the aforementioned Alex North to a wider audience is something we should all be grateful for. I think in the scheme of things, A Little Romance doesn't quite represent Delerue at his peak (his superb work for Platoon should surely have won, I suspect the Barber got in the way...) but it does present his warm, tuneful musical personality in all its glory. Delerue was a tunesmith par excellence and each little theme that appears here could quite happily have been the main theme for another score. However, so good was Delerue, he provides us with dozens of throw away melodies. Variety is never lacking, but neither does it feel cluttered or disparate. Charming in every respect.