le Petit Chien

Vladimir Cosma became a highly regarded and hugely prolific soundtrack composer for the French cinema in the 60s and 70s. As the title says, 40 Films - 40 Bandes Originales. All remastered in high definition onto 17 CDs and beautifully packaged in a handsome box as shown. Including the soundtracks from the iconic film 'Diva', 'Mistral's Daughter', 'The Closet', this set amply demonstrates Cosma's ability to compose good, sometimes great, music to accompany these films, while also borrowing from classics and contemporary pop.

A few of these small choral gems are well known to amateur choirs, and Poulenc's secular choral pieces are more often presented one at a time on choral albums than in the groupings in which they were originally included. Francis Poulenc: Secular Choral Music offers the composer's very first choral piece, the Chanson à boire for men's voices (1922), but most of the music here dates from either the late '30s (the Petites voix, for female or children's voices, and Sept chansons) or the World War II era (Un soir de neige), the folk-song settings entitled Chansons françaises, and the ambitious Figure humaine, whose final number, "Liberté," was dropped in sheet music form over French cities by Britain's Royal Air Force. Someone once described Poulenc as "part monk, part hooligan," and these a cappella choral works give evidence of both tendencies. The Chansons françaises are cheerful pieces with just a shade of extended harmony, almost French counterparts to Bartók's folk song settings, while the more serious pieces, such as "Un chien perdu" (A Lost Dog), from the Petites voix, have a mystical tinge that links them strongly with Poulenc's better-known sacred choral music.

CD that gathers 24 pieces of classical music chosen especially for the little ones who will discover thus: Mozart and its Little night music or The air of the bells. For Beethoven, we find The Hymn to Joy or The Pastoral Symphony. Vivaldi is represented through Les quatre saisons and for Chopin, we listen to La Valse du petit chien, Le Papillon or Nocturne.

Henri Crolla (1920-1960) was an Italian jazz guitarist and film composer. Born in Naples, Campania, Italy, to a family of itinerant Neapolitan musicians, he moved with his family to Porte de Choisy in France in 1922 following the rise of fascism in Italy. One of his neighbours was a young Django Reinhardt, with whose family he became close. He also put to music many poems from Prévert's Paroles with Joseph Kosma.

Master Series is the title of a line of greatest hits albums, released in European countries primarily by PolyGram International, as well as A&M Records, Deram Records, FFRR Records, Mercury Records, and Polydor Records. In addition, some albums were reissued by Universal Music Group under the Universal Masters Collection and Millennium Edition titles.