By Sweet Sound of Sunrise

Yann Tiersen was born in Brest, France in 1970. He was classically trained in music throughout the country, and began his career by writing and playing background music for theatre productions and films.

He became famous within France with the release of his third album, Le Phare, in 1998. However, his fame outside the country was limited until the release of the internationally popular movie Amelie in 2001. The mostly instrumental soundtrack featured a combination of both previously released and new songs by Yann Tiersen, and was well received by international audiences.

Since then, Yann Tiersen has continued to release albums – his most recent being Dust Lane, due to come out on October 11th – and has worked on the soundtracks for the 2003 German movie Good Bye Lenin! and the 2008 documentary Tabarly.

Tiersen’s music often features several instruments – most commonly the piano, violin, accordion, and guitar – that can give it an old-time, folk feel. However, he is also known for classical-style songs and for adapting unusual instruments like the typewriter and ondes Martenot to create his trademark sound.

La valse d’Amelie – Yann Tiersen

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