MovieChat Forums > Emmanuelle (1974) Discussion > Question about the music

Question about the music

posted 16 years ago by SAlexLindsay
2 replies | jump to latest

My favorite tune from Bachelet's soundtrack is the theme which he famously stole from King Crimson's 'Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part 2.' Despite this theme's prominence in the movie, when it is played throughout most of the sex scenes, it is disappointingly absent from the Warner Bros. soundtrack album. Only one track, wrongly titled 'Emenuelle theme - instrumental variation,' gives us a sample of the tune lasting just over a minute, and it is spoiled by a high pitched synthesiser added on top. Anyone who has listened to this sountrack properly will know exactly what I'm talking about. I assume the reason why this tune is kept to a minimum on the album is because of the legal issues with King Crimson at the time of its original release. My question- has a complete sound recording of this beautiful theme ever been released exactly as it is heard in the film? My favorite rendition is the one we hear when we see Emmanuelle making love to her husband for the first time in Thailand, whilst their oriental servants watch in secret, then become aroused themselves. Has this version ever been issued?

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] darryl-tahirali 10 years ago

My favorite rendition [of "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part 2"] is the one we hear when we see Emmanuelle making love to her husband for the first time in Thailand, whilst their oriental servants watch in secret, then become aroused themselves. Has this version ever been issued? - SAlexLindsay

Sorry, I can't answer your question about the soundtrack (nearly six years later), but thank you for confirming that I wasn't imagining that I was hearing King Crimson's "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part 2" during a number of the sex scenes.

I just watched Emmanuelle a few days ago, after having seen it only once many years ago, and I was amazed to hear a variant on the King Crimson instrumental. I knew nothing about the composer Pierre Bachelet or about any soundtrack recordings that have been released. However, given the movie's release date and the release of Crimson's Larks' Tongues in Aspic album, it seemed plausible that Bachelet could have heard the album, and then incorporated that music into the soundtrack. In checking Bachelet's Wikipedia page, I see that Robert Fripp had indeed brought suit against him.

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