François De Roubaix – Les Secrets De La Mer Rouge – LP

For the first time on LP, François de Roubaix’s full score for the French TV series “Les Secrets De La Mer Rouge”, an adaptation of the epic travel, through the Middle East, of the famous writer and explorer Henri de Monfreid. This album, released by  Transversales Disques, is a collection of the original (1967) themes and those recorded later in 1975 when the TV series was continued.

In the 1967 soundtrack, de Roubaix uses various flutes, marine conches, and for underwater views, unexpected instruments such as a celesta or a crystal xylophone. By 1975, electronic technology had dramatically developed and this evolution is clearly apparent when one listens to the recordings of the two seasons. For the later 1975 series, de Roubaix composed a new music score, mixing old and new sounds, a great combination of EMS VCS3 synthesizer subtly mixed with acoustic instruments.

For François de Roubaix, there was never a border between fiction, life and music, and writing music for “Les Secrets De La Mer Rouge” was an extension of his love of the open sea.