Le Roi de Patagonie / Fabien de la Drome

In collaboration with Sony Music Publishing and Amplitude, Music Box Records proudly presents the sixth volume of the collection Great Television Soundtracks dedicated to two original television soundtracks composed and conducted by Raymond Alessandrini: Le Roi de Patagonie (The King of Patagonia, 1990) and Fabien de la Drôme (1983).

Le Roi de Patagonie narrates the adventure of Antoine de Tounens, a French lawyer from Dordogne who, under the reign of Napoleon III, went to Chile to proclaim himself king of Patagonia. Raymond Alessandrini composed a symphonic score combining action, romanticism and burlesque.

Fabien de la Drôme tells the story of an outlaw who tracks down the bandits who murdered his family. Fulfilling the director's wish for authenticity, Alessandrini wrote a Provençal theme for young Éric, following him with a bassoon-clarinet-fife combination that sometimes still evokes Western music. Fabien's theme, an essential component of the score, accompanies the hero's every movement with a mix of English horn, bassoon, brass instruments and strings, in various tempos.

Remastered from the original recording sessions, the program has been supervised by Raymond Alessandrini. The CD comes with an 8-page booklet with liner notes by Gilles Loison, discussing the series and the scores including new comments by the composer on his collaboration with the two directors. The release is limited to 300 units.