• Composed by Georges Delerue
• Intrada / 2011 / 32:25

One of those films combining terrorism with the world of fashion, Exposed opened to good reviews but little public reaction in 1983.  James Toback’s film – starring the unlikely double-act of Nastassja Kinski and Rudolf Nureyev – is probably completely unknown to most people today, apart from fans of Georges Delerue.  A beautiful nine-minute suite from the score appeared on the first volume of the composer’s magnificent The London Sessions collection.  The hypothesis – suggested by some foolhardy individuals – that if there’s a suite on The London Sessions, you probably don’t need to own the complete score is disproved wholeheartedly here.  While it’s a very brief one (25 minutes plus some Bach – and the longest cue by Delerue is a piece of beautiful source music), as all the ladies in my life know very well, size isn’t everything; much like the composer himself, this music is the very embodiment of short but sweet.

To wheel out the most frequently-used statement in reviews of Georges Delerue albums – a beautiful, lilting theme opens the score.  The Parisian setting of the film’s beginning gives the composer an opportunity to wheel out all of his French charm (he rarely needed asking twice to do that).  However, things certainly aren’t light and fluffy all the way.  While Delerue is the composer of much of the prettiest film music there’s ever been, he had far more strings to his bow than just that and there’s some serious dramatic music in this score.  Pervading much of it is a sense of haunted tragedy, a real darkness even in the incredibly intense “Making Love”.  But there’s always something beautiful about this composer’s music – and this is an album to savour.  Much is squeezed into the brief running time; all of it of the highest quality.  ****

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