{"id":451,"date":"2017-06-21T12:23:17","date_gmt":"2017-06-21T10:23:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicallradio.com\/articles\/?p=451"},"modified":"2019-11-08T18:28:04","modified_gmt":"2019-11-08T17:28:04","slug":"the-fabulous-summer-of-amelie-poulain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicallradio.com\/articles\/en_US\/2017\/06\/21\/the-fabulous-summer-of-amelie-poulain\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fabulous Summer of Am\u00e9lie Poulain"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we look at the images of Earth spinning in space and (thanks to the Internet) listen to its peculiar song which sounds a bit like the wind blowing, we are overwhelmed by the feeling of complete peace and timelessness. However, unlike this space scene, the Earth on \u2018the ground level\u2019 is completely opposite \u2013 resonating with noise,\u00a0 speed, movement, sirens, buzzing, whistles, talks, cries, laughter, meows, barks, tweets and varied music on almost every corner of your city, no matter where you live.\u00a0<\/span>Did it ever occur to you what the harmony of the world sounded like, the day you were born or conceived? Can you imagine all the meaningless and important things that were happening at that moment in all the different parts of the world?<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is one possibility:\u00a0<\/span>On September 3rd, 1973, at 6:28 pm and 32 seconds, a bluebottle fly capable of 14,670 wing beats a minute landed on Rue St Vincent, Montmartre. At the same moment, on a restaurant terrace nearby, the wind magically made two glasses dance on the tablecloth unnoticed by anyone. Meanwhile, in a flat on the 5th-floor, 28 Avenue Trudaine, Paris 9, returning from his best friend’s funeral, Eug\u00e8ne Col\u00e8re erased his name from his address book. At the same moment, a sperm with one X chromosome, belonging to Rapha\u00ebl Poulain, made a dash for an egg of his wife Amandine. Nine months later, Am\u00e9lie Poulain was born \u2013 the girl with an uncommon feeling of absolute harmony, with a great urge to help others (which is something that can make our everyday lives absolutely marvelous).<\/span><\/p>\n

Countless similar events take place with every shift of day and night, and on this June 21<\/span>st<\/sup><\/span>\u00a0\u2013 the first day of summer and the International day of music, we are recalling the Miraculous destiny of Amelie Poulain with the\u00a0Comptine d\u2019un autre ete<\/i>\u00a0(The nursery rhyme of another summer)<\/i>. A \u2018tender melancholy with a smile\u2019 is maybe the best description of this Yan Tiersen\u2019s composition, and the common feeling that turns back to us with the arrival of every September when the scent of the summer ending is almost palpable.<\/span><\/p>\n