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Franck Pourcel (14 August 1913 – 12 November 2000)[1] was a French composer, arranger, and conductor of popular and classical music.

Franck Pourcel
Born	(1913-08-14)14 August 1913 Marseille, France
Died	12 November 2000(2000-11-12) (aged 87) Neuilly-Sur-Seine, France
Education	Conservatoire de Paris
Occupation	Composer arranger conductor
Years active	1952–1995
Notable work	1956 until 1972 French Conductor for Eurovision Song Contest Conductor of London Symphonic Orchestra BBC Orchestra
Musical career
Genres	Classical music, popular music, easy listening
Instrument(s)	Conductor
Labels	Pathe-Marconi, EMI
Musical artist

Biography

Early life

Born in Marseille, France,[1] Pourcel started learning the violin at the age of six. Later, Pourcel studied violin at the Conservatoire in Marseille, and also drums because he loved jazz, and spent a year in Paris at the Conservatoire.

By 1931, he was working as a violinist in several theaters in Marseille, marrying Odette eight years later. He then became the musical director for Lucienne Boyer, with whom he went on a world tour.

Career: recording

He immigrated to the United States in 1952 but returned to France the following year to record "Blue Tango" and the follow-up "Limelight". In 1954, Pourcel recorded his first album on the Pathé-Marconi record label, with whom he would record a total of nine albums in a three-year period. In 1956, he recorded his version of The Platters hit "Only You", which sold over three million copies by 1959, and was awarded a gold disc.[2] It peaked at number 9 on the United States Billboard pop chart during a 16 weeks chart run.

• Succès de Films, orchestra instrumental album

Conducting

Between 1956 and 1972, he was the conductor for France at the Eurovision Song Contest, with the exceptions of 1957 and 1968. Four of the songs that he conducted won first place for France. As a result, France became the most successful country in the contest's early years, until Luxembourg matched its four wins in 1973.

By 1958, Pourcel started recording classical music. His series of Pages Célèbres led him to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra, The Society of Concerts for the Conservatoire, The BBC Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, and the Lamoureux Orchestra at the Salle Pleyel in Paris. In 1961, he co-composed with Paul Mauriat the hit "Chariot", which was recorded by Petula Clark and followed up by Peggy March as "I Will Follow Him". The song became the main theme for the film, Sister Act.

In 1975, at the request of Air France, Pourcel composed an anthem for their new supersonic plane, Concorde.[3]

Pourcel recorded 250 albums, over 3000 songs, and he conducted famous orchestras such as London Symphonic Orchestra, BBC Orchestra and Orchestre des concerts Lamoureux. He created the series Amour Danse et violons (54 albums) and the classical series Pages Célébres. His first recordings from 1956 to 1962 were released under the series Originals.

Pourcel recorded until 1995 with EMI.

He died on 12 November 2000 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, at the age of 87, from Parkinson's disease. His daughter Françoise Pourcel, is taking care of his musical legacy.

Awards

He was rewarded with the following distinctions:

• 1956: The Grand prix du disque Français
• 1957: The Grand prix du disque in Brazil
• 1963: The Golden disc in Venezuela Discomoda
• 1965: Amsterdam: The Edison Prize for his orchestrations of pop music
• 1966: Gold record for his sales in France
• 1968: Golden disc in Colombia for Disco Mundo
• 1969: Grand Prix du disque of the Charles Cros Academy in Paris
• 1969: Gold record in Japan for the album Continental Tango
• 1970: Gold record in Japan for album Adoro, featuring "Adoro"
• 1972: Tokyo Music Festival; Arranger award
• 1973: Guacaipuro de Oro in Venezuela
• 1973: Gold record in Japan for the album For Your Lovely Baby

References

External links

• Official website
• Franck Pourcel at IMDb

Media offices
Preceded by Dolf van der Linden	Eurovision Song Contest conductor 1959	Succeeded by Eric Robinson
Preceded by Eric Robinson	Eurovision Song Contest conductor 1961	Succeeded by Jean Roderès

На других языках

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- [en] Franck Pourcel

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[ru] Пурсель, Франк

Франк Пурсе́ль (фр. Franck Pourcel; 14 августа 1913, Марсель — 12 ноября 2000, Нёйи-сюр-Сен) — французский композитор и аранжировщик, создатель и руководитель эстрандно-симфонического оркестра (1952—1980-е)[2].

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