The Malicorne years

Hughes de Courson is best known for being on all of the albums by Malicorne

Malicorne

Malicorne may refer to:* Malicorne , a bandMalicorne is the name or part of the name of several communes in France:* Malicorne, Allier, in the Allier département* Malicorne-sur-Sarthe, in the Sarthe département...

. He played electric guitar

Electric guitar

An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

, bass

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

, crumhorn

Crumhorn

The crumhorn is a musical instrument of the woodwind family, most commonly used during the Renaissance period. In modern times, there has been a revival of interest in Early Music, and crumhorns are being played again....

, percussion

Percussion instrument

A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...

, recorder

Recorder

The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...

, positive organ

Positive organ

A positive organ is a small, usually one-manual, pipe organ that is built to be more or less mobile. It was common in sacred and secular music between the 10th and the 18th centuries, in chapels and small churches, as a chamber organ and for the basso continuo in ensemble works...

, piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

, elka

Elka

ELKA or Elka may refer to one of the following:*An Italian Synthesizer manufacturer, now defunct. Notable units include; ELKA Synthex, ELKA Rhapsody, ELKA X-55, and the ELKA MKxx series of MIDI controllers . Notable customers include Jean Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze and, Supertramp...

, synthesiser, glockenspiel

Glockenspiel

A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...

 and Hammond organ

Hammond organ

The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...

. He was producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 on some of the albums. His most original track was probably "Vive La Lune" on Balançoire En Feu (1981), which is largely instrumental. It typifies the colourful, bizarre sounds that he later made as a soloist.He also wrote some songs with his school mate, famous writer Patrick Modiano.

Classical medieval techno

Hughes' albums are all large-scale works. He is an arranger rather than a soloist

Solo (music)

In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...

. On many he combines electronic effects with medieval or baroque instruments. Mozart in Egypt

Mozart in Egypt

Mozart in Egypt is a 1997 album by various artists. It represents a fusion of Mozart's work with the sounds, rhythms and instruments typical of contemporary Egyptian music.The album saw considerable success in continental Europe, especially France, but had only limited success elsewhere...

takes works by Mozart and emphasises the oriental elements in them. The 25th symphony is played with a much-enlarged orchestra. O'Stravaganza - Vivaldi in Ireland

O'Stravaganza - Vivaldi in Ireland

O'Stravaganza - Vivaldi in Ireland is an album by Hughes de Courson.De Courson's work is a kind of World fusion music. There are only a handful of such arrangers who combine folk music and classical music in a similar vein...

combines traditional Irish music with re-arranged Vivaldi

Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...

 works. "Lambarena, Bach to Africa" mixes African traditional music from Gabon to Johann Sebastian Bach music. Songs of Innocence combines songs by children of the world with clever classical arrangements. Unfortunately his recordings are rarely available in the English-speaking world.

discography

• Charlemagne (1993)
• Lambarena - Bach to Africa (1995)
• 13 Croquis de Jeunes Filles As (1996)
• Mozart in Egypt
  Mozart in Egypt
  Mozart in Egypt is a 1997 album by various artists. It represents a fusion of Mozart's work with the sounds, rhythms and instruments typical of contemporary Egyptian music.The album saw considerable success in continental Europe, especially France, but had only limited success elsewhere...
  
  (1997)
• Songs of Innocence (1999)
• O'Stravaganza - Vivaldi in Ireland
  O'Stravaganza - Vivaldi in Ireland
  O'Stravaganza - Vivaldi in Ireland is an album by Hughes de Courson.De Courson's work is a kind of World fusion music. There are only a handful of such arrangers who combine folk music and classical music in a similar vein...
  
  (2001)
• Lux Obscura: Un Projet Electro-Medieval (2003)
• Mozart in Egypt 2
  Mozart in Egypt 2
  This album was released in August 2005, in Europe only.-Track listing:# Al Bedaya# Mozart L'Egyptien# Al Sahm Al Taeh# Alatul Concerto Pour Kaval & Flûte# Al Sahara# Al Maghfera# Ninna Nam# Al Raqs# Ya Shady Symphony...
  
  (2005)

He has also produced for almost 100 albums. http://www.rootsworld.com/interview/decourson.html

In the media

Hughes' song El Vuelo, appeared in 2009, in a series of TV ads for the Canadian airline, Air Canada

Air Canada

Air Canada is the flag carrier and largest airline of Canada. The airline, founded in 1936, provides scheduled and charter air transport for passengers and cargo to 178 destinations worldwide. It is the world's tenth largest passenger airline by number of destinations, and the airline is a...

, promoting new features of their new airplanes. He had help recording this piece from Plovdiv's Children's Choir, of Bulgaria.

Live music

Hughes de Courson wrote 22 music pieces for contemporary ballets, performed by Philippe Decoufle, Karine Saporta, The San Francisco Ballet, and many more. He also performed "Mozart in Egypt" and "O'Stravaganza" in various festivals, and in important events like the Jeddah Islamic Economic Forum in 2008. He is now living in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, and studies Asian music. He performed an Asian version of Ravel's Bolero in Ho Chi Mihn City in 2010.
He writes music for events, mainly in Qatar (Gulf Cup opening show, Asian cup opening show in 2011).