Les Stances a Sophie is a 1970 soundtrack album

Soundtrack album

A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television program. In some cases, not all the tracks from the movie are included in the album; however there are rare cases of songs in the trailers that do not appear in...

 by the Art Ensemble of Chicago

Art Ensemble of Chicago

The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz ensemble that grew out of Chicago's AACM in the late 1960s. The group continues to tour and record through 2006, despite the deaths of two of the founding members....

 recorded in Paris for a French film directed by Moshe Mizrahi

Moshé Mizrahi

Moshé Mizrahi is an Israeli film director.He has directed 14 films in both Israel and France. Three of his films were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, I Love You Rosa, The House on Chelouche Street and Madame Rosa, with the latter winning the award...

 and first released on the Pathé Marconi

Pathé Records

Pathé Records was a France-based international record label and producer of phonographs, active from the 1890s through the 1930s.- Early years :...

 label in France and on Nessa Records

Nessa Records

-Discography:*n-1 Lester Bowie - Numbers 1 & 2 *n-2 Roscoe Mitchell - Congliptious...

 in the U.S.. It features performances by Lester Bowie

Lester Bowie

Lester Bowie was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the AACM, and cofounded the Art Ensemble of Chicago.-Biography:...

, Joseph Jarman

Joseph Jarman

Joseph Jarman , is a jazz musician, composer and Shinshu Buddhist priest. He is perhaps best known as one of the first members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and the Art Ensemble of Chicago.-Early life:Jarman grew up in Chicago, Illinois...

, Roscoe Mitchell

Roscoe Mitchell

Roscoe Mitchell is an African American composer, jazz instrumentalist and educator, mostly known for being "a technically superb—if idiosyncratic—saxophonist." He has been called "one of the key figures" in avant-garde jazz who has been "at the forefront of modern music" for the past...

, Malachi Favors Maghostut, Fontella Bass

Fontella Bass

Fontella Bass is an American soul singer, who is best known for the 1965 R&B hit "Rescue Me", which she also co-wrote.-Early life:...

 and Don Moye

Don Moye

Famoudou Don Moye, is an American jazz percussionist and drummer. He is most known for his involvement with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and is noted for his mastery of African and Caribbean percussion instruments and rhythmic techniques.- Early life and Detroit Free Jazz :Moye was born in...

. Moshe Mizrahi commissioned the original music for the film with the band only having two weeks left on their French visas.

Reception

Allmusic reviewer Brian Olewnick calls the album "one of the landmark records of the burgeoning avant-garde of the time and, simply put, one of the greatest jazz albums ever".

Track listing

1. "Theme de Yoyo" - 9:10
2. "Theme de Celine" - 3:04
3. "Variations Sur un Theme de Monteverdi I" - 3:02
4. "Variations Sur un Theme de Monteverdi II" - 1:50
5. "Proverbes No. 1" - 2:38
6. "Theme Amour Universal" - 3:51
7. "Theme Libre" - 8:49
8. "Proverbes No. 2" - 1:22

All compositions by the Art Ensemble of Chicago

Lyrics of "Theme de Yoyo" by Noreen Beasley

• Recorded July 22, 1970 in Paris

Personnel

• Lester Bowie
  Lester Bowie
  Lester Bowie was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the AACM, and cofounded the Art Ensemble of Chicago.-Biography:...
  
  : trumpet, percussion instruments
• Malachi Favors Maghostut: bass, percussion instruments, vocals
• Joseph Jarman
  Joseph Jarman
  Joseph Jarman , is a jazz musician, composer and Shinshu Buddhist priest. He is perhaps best known as one of the first members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and the Art Ensemble of Chicago.-Early life:Jarman grew up in Chicago, Illinois...
  
  : saxophones, clarinets, percussion instruments
• Roscoe Mitchell
  Roscoe Mitchell
  Roscoe Mitchell is an African American composer, jazz instrumentalist and educator, mostly known for being "a technically superb—if idiosyncratic—saxophonist." He has been called "one of the key figures" in avant-garde jazz who has been "at the forefront of modern music" for the past...
  
  : saxophones, clarinets, flute, percussion instruments
• Fontella Bass
  Fontella Bass
  Fontella Bass is an American soul singer, who is best known for the 1965 R&B hit "Rescue Me", which she also co-wrote.-Early life:...
  
  : vocals, piano
• Don Moye
  Don Moye
  Famoudou Don Moye, is an American jazz percussionist and drummer. He is most known for his involvement with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and is noted for his mastery of African and Caribbean percussion instruments and rhythmic techniques.- Early life and Detroit Free Jazz :Moye was born in...
  
  : drums, percussion