Music, like staging, lighting, acrobatics and choreography, is just one part of a larger artistic wheel that turns the creative juices of Cirque du Soleil. It is one of the most important aspects of a show, especially to fans. Over the years Cirque du Soleil has released the music to its creations to an appreciative audience across various physical and digital forms. But like most companies, however, some of those releases have fallen into obscurity, been re-released multiple times, or re-cataloged as divisions within morph and change with the times.
In this series we’ve attempted to make order out of the chaos that is the Cirque du Soleil Musique Catalog, first by giving you its history, showing how to recognize a CD from the catalog, and what currently makes up that catalog. We continued in Part 2 with a brief discussion on what we left out of that list (and why), and pushed into the realm of other interesting releases such as Singles and Remixes. We now conclude with even more interesting items: Employee Pressings, White Labels and Other Special Promotional Material.
/// EMPLOYEE PRESSINGS
Employees of Cirque du Soleil are treated with the utmost respect andcare, and over the years have been treated to gifts beyond the items awarded once the 1-year, 5-year, 10-year or even 25-year mark is met. One such item in the Cirque du Soleil repertoire is “Alegría Live in Fairfax”. The album is an employee issue CD, recorded live under the big top in Fairfax, Virginia and released as a Christmas stocking-stuffer in 1995.
Disc 01: 01: "Milonga".................. (3:13) 02: "Ouverture"................ (1:16) 03: "Mirko".................... (2:47) 04: "Prelude to Vai Vedrai".... (0:28) 05: "Vai Vedrai"............... (5:37) 06: "Jeux d'Enfants 1"......... (1:31) 07: "Jeux d"Enfants 2"......... (1:40) 08: "Fast Track 1"............. (2:04) 09: "Fast Track 2"............. (2:04) 10: "Fast Track 3"............. (1:18) 11: "Fast Track 4"............. (0:48) 12: "Oiseaux Sur La Corde"..... (3:30) 13: "La Perche 1".............. (4:51) 14: "La Perche 2".............. (0:21) 15: "Homme Fort"............... (11:56) 16: "Cerceaux"................. (6:30) 17: "La Tempte"................ (1:13) 18: "Le Feu"................... (6:10) Disc 02: 01: "Le Bal"................... (3:28) 02: "The Letter"............... (1:12) 03: "Prelude to Le Cube"....... (0:51) 04: "Le Cube (Ibis)"........... (6:47) 05: "Barres Russes"............ (5:39) 06: "Bardak 1"................. (1:49) 07: "Bardak 2"................. (0:46) 08: "Prelude to Contortion".... (2:17) 09: "Contortion"............... (7:23) 10: "Montage du Filet"......... (2:50) 11: "Grands Volants Prelude"... (1:22) 12: "Grands Volants"........... (6:00) 13: "Alegria".................. (3:21)
The second is another CD issued to employees – “Saltimbanco Live in Amsterdam” – recorded live under the big top in Amsterdam 1996 (though released in December 1997) through the sound board.
Disc 01: 01: "Cloche et Présentation".. (0:58) 02: "Rideau".................. (2:47) 03: "Kumbalawé"............... (3:27) 04: "Adagio".................. (5:42) 05: "Saltimbanco"............. (5:26) 06: "Clown"................... (0:13) 07: "Kazè/Norweg"............. (9:16) 08: "Rêve".................... (1:09) 09: "Arlequin"................ (7:26) 10: "Rave Out"................ (7:51) Disc 02: 01: "Tap Dance"............... (1:56) 02: "Barock".................. (7:21) 03: "Cantus/Mélopeé".......... (8:39) 04: "Amazonia"................ (9:05) 05: "Démontage Trapèze"....... (0:34) 06: "La Mort"................. (1:44) 07: "Urgence"................. (8:25) 08: "Il Sogno Di Volaire"..... (7:48) 09: "Transfert"............... (1:44) 10: "Horéré Ukundé"........... (1:53)
Since neither were ever commercially available, these two titles are not considered “canon” albums in the Cirque du Soleil music catalog (listed in part one), but they are interesting never-the-less. Each represents full-show audio and captures a snapshot of each show relatively early in their existences. And though both are not available for purchase in regular stores one can find them from time to time on auction sites, although both generally go for a tidy sum of money.
/// WHITE LABELS
The term “White Label” is defined as a musical product release, such as a “test” or “promotional” pressing, produced in small quantities with the intent to distribute them as demonstration discs or promotional materials to music distributors, radio stations, and other companies in order to assess consumer opinion and/or generate buzz about a pending or upcoming product release.
Today the term is applied to all “promotional” materials devoid of album text and logo/artwork that would normally accompany a commercial release. However, the term is generally derived from a practice competing DJ’s would often do – tear the labels off their records so that others would not be able to discover their most special, rare and/or “secret weapon” tracks – but evolved into special pressings of vinyl records with adhesive plain white labels affixed, and into demonstration materials.
Cirque du Soleil and its affiliated distributors have put out a small number of these “white label” feelers over the years, which are researched and displayed here. This is by no means all of the “white label” records or CDs that have been released, so others may be out there.
o) "Journey of Man" Label: Sony Classical Catalog #: SK 89097 Tracks: 1. "Journey of Man" (3:39) 2. "Overture" (1:03) 3. "Taiko" (1:40) 4. "Birth" (4:18) 5. "The Forest" (3:41) 6. "In the Beginning" (5:03) 7. "Youth" (4:50) 8. "Flying" (1:41) 9. "Reveil" (7:19) 10. "Banquine" (5:06) 11. "Journey of Man" (5:02) 12. "Trip Hop" (2:59) o) Delirium Label: Cirque du Soleil Musique, Inc. Catalog #: None; UPC #: None Tracks: 1. "Emballa" (Louie Vega featuring Jaffa) 2. "Querer" (Julien Jabre) 3. "Kumbalawé" (Roger Sangrez) 4. "Aborigenes Jam" (Francois K/Eric Kupper) 5. "Pokinoï" (Sasha) 6. "Africa" (Quicksound/Alain Vinet) 7. "Terre Aride" (Jori Hulkkonen) 8. "Spiritual Spiral" (Carmen Rizzo) 9. "Mer Noire" (Tiësto) o) "The Beatles LOVE" Label: Sony/ATV - EMI/Apple Catalog #: SK 89097 Tracks: 1. "Strawberry Fields Forever" 2. "Octopus's Garden" 3. "Lady Madonna" 4. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
This promo CD was sent out with a press release containing quotes from Sir George Martin (Album Producer) and his son, Giles Martin (Co-Producer), discussing the four tracks released through this promo, how they were selected, the production background, and talked about the techniques employed in mixing and remixing The Beatles for this project.
o) "Pokinoi" Label: CDS Musique Catalog #: CPSR001 Tracks: 1. "Pokinoi - Sasha Remix (6:43)" This is an unreleased "white label" 12" vinyl.
/// OTHER PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL
And last, but certainly not least, this section details some of the more unique, semi-official music releases by Cirque du Soleil Musique and its affiliated distributors over the course of Cirque’s history. Some of the items below were officially commissioned by Cirque du Soleil – such as the Pre Programme Sampler CDs for Varekai and Zumanity – and some were put together as promotional materials by Cirque’s at-the-time music distributor: RCA/Victor-BMG Classics (as is the case with Tapis Rouge Brazil and the Taiwan Promo CD). Either way, these items represent yet another interesting perspective into Cirque du Soleil’s musical compositions.
o) Varekai - "Pre Programme Sampler" Release: April 24, 2002 Label: BMG Canada Catalog #: CSVAREKAI 20411Y31 UPC #: none; it was included in copies of the Varekai "Pre- Program" sold during the early part of Varekai's run. Video: 1. Visual Identity 2. Act Preview - Aerial Straps (0:40) 3. Act Preview - Icarian Games (0:40) 4. Violaine Corradi Interview (1:13) 5. Andrew Watson Interview (1:02) 6. Dominic Champagne Interview (1:00) 7. Guy Laliberte Interview (1:52) Audio: 1. "Gitans" (1:59) 2. "Icariens" (5:54) The Exclusive Excerpts Selected by Violaine Corradi (Composer) that accompany this release are not accessible from a standard CD player, as they have been encoded as QuickTime files. You can only click to start them; no pause, no volume controls. In order to manipulate them further, you'd have to do it in another player. Both clips are in stereo. - "Gitans" (1:59) - This is the music that starts Varekai, a slow march featuring violin, tuba sounds, and tambourine. It's much more "filled out" here than in performance. - "Icariens" (5:54) - This is played during the Icarian Games body- flipping act and, as with "Gitans", is fully orchestrated. It is heavy with drums, percussion and chanting. A nice, long piece, it ends very suddenly. NOTE: We learned in our interview with composer Violaine Corradi (which can be found HERE: https://www.cirquefascination.com/? p=1595) that she played all the instruments on these pieces herself. o) Zumanity - "Foreplay" Release: July 31, 2003 Label: BMG/CDS Musique Catalog #: SM5020300E Tracks: 1. "The Opener" (1:36) 2. "Major-Minor" (2:16) 3. "The Rose Boy" (2:09) 4. "My Erotic Lounge" (1:59) Foreplay contains exclusive work-in-progress excerpts selected by Simon Carpentier, composer of Zumanity. It was included in copies of the Zumanity "Pre-Program" sold in the boutique during the early part of Zumanity's run. o) Taiwan - "Alegría Promo CD" Release: n/a Label: RCA/Victor-BMG Catalog #: none Tracks: 1. "Alegría" (5:47) 2. "Kumbalawe" (5:34) 3. "Trapeze" (5:58) 4. "Egypte" (4:25) 5. "Pokinoi" (5:08) 6. "Querer" (4:34) 7. "Sanza" (4:50) o) Brazil - "Tapis Rouge Promo" Release: n/a Label: Universal Music (Brazil) Catalog #: 2809 904 Tracks: 1. Kumbalawe (4:39) 2. Amazonia (7:29) 3. Saltimbanco (4:30) 4. Pokinoi (4:45) 5. Egypte (3:13) 6. Alegria (Adam's Magical Mix) (6:08)
And there you have it!
What we’ve listed in this overview series are just those items we know of. There certainly could be other singles, employee pressings, specials and promos we aren’t aware of. And with Cirque du Soleil creating new and interesting creations each and every year, this list and its accompanying anomalies will only continue to grow.
Should you have an item we didn’t list here please don’t hesitate to let us know – fascination@richasi.com
And if you’re just starting to branch out into the realm of Cirque du Soleil music – good luck and welcome – we hope this series has helped you discover that there’s even more wonderful music out there to listen to!
