Given he's responsible for the hugely successful soundtrack to the much loved 2001 French film Amelie, it's not surprising that the acclaimed composer and multi-instrumentalist Yann Tiersen is passionate about the scoring of films. He is, just not in the way you might expect.
"I'm not comfortable with the idea. I can give my music for films, but I can't really compose or record something new for them," says Tiersen. "I'm open to the use of my music, but I'm less open to making a soundtrack because music is not a language, music is something abstract. It's a way to express really basic feelings, and you can put films scenes to it but it's impossible to do the opposite."
When the 46-year-old Tiersen, who is delivering a solo performance at the Opera House as part of the Sydney Festival, talks about his differences with soundtracks, you get a sense of just how hard they are to make, let alone get right.
"Making music for a specific scene or character, or even a mood, is hard," says Tiersen. "I can't say to myself, I will make a sad song for this scene."
Amelie director Jean-Pierre Jeunet discovered Tiersen's work during the film's editing and while the pianist was able to write a selection of pieces for the film, Jeunet also went through his back catalogue to find extra material. It was a productive partnership, but not every filmmaker Tiersen has subsequently encountered has been as easy to work with.
"I once had a director asking me if my music could be more orange. We had to talk about the orange-ness of music for one hour – I really have better things to do," says Tiersen. "I grew up in the '80s, I like punk rock, so I'm not going to sit there and tell someone how I can add orange-ness to my strings."
Tiersen's ninth and newest studio album, EUSA, is a solo piano journey through the landscape and mood of Ushant, the tiny island community off the coast of Brittany that Tiersen and approximately 800 other people call home. Each evocative track is accompanied by a specific map co-ordinate that points to its inspiration, although the composer's act of dedication to his environment isn't something the locals discuss.
"We don't talk about anything like that," says Tiersen with a laugh. "Everybody is shy about it, so we just talk about everyday things like the weather or farming. I know lots of people on the island bought my album, but none of them told me."
Yann Tiersen plays at the Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, on Tuesday, January 24, sydneyfestival.org.au