Maximilien Mathevon's original score for the documentary Le Souvenir Dans La Peau is released via Plaza Mayor Company. The film explores the participation of the Norman ports of Le Havre, Honfleur and Rouen in the slave trade and triangular trade and the attempts to revive and reveal, without exploiting it, this long-hidden memory...

The subject matter at the heart of Le Souvenir Dans La Peau is a delicate one. Exploring the historical links to the slave trade in Normandy was always going to be a controversial subject matter, and one that needed to be handled with care and respect.

Likewise, the music is an important part of the film's structure and thankfully composer Maximilien Mathevon gets right to the heart of the subject.

The ports of Le Havre, Honfleur and Rouen, and through them the whole of Normandy, actively participated in the slave trade and the triangular trade. They reaped considerable benefits from it, the traces of which are still clearly visible today. On the spot, women and men are trying to revive and reveal, without exploiting it, this memory that has long been hidden.

Discussing the project, Mathevon says: "The music of Le Souvenir Dans La Peau is centred around a main theme and its variations: the theme of slavery. The tone of the music is generally somber with some glimmers of hope brought about by a secondary theme for abolition. In particular, I used glass harmonica sounds with fragile and crystalline vibrations and emphasized the systematic nature of slavery with repetitive tribal rhythms."

The score contains 12 (30 min, 15 sec) unique tracks, each helping to create an emotive and delicate balance to the documentary. Mathevon's approach shows respect for the subject matter. The end result is a truly moving collection of haunting themes that will stay with you long after the film has ended.

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Darren Rea