2 CD COMPLETE SCORE RECORDING SESSIONS

Performed by the Unione Musicisti di Roma

Featured soloist Edda dell'Orso (vocals)

Conducted by Bruno Nicolai

Na-na-na-na-nah wah-wah-waaah!

I'd suggest that Ennio Morricone's main theme from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is quite probably the most famous that has ever been written. Play any short stretch of it to most people in the western world and you will get an instant flash of recognition on their face. It was really with this score that Morricone made such an enormous name for himself, and his place in musical legend was assured. In fact, the main title theme became an unlikely chart-topping single all around the world, and this album remains one of the biggest-selling soundtracks to this day.

There's a very good reason for this: it is awesome. Each track is a joy in itself. There's virtually no repetition of themes, this is more a series of magnificent set-pieces. It is impossible to think of Sergio Leone's classic film without Morricone's various cues also running through the mind; it was truly a great marriage of the visual and the aural.

The main theme surely needs no introduction. Probably the reason I think Morricone is the greatest film composer is that I just don't understand how anyone could actually sit down and come up with this music. Twanging electric guitars, screaming coyotes, people making "wah" noises at the same time as a harmonica, a large choir, grunting men, probably the most ludicrously difficult-to-play trumpet part that's ever been composed... "eclectic", I believe, is the word; but also stunning, and brilliant.

The highlights don't stop there, by any means. Every track is a marvel. The harmonica theme in "Marcia" is beautiful, and "The Death of a Soldier" is soul-destroying. Arguably the best two cues on the whole album are the last two. "The Trio" features, for my money, the finest trumpet solo in all film music. And "The Ecstasy of Gold" is out of this world. It's mindblowing. A simple piano phrase is repeated, with the theme introduced by the oboe, before Edda dell'Orso begins. Add the percussion, and a large string section to provide the harmony, later being joined by a full choir - it's awesome. Is it the best piece of music Morricone has ever written? Quite possibly yes, it is.

This score is unique, a total one-off, never-to-be-repeated experience. It's one of the great artistic achievements of the last century, and deserves a place in the record collection of everyone - not just fans of film music.

Review copyright (c) 2000 James Southall

Rating *****

Total Time 41:55 + 39:52

Tracklisting: Yes

            CD I - 25 cues

           CD II - 18 cues