Tag: Ennio Morricone

Title: Ennio Morricone – The Very Best Of Ennio Morricone (2000) [Reissue 2015]
Genre: Classical, Soundtrack
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Ennio Morricone anthologies come and go, and there are always several to choose from. But as so many recycle the same tracks, one might be forgiven for thinking Morricone had only scored a dozen or so movies rather than something over 300. This makes picking a collection difficult, but this disc can be recommended for particularly polished remastered sound. Eight cues come from the Sergio Leone movies with which Morricone is indelibly associated, including the movies with Clint Eastwood and Once Upon a Time in the West. With their eclectic orchestrations and infectious melodies these landmark scores set film music in an entirely new direction. The more recent music concentrates on the hauntingly romantic side of Morricone’s talent, ranging from the fatalistic “Chi Mai” to two cues from the lushly exotic The Mission and the lovely theme from Cinema Paradiso. Leone’s final film, Once Upon a Time in America enabled Morricone to pen some of the most heartbreakingly nostalgic music in all cinema, while a selection from Mission to Mars reveals that after four decades the Italian master is still writing some of Hollywood’s most imaginative and heartfelt music.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

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Title: Ennio Morricone – The Mission (1986) [2003 Remaster]
Genre: Soundtrack
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Ennio Morricone’s Academy Award-nominated score captures the conflict between 18th-century Jesuit missionaries trying to convert the native Indians, and the slavers who want to destroy them. In keeping with the serious subject matter and epic scope of Roland Joffé’s film, the score is by turns grave, lyrical, and tense. Ever inventive, Morricone mixes liturgical chorales, native drumming, and Spanish-influenced guitars, often in the very same track, to capture the drama of the culture clash. His trademark lyricism also comes through, notably in the beautiful themes for “Gabriel’s Oboe” and “The Mission.” Not as over-the-top as his well-known spaghetti Western scores, The Mission shows Morricone at his dramatic best.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

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