Hi friends, and welcome to episode 25 of the Music Cabinet! Today I am going to pay special tribute to the man whom I consider to be the greatest composer in recent history, and that can only mean Il Maestro himself, Ennio Morricone. The Maestro sadly passed away on 6 July at the age of 91 in his hometown of Rome. He lived a full life, was as sharp as ever (he even wrote his own obituary!), and only just recently retired. A prolific composer, it is noted that he had scored over 500 films! That said, this episode is dedicated entirely to his memory.
First up are two tracks from Lucio Fulci's 1972 giallo masterpiece, A Lizard In A Woman's Skin: 'A Lucio Fulci', and an alternate take of 'Sfinge'. Those are followed by a dusty radio spot for Schizoid - the American title for this film.
In 2003, the record label Easy Tempo (Milan, Italy) released Morricone's score for the 1971 film, Veruschka: Poetry of a Woman. Featured on this podcast is the track 'Poesia di una donna'. It's a beautiful lullaby piece with vocals by longtime collaborator, Edda Dell'Orso.
'Sesso in confessionale' (also known as 'Sex Advice') is a 1974 mondo-style film directed by Vittorio Sisti. While the movie itself is quite disjointed and odd, the few cues that Morricone wrote for this film are amazing. Lifted off the Morricone 2000 compilation from Dagored Records (1999), here is 'Sesso in confesionale, sequence 2'.
Gruppo di improvvisazione nuova consonanza, also known as Il Gruppo, was an avant-garde improvisation group formed in 1964 by Franco Evangelisti. Morricone joined the group in 1965, and in a sense, this was a pivotal moment because it encouraged Morricone to experiment more with sounds and textures.
In 1968, Morricone asked the group to take part in the production of some soundtracks, including these two featured on this podcast. First up is 'Fantasma' from A Quiet Place in the Country, followed by 'Gli occhi freddi della paura 2' from Cold Eyes of Fear. I've also included some audio from a German documentary on Il Gruppo, which chronicles their 1967 performance at the Gallery of Modern Art in Rome...AND features Morricone playing some unconventional sounds with his trumpet!
As most of you know, Morricone is most commonly associated with spaghetti westerns, especially that of his work for Sergio Leone. My favorite of this genre is his music for Sergio Corbucci's 1968 western, Il grande silenzio. Here is the main theme.
In 1969, Morricone composed an amazing score for the French gangster film, The Sicilian Clan, starring Jean Gabin and Alain Delon. Up next on the podcast is the title track, which prominently features the Jew's harp.
With so many soundtracks in Morricone's filmography, it is extremely difficult to choose a favorite. Of his scores that I have actually heard, this one ranks up there as one of my top faves. Here are two cues from Damiano Damiani's 1974 drama, 'Il sorriso del grande tentatore', also known as The Devil Is A Woman, and The Tempter. I've played the title theme (Veni sancte spiritus) once before on an episode of the Music Cabinet, so in this episode, I will be featuring 'Dies irae' and 'Lauda sion'. Based on medieval Gregorian chants, and with the added effects of echo delay, and the intentional exploitation of multitracking systems, this is a prime example of the sort of compositional freedom that Morricone developed (and embraced) during his time with Il Gruppo.
Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini and Morricone had an incredible working partnership, and treated each other with the highest regard and respect. Pasolini was violently murdered in 1975 and his murder remains a mystery to this day. To close out today's tribute, here is a beautiful orchestral string piece from Marco Tullio Giordana's 1995 film, Who Killed Pasolini? This one is called 'La mia sola puerile voce' and it features a monologue by Pasolini reading an excerpt from his poem, 'La Guinea'.
Thank you all so much for reading/listening! Stay safe and see you all next month! x
DJ Alfonso
P.S. - Hit me up on Twitter if you have any questions, comments, complaints, corrections, and/or all of the above. @djalfonso is the handle.