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Favourite scores of Ennio Morricone

2011-07-05T12:50:00.001+01:00

For about a year I have been listening to and ranking the scores of Ennio Morricone. Normally I refrain from giving any sort of rating to the music I listen to, as if I wouldn't give it top marks then I don't bother listening to it. However, Morricone's body of work is so overwhelming, with over 500 scores for film and television, that I needed some structural assistance to help me penetrate and understand his methodology and development.

I haven't been able to listen to all of his published work so I don't consider this list a definitive expression of my critical tastes, but I did manage to get through about 360 scores, which is as many as are in my possession at present. I ranked the scores on their depth, variety, originality and sense of purpose, without reference to their effectiveness as accompaniment for the associated title. There are a great many more of his soundtracks that contain good music, but they didn't make this list because they were either too repetitive or perhaps only contained one exceptional piece among others of lesser quality.

(1965) The Return of Ringo
(1966) El Greco
(1966) Svegliati e Uccidi
(1966) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
(1966) Uccelacci e Uccellini
(1967) I Crudeli
(1967) Il Giardino delle Delizie
(1967) Matchless
(1968) Once Upon A Time In The West
(1968) Roma Come Chicago
(1969) Cuore di Mamma
(1969) La Monaca di Monza
(1969) Metti, Una Sera a Cena
(1969) Queimada
(1969) Un Tranquillo Posto di Campagna
(1970) La Moglie Piu Bella
(1970) Vamos a Matar Compañeros
(1971) Correva L'Anno di Grazia 1870
(1971) Giornata Nera per L'Ariete
(1971) Gli Occhi Freddi Della Paura
(1971) Il Gatto a Nove Code
(1971) Incontro
(1971) L'Istruttoria e Chiusa: Dimentichi
(1971) La Corta Notte delle Bambole di Vetro
(1971) Oceano
(1971) Quattro Mosche di Velluto Grigio
(1971) Tre Nel Mille
(1972) Anche Se Volessi Lavorare, Che Faccio?
(1972) Controfase
(1972) L'Automobile
(1972) Le Due Stagioni Della Vita
(1972) Mysticae - L'Uomo e la Magia
(1972) Un Uomo da Rispettare
(1973) Giordano Bruno
(1973) Sepolta Viva
(1974) Il Fiore Delle Mille e Una Notte
(1974) Moses
(1974) The Final Days of Mussolini
(1975) Macchie Solari
(1976) Desert of the Tartars
(1977) Drammi Gotici
(1977) Holocaust 2000
(1977) Opposte Esperienze
(1978) Days of Heaven
(1980) Il Bandito Dagli Occhi Azzurri
(1980) La Banchiera
(1982) Butterfly
(1982) Marco Polo
(1982) The Thing
(1983) Le Ruffian
(1983) Sahara
(1984) Once Upon a Time in America
(1985) Red Sonja
(1986) The Mission
(1987) The Untouchables
(1988) Cinema Paradiso
(1988) Frantic
(1988) Secret of the Sahara
(1989) Casualties of War
(1989) I Promessi Sposi
(1990) Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
(1993) In the Line of Fire
(1996) Nostromo
(1998) La Casa Bruciata

Mashed potatoes

2011-04-06T21:12:00.001+01:00

A couple of days ago I recorded some music which would appear to be fit for public consumption. In honour of that fact I have named it 'Mashed potatoes', after the popular foodstuff. The music is available in lossless or mp3.

Lossless (102 MB)

Mp3 (42 MB)

Miles Davis - (1975) Pangaea

2011-03-25T14:09:00.001Z

For me, the period 1973-75 is the most richly creative and important part of Miles Davis' career. This music is still little understood and appreciated, but in many ways it feels like Miles final gift to the listener: his guide to the 21st century.

A proper understanding of this music is only possible by seeking out the large quantity of bootleg recordings of Davis' band from 1970 to 1975, as the official Columbia releases can seem impenetrable on their own. 'Pangaea' is one such official release, and is a live recording of the second concert given on February 1st, 1975 by Davis' band, in Osaka, Japan. The first concert is presented on the companion album 'Agharta'.

There are a number of reasons for the impenetrability of these official releases. Firstly, the track lists for these albums give no clue as to their musical contents. Compare the monolithic track list for this album with the actual set list. This difference enhances the mystery of the music presented, but it does not help the listener to decode the contents.

In part though, this monolithic quality stems from the barely stated transitions from one piece of music to the next. In Davis' earlier work the themes, or the identifying tune, for each piece would be clearly stated prior to the start of the improvisation. Gradually during the modal jazz period of his career the improvisation became more detached from, and began to engulf, the theme. This process had reached such an extent by the mid 1970's that the theme has been reduced to an opening bass line, a time signature, and an opening phrase played by Davis, often on the organ instead of the trumpet. The rest of the piece would then be improvised, sometimes drawing on the spirit of the opening bass line and signature, and sometimes going in an entirely different direction.

The music is also characterised by periods of silence or extreme quiet. Sometimes the backing band cuts out when a soloist is playing leaving just a single instrument to carry the music. These breaks were orchestrated by Davis, who would stand in front of the band and bring his arm down in a cutting motion when he wanted the band to stop playing. This confused audiences who would mistake the silence for the end of one piece of music and the beginning of another. However, the breaks are meant as dramatic pauses; a cessation of the groove to enhance its appreciation on its return.

Chico Buarque - (1971) Construção

2011-03-18T13:57:00.001Z

Chico Buarque is a singer of great restraint and understatement. His power comes from his unique tone. It is like the call of a large flightless bird that became extinct long ago, and that has remained unheard until now. It lays heavily across rhythm, smoothing it out or forcing it to shift around. The effect is like a pristine marble slab amidst the bustle of a tropical marketplace.

My highlights from this album are all samba. The heavyweight and menacing samba of 'Cotidiano' and the title track, the lighter samba/bossa 'Cordao' which is more reminiscent of his earlier work, and the straight ahead samba of 'Samba De Orly', which is a collaboration with Toquinho and Vinicius.

Kadri Gopalnath - (1995) Shadows

2011-03-17T12:20:00.001Z

Kadri Gopalnath's saxophone playing is powerful, repetitive and melodic. It reminds me of an early heavy metal guitarist crunching his way through a riff; punching out chunks of music on his axe. Gopalnath is a musician from the Carnatic tradition. In the West, Indian music is usually represented by the Hindustani style, by way of musicians such as Ravi Shankar and Zakir Hussein. Carnatic music is often more visceral and immediate than Hindustani music, like the difference between steak and chips and foie gras with date purée and pomegranate.

On the fourth track on this album, 'Biranavara', there is a terrific percussion exchange between players of the mridangam, ghatam and morsing. There is also excellent violin accompaniment throughout, as on most of his albums.

Fela Kuti - (1973) Gentleman

2011-03-13T10:36:00.001Z

Fela Kuti played the saxophone and keyboards in a ragged style using squeaks on the former, blocky fudged chords on the latter, and a kind of sloppy timing on both. Some would perceive this as a technical failing, as can be heard when he is booed by the audience on live recordings from the 1978 Berlin Jazz Festival (You can find these recordings on the CD release of his album 'Zombie'). But in fact this sloppiness has an aim, which is to offset the tight funky underpinnings produced by his backing band. It is a juxtaposition between control and freedom, like an abstract painter smearing bright oil paint across a geometrical structure.

There are many great albums from this period in Kuti's career. I picked this one as the band's playing is tight and the cover features a monkey wearing a coat.

Richard Galliano - (1993) Viaggio

2011-03-12T11:35:00.000Z

Richard Galliano is a descendant of the French musical tradition of 'Musette', which is a rich, evocative and inimitable sound, particularly when played on an accordion. Like flamenco it is a European folk tradition which still has exciting possibilities, particularly as Galliano fuses his playing with jazz and tango elements to create a propulsive and varied sound. When one musical style begins to run dry he artfully blends into another. The uptempo title track with its clever introduction, and the passionate 'Tango pour Claude' are particular favourites of mine from this album.

It is interesting to compare his efforts with fellow accordionists Ricardo Tesi, from Italy, and Kepa Junkera, from the Basque country.

Ennio Morricone - (1998) La Casa Bruciata

2011-03-11T20:41:00.000Z

I understand Morricone created this score for a 1998 Italian TV series, though I have no idea what that series was about. It fuses elements from Irish folk, African percussion, the Andes and liturgical choral music. The music is largely joyful and devoid of the melancholy one normally associates with his work. It is immediately reminiscent of the score he created for the 1986 Roland Joffe film 'The Mission', though without the overtones of doom and perhaps a little of the depth. For example compare 'Sia Fatta La Tua Volonta' from this album to 'Vita Nostra' from The Mission. The intriguing African percussion elements are also reminiscent of his terrific 1969 score for the Gillo Pontecorvo film 'Burn!', starring Marlon Brando.