Cinecitta Soundtrack Composers

Man! There's so much fantastic music from what mainly is horror/softporn/thriller/exploitation or spaghettiwestern B-movies. Fellini, Leone (and to some extent Argento) are obvious exceptions. I've seen less than a dozen of the actual movies, but have about 130-150 soundtracks from italia 1965-1980. .

If you only know Morricone, Goblin and Nino Rota here, I suggest you start educating yourself about a 'music scene' that has a lot to offer anyone interested in music.    

These would all be great places to start:

Bruno Nicolai L'Onorate Famiglia
Andre Hossein Cimitero Senza Croci
Nico Fidenco Emanuelle in America
Gianni Marchetti Il Magnifico Tony Carrera
Stelvio Cipriani Femina Ridens
Fabio Bixio  A Pugni Nudi
Alessandro Alessandroni/Nora Orlandi Devil's Nightmare/A Doppa Faccia (split release)
Fiorenzo Capri Un Bianco Vestito per Mariale
Armando Sciascia Metempsycho
Piero Umiliani Il Corpo

Left out Morricone, but he is obviously the master of the genre. I would have to get a list of reccomendation of his soundtracks exclusively. Maybe later.

I know f**k all about this area of music, Ennio Morricone, Goblin... das ist alles.

If you had to pick three of those 'great places to start', taking into account my taste, what would you suggest checking out?

thanks

I've collected some great ones since I made that top 15 list. My updated top 25, Morricone favorites:

La Classe Operaia Va In Paradiso
A Fistful of Dollars
Il Clan Dei Siciliani/The Sicilian Clan
Once Upon A Time In The West
Quattro Mosche di Velluto Grigio/Four Flies on Green Velvet
Gli Occhi Freddi Della Paura/Cold Eyes of Fear
For a Few Dollars More
Le Foto Proibite Di Una Signora Per Bene
La Proprietà Non E' Piu' un Furto
Citta Violenta
Il Gatto a Nove Code
Mysticae - L'oumo E La Magia (TV Documentary)
Metti Una Sera A Cena
Veruschka
Il Mio Nome E' Nessuno/My Name is Nobody
Il Grande Silenzio
Comandamenti per un Gangster
Piume di Cristallo/Bird With the Crystal Plumage
Il Ritorno Di Ringo
Spogliati, Protesta, Uccidi!
Controfase (Not soundtrack, Library record)
Duck, You Sucker
The Good the Bad and the Ugly
Il Mercenario
Sacco E Vanzetti

Rocktopus wrote: Btw: Let me know if you're just as interested in the supersweet melodies and heavenly voices from the king of zombiesoftporn-scores: Nico Fidenco and things like that.

As of yet I've not listened to any Nico Fidenco. Movie scores have been something I've been intrigued by for a little while now, but have never delved deeper, possibly because I watch very few movies. At one stage I became somewhat infatuated with Vig Mihaly's who scored several of Bela Tarr's film (a hungarian director). And funnily enough I first heard of Ennio Morricone when he was playing in Gruppo d'Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza throughout the 60's.

A few quick thoughts on those three aforemention albums. Overall this has been a pleasing and positive experience, tho' to fully develop my opinions much more time will be needed. Upon first listens I was more taken with both Pensione Paura and Tutti I Colori Del Bui more so than La Classe Operaia Va in Paradiso. Pensione Paura at this early stage is my pick of the bunch. It has an incredible flow between the pieces, possibly as it is slightly less variable in genre, or possibly because of subtlety of the chanegs. It is a very beautiful album, almost hauntingly so, with ostensible geniality concealing a more ominous back drop. In some respects I found myself moved similarly to some of Luigi Nono's later works (only in particular parts), tho' expressed with a greater dichotomy between the opposing emotions, with a little playfulness to boot. There is something about this score that felt so familiar, I'm not sure if this is because I've heard snippets of this before, or the nostalgia I feel listening to such music.

Coming to it now, I will write about the others soon, as I'm a little tired at the moment.

Just a quick edit. I was thinking a little more about the Luigi Nono comparison before heading off to bed and the more I think about it the more paper thin the comparison becomes. While I was writing that post I'd been listening to Nono's Fragmente-Stille, then popped Pensione Paura whence half-way through my post. As an unseen ramification of this I think the aforementioned piece was still lingering in my mind, hence my grasping at negligible links between the darker violin which is prominant in the opening of this score. As the score evolved it takes on a far more enlivened stance; possibly the film has a happy ending? Anyway I'm just crapping on now...


Edited by Apsalar - April 20 2009 at 22:30

Apsalar wrote: [QUOTE=Rocktopus]Anyway I'm just crapping on now...

I found it all very interesting. Sometimes far fetched associations are the most interesting. Most of these composers seem to have had an overview of and an understanding of just about every existing genre, so I'm sure the Nono link is relevant in one way or another.

Btw: you mentioned Gruppo d'Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza. Have you checked out Egisto Macchi? (Voix, Futirissimo, Sei Composizioni)

^Production music (Same thing) is the name given to the music owned by production music libraries and licensed to customers for use in film, television, radio and other media. Wikipedia

So basically its "illustrative" soundtrack music "premade" for a movie, documentary, radioshow or similar. Virtually all the italian film composers made lots of library albums. Also lot of french, progrelated folks like Teddy Lasry, Bernard Estardy, Michael Magne, Roland Bocquet, Bernard Fevre, Vladimir Cosma (also Brainticket's Joël Vandroogenbroeck)...

Many used psedonyms or were simlpy given some obscure bandname: Gistery and Santani is Alessandro Alessandroni & Romolo Grano, Moggi = Piero Umiliani, Braen's Machine = Alessandro Alessandroni & Piero Umiliani,   I Marc 4 =  Armando Trovajoli, Eric Swan, Cecil Leuter, Roger Davy = Roger Roger, Blue Phantom, H. Tical, Jean Michel Logere(?) = Armando Sciasci and many albums contains music by unknown/anonymous composers.

Digging up library music-treasures is of my obsessions. These albums contains so much unheard, experimental, weird and enjoyable music you simply have to hear it.

If you should stumble over any of these gems, grab them:

   Egisto Macchi: Voix
   Patrice Sciortino: Chronoradial
   Gisteri-Santany: Antico Mondo Greco Romano
   Santucci & Scoppa: (Attraverso i Problemi Dell' Uomo) Poverta
   Vladimir Cosma: Patchwork 20 (Musicue Dramatique)
   Stringtronics: Mindbender
   Bernard Estardy: Electro Sounds Volume 2
   Luigi Zito: Miscellena
   Nino Nardini: Musique Pour le Futur
   Bruno Nicolai: Rendez Vous
   Moggi: Tra Scienza e Fantascienza
   Okko Bekker: Sitar & Electronics
   Braen's Machine: Temi Ritmici e Dinamici
   Magical Ring: Light Flight, More and More
   Giuliano Sorgini: Percussioni In Crescendo
+ Blue Phantoms: Distortions/ Jean Michel Logere: Distortion Pop (same album)

... and loads more.








Edited by Rocktopus - April 25 2009 at 14:09

Great feedback!

What Nico Fidenco soundtrack did you listen to? The music is more exotic than superfunky. And although sensous, quite innocentsounding. This is to me part of what so appealing about it. My girlfriend also really loves Nico Fidenco (and neither of us would if it was the kind of music you expected).

Some of these gloomy horror soundtracks are hard to remember, even the really great ones. So much pure atmosphere. I often confuse what theme goes where myself.

All these composers got so much musicality to offer. This italian beat thing was quite hyped a couple of years ago, but it has never really been taken seriously (not that is has to be serious). I'm glad you're taking the time to get to know some of it on a deeper level.

Apsalar wrote: Out of interest, was the 'not taken seriously' from an academic view point?

My impression is that the embracing of this genre, (much like exoitica and easy listening some years before) was mainly ironic and just something that was trendy for a while.

I wasn't really thinking about an academic view point. But the unsnobbish attitude these all these gifted composers must have had when successfully combining lowbrow & hibrow, and created this rather unique music, deserves a serious study.

I'm also certain that both Wakhevitch and Macchi would have had a greater star in academic circles if they kept their msic clean and played it "safe".

I'll check out Claudio Gizzi (already know Automat).

I got about 60 Morricone-albums, all from 64-74 /(and know about 90), and I'm albums certain that there's atleast ten you'd dig among them. I love Bruno Nicolai, and some of his soundtracks are among my favorites, but I might just have a slight preferance for his non-soundtrack music (library albums).

Riz Ortolani seems to be one of the composers who onlike Morricone, Umiliani and Nicolai (but like Nico Fidenco) peaked later in the 70's. I find some of his 60's music rather dull/generic, but Cannibal Holocaust from 1979 is a near masterpiece. (check out Nico Fidenco - Emanuelle e Gli Ultimi Cannibali & Zombi Holocaust  from the same period if you don't know them)