Soundtrack Apocalisse

It is certainly a very good time to be a collector of European film soundtracks, in particular film scores from Italy. A relatively new label Chris’s Soundtrack Corner has issued selections from no less than three Italian made Polizia thrillers all of which are scored by the inventive and highly original maestro Stelvio Cipriani. This trio of exciting soundtracks are all licensed from Cinevox Records, and are all from the 1970’s.

The Compact disc begins with three selections from the 1973 production, LA POLIZIA STA A GUARDARE, and in fact these three cues are more or less the complete score, as the composer very cleverly worked this music into the structure of the movie, editing it so as to give the impression that there was far more music composed for the film than there actually was, the music worked wonderfully within the movie and also stands alone as an entertaining collection of themes that will be savoured and enjoyed by many listeners. The first cue commences with a slightly meandering and spidery sounding harpsichord, that is embellished by the use of percussion and bass guitar punctuating, the harpsichord continues playing whilst the composition builds into a slow but at the same time a quite hard hitting and determined sounding opening for the film with brass introducing hard edged stabs that grab the attention straight away. The composer also utilises underlying strings and expanded introduction of percussion to generate an up-tempo yet urgent and almost threatening sound. Track 2 has a slightly more subdued but sinister sound to it, this time Cipriani putting to effective use piano, bass guitar supported by sparse use of percussion and introducing interjections from icy sounding strings and suspense filled playing from the woods. Track 3, is the longest cue from this particular selection running at just under 4 minutes, the composer commences the composition with resolute sounding strings that are punctuated by subdued percussion, this opening eventually melts away giving precedence to a lower key composition which is taken on by more subdued use- age of percussion and fuzzy electric guitar, then the cue returns to the up-tempo theme heard in the opening cue, strident brass and harpsichord combine with drums to take the listener out of the three short but certainly memorable selections from LA POLIZIA STA A GUARDARE.

Interestingly enough Cipriani used this music originally in LA POLIZIA CHIEDE AIUTO, which is something that many composers of film music do from time to time, ie; rework themes from previous scores into other works. So it is only fitting that the next selections come from that movie. Track 4, 5 and 6 are taken from LA POLIZIA CHIEDE AIUTO from 1974, it commences with a bitter sweet sounding male choral piece that is almost childlike in its overall sound and is at times reminiscent to Morricone,s THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, by this I mean it is at one moment gentle and soothing then it becomes up tempo as the composer adds percussion, harpsichord strings and returns the choral motif to the equation underlining these elements with brass in a pop orientated cue that is effective and entertaining, it served the movie well and also is a cue that can be listened to away from any of the films images as an outstanding piece that is typical of Italian film music from this period.

Track 5, is a taught and non thematic cue which consists of strings rising and peaking, a simple but effective technique, that has been employed by numerous composers who work in film to underline moments of tension and suspense. Track 6 is a tenuous sounding theme, performed by piano with underlying strings acting as an accompaniment to a lazy sounding trumpet, which acts as an introduction to a full working of this haunting and pleasing easy listening cue on strings and harpsichord.

Tracks 7 through to 15 are taken from the 1975 production, LA POLIZIA HA LE MANI LEGATE, The opening track I would say contains the sound, style and flavour that is associated with the Poliziotteschi genre of movies, hard hitting and full of forceful vigour that is not only stirring but melodic and highly listenable. This section has eight cues all of which are variations upon Cipriani’s central theme from the score, these vary in arrangement and sound giving the listener a fresh and vibrant audio experience and includes the delightful and infectious PAPAYA (track 11). The Compact disc also contains a further 9 bonus cues, which are alternate cues from all three scores showcasing the style and the originality that is Stelvio Cipriani.

Packaged well with full page size stills in the booklet and a biography of the composer with selected track analysis. Recommended.  This CD will be on the shelves at the end of the month.  Also look for Digitmovies’ rerelease of two rare Cipriani polizia scores on one CD coming later this month.