Mario Nascimbene Mail Bag

Italian composer Mario Nascimbene passed away earlier this month. Following are letters we received from our readers paying tribute to him:

Mario is gone! Mario lives! The passing away of Mario made all us very very sad!

He was like an holy father for me! During 16 years of great friendship.. how many hours we spent together!

It was really fantastic speak with him...we gave great ideas each other and the fun was a sure thing!

Mario was really a mature man with the heart of a child.

Every time I went to visit him during all these past years I saw him waiting for me me sit down on his coach, and I had the feeling to pay visit to a true king sit down on his throne, but he was a so simple man who treated people with kindness and simpleness. As Soundtrack producer I had the chance to release many of his old soundtracks and the creation of each CD made Mario & me very very glad, so happy like two kids playing!

In very recent times, also when he was sick and tired, we had the chance to speak together and Mario never did miss one drop of all his joy for Life and his job...we had talked about future projects to develope during the year 2002 like new Cds to prepare together.... hoping a very fast recovery, but with regret it did not happen.

Surely, I cannot forget all the endless love and care from his beloved Catherine, a wonderfull wife so close to her Mario until his last breath....My latest memory of Mario alive is still so fresh and I remember when past may 2001 I had the great pleasure to interview him about his Hammer Pictures days on a GDI CD dedicate to his superb score for "The vengeance of she" ...now I'll continue to listen on that interview and Mario's voice 'll drive me on many many forthcoming Cd projects devoted to his "eternal" Film Music.
 

Most of us movie music-heads were impacted at very young ages by the blend of heroic images and sounds which left us indelibly enmeshed with the films and the scores. Mario Nascimbene's music first impacted me at the ages of 8 and 9 with 'The Vikings' and 'Solomon and Sheba'. I'll be forever indebted to him for these themes and (especially) rhythms. Just recently I was assessing his music for myself - and reflected that his scores for 'primitive' or 'ancient' pictures always sounded authentic. Despite the brilliance of scores by Rozsa and others for 'epic' films - they always sounded too pretty. Mario's work always sounded primal as if Nascimbene had stumbled upon some personal stash of atavistic inspiration. In any case - he was the real thing and like all of the truly great film composers, had an unmistakably recognizable style no matter what kind of film he did. You could have played me 'Barefoot Contessa' blindfolded and I'd have known it was Mario Nascimbene. God Rest His Soul.

Sad to hear the news of Nascimbene, but gladdened to read that he lived to the age of eighty-eight, apparently still in productivity, and capable of inspring such a wonderfully heartfelt letter from his friend and colleague, Mr. Zamori.

Nascimbene's best score was probably THE VIKINGS. How I envy the friend of mine who described the thrill of seeing the movie in its first-run engagement and hearing the call of those great horns echoing in the theater. My own big-screen memory of Nascimbene dates from a few years later, and BARABBAS. A very special and under-rated film, it was perhaps best described by TIME Magazine as "that rare whale which spouts holy oil," in other words, a Biblical spectacular with genuine religious feeling, (thanks mainly to its source novel by Par Lagerkvist and the script by Christopher Fry). Nascimbene's stark score memorably supported the striking Richard Fleischer visuals (including a crucifixion shot against a real solar eclipse), all the while underlining Anthony Quinn's haunted spiritual quest.

Although the score has been made available on a two-fer cd (w/ALEXANDER THE GREAT), unfortunately they couldn't make room for the original LP's final track in which Nascimbene's unique vocal and electronic effects were explained and demonstrated. Just recently, it happens that I've been acquiring Nascimbene scores with which I'm not yet familiar, and I look forward to discovering more marvels from the maestro.

Rest in peace.

Sorry to hear about Mario Nascimbene. I first saw "The Vikings" when I was in high school (in the early 1980s), as part of a mythology course. After studying a unit -- say, Egyptian mythology -- we would then watch "Land of the Pharoahs," or something of the sort. In this way, I was exposed to "Jason and the Argonauts," "Ulysses" (Kirk Douglas), and several others. Pretty cool course, huh?

Anyway, the thing that has stuck with me all these years, besides memories of Ernest Borgnine's robust performance as Ragnar and an enduring fascination with the Norse myths, is Nascimbene's unforgettable score. "Haunting" is a term which is overused, but truly it is the best way to describe "The Vikings" motif. I defy anyone to watch this film and not have it etched permanently in his or her memory. To this day, at the mere mention of "The Vikings," the person I am talking to, if he or she has seen it, either mentions the music or begins to sing it!

I found a second-hand copy of the video cassette, perhaps eight or nine years ago, when a rental shop was going out of business. Ironically, I just popped the tape into my VCR (sorry guys, still haven't invested in DVD) on New Year's Day. And now, just a few days later, Niscimbene is dead. Too bad. Regardless of what you think of the movie, there is a kind of poetry to it, and arguably it is the score (along with the Nordic scenery and obvious craftsmanship that went into every aspect of the production, especially the construction of those ships!) that most lends it that transcendent quality.

I am totally numb. I just listened to the last CD that came out featuring his music. GDI released James Bernard's She and Mario Nascimbene's Vengeance of She this past July. One week after purchasing the CD, James Bernard passed on. On Sunday, January 6th, I listened to the four minute interview with Mario Nascimbene at the end of the CD which I hadn't heard before; little knowing that this was the day he passed away. I hear the call of the Vikings. . . I hear the dance music he wrote for Sheba. . . I hear the strange wailing's of Barabbas . . . I hear the call to Kuma and I hear Raquel walking along a prehistoric landscape. His compositions were anything but ordinary. I always said that his works didn't always stand up alone on CD away from his films. But with his films, his music was pure genius. He really DID write for pictures and as we always say, we will not see his likes again.

I read the touching obit in today's column. has anything been written about the composer's invention, "mixerama"? as a person interested in recording and studio techniques, i'd be interested in knowing more.

I've just learned off the passing of Mario Nascimbene. Recently I was in the Roman amphitheatre at Verona (where the arena sequences for BARABBAS were filmed) and I was playing Nascimbene's jagged fanfares in my head. Like Alex North he was a maverick in the epic genre (BARABBAS, et cetera), and equally at home in small-scale domestic dramas (ROOM AT THE TOP). Another legend of film music gone!

MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com