This series is inspired by a controversy thread where someone posited the idea that besides THE MISSION and some Sergio Leone westerns Ennio Morricone hasn't written anything great. Rather than making my usual comment that most of Morricone's great scores are from Italy and trying to get Americans to listen to them is like getting them to see movies with subtitles, I decided to take another tact. Since I am at an age where I will only be able to make my case a finite number of times I decided to turn this into a series presenting each great score one at a time, sort of like recordman.
I'd thought I'd end this thing on a simple and serene note. When I first got this LP I thought it was a bit sleepy because it was in the midst of some pretty exciting scores. But after quite a few years I found it was one of those themes that keeps coming back to me:
As I said on the ALLONSANFAN thread (#25) these two films did not make money or else I have no doubt the Taviani Brothers would have continued their association with Morricone as both these scores are superb. But since their next big hit was NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING STARS and that was scored by Nicola Piovani, it began their wonderful association with him. THE MEADOW was an art film about a clerk, Eugenia (Isabella Rosselini) and her two lovers Enzo, an agriculturist, who wants to start a community farm in San Gimignano and Giovanni (Saverio Marconi), a lawyer who comes to settle his grandfather's estate. It is a brooding piece but has the beautiful Tuscan landscape to brood in. This and Eugenia's love for the local theater gives plenty of colors for Morricone to bring to his score. Lovely and lyrical is has a leisurely quality that is rare to find. Unfortunately it had only one release on CD of the 30 minute LP on the Cam label. But it is sublime.
The film won the Silver Ribbon in 1980 for Best New Actress for Isabella Rossellini by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists.
I totally agree. One of the best (and most unknown as well) Morricone's album. I love this score since I've heard it more than 20 years ago. Morricone is "sublime" when composing for flauto dolce (I think you call it "English flute").
"Il prato" is another of your choices that I really approve of. It's one of his most nostalgic scores, and has such an amazing main theme. It's a flute-dominated score, but perhaps my favourite cue is "Il coltello" where a variety of instruments take turns to play the beautiful melody. Also of note is the crazy but catchy "La grande zampogna e il piccolo flauto". What a unique cue! I just can't imagine what scene this extraordinary cue was composed for.
I also seem to recall reading somewhere that this score won an important italian award for best score. Not sure where I read that.
I had the cd of this for a while but swapped it for something else at Movie Boulevard in protest at the terrible sound on a couple of tracks. I’m a bit sorry now, because it’s a wonderfully bucolic score with some fun in what seem to be country dance scenes as well as the beautiful main theme.
