Film Score Monthly CD: Guns for San Sebastian

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Guns for San Sebastian (1968)

Music by Ennio Morricone

Click to enlarge images.

Price: $64.95

Limited #: N/A
View CD Page at SAE Store

Line: Silver Age
CD Release: October 2006
Catalog #: Vol. 9, No. 14
# of Discs: 1

Released by Special Arrangement With Turner Classic Movies Music.

It has taken eight years and over 130 CDs but FSM finally releases a score by the great Ennio Morricone: Guns for San Sebastian (1968), commonly known as a western but more accurately a historical adventure set in Mexico circa 1750. The film stars Anthony Quinn as an outlaw who is mistaken for a priest and protects a humble village against a violent tribe of Indians; Charles Bronson is the antagonist and Anjanette Comer the love interest. Filmed in Mexico, the international production is a sunburnt, action-packed look at a violent time in colonial Latin American history.

The late 1960s were an especially fertile period for Ennio Morricone, whose prolific genius has enhanced hundreds of films for over 40 years. By 1968 Morricone had already scored the groundbreaking Dollars trilogy for Sergio Leone—establishing the revolutionary style for the "spaghetti" westerns—and Guns for San Sebastian preceded their western masterpiece, Once Upon a Time in the West. In both films, the operatic grandeur of Morricone's transcendent themes enhance the spiritual journey of a stranger in a strange land, orchestrated for choir as well as orchestra; in Guns for San Sebastian, voices appears for the "religion" theme (for Quinn's priest friend) and the love theme, the latter featuring the voice of Edda Dell'Orso.

Guns for San Sebastian is also an action film and Morricone responded with violent, percussive music for the Yaquis Indians, with vocal cries by Gianna Spagnulo (who also performed on Morricone's Navajo Joe and Moses). In addition, Morricone wrote heartfelt, deceptively simple melodies for the peasants whose humanity grounds the story, and unique cues as needed for scenes of action, suspense and humor.

Guns for San Sebastian has been available on LP and CD over the years, but always in a brief (33:24) program with deficient sound quality. This premiere CD of the complete score (resequenced in film order) has been remixed and remastered from the original 1/2" stereo tapes (recorded in Italy) for superior sound quality. It is the definitive presentation of this classic Morricone score.

Ennio Morricone Scores on FSM

Days of Heaven

The Five Man Army

Frantic

Guns for San Sebastian

MGM Soundtrack Treasury

Navajo Joe

White Dog

About the Composer

Italian composer Ennio Morricone (b. 1928) is one of the most legendary and prolific composers in the history of cinema, from his "spaghetti" westerns to heralded dramatic scores (The Mission, Once Upon a Time in America—and over 400 others). From his pop inventions of the 1960s and '70s to his timeless, elegiac and poetic symphonic works, he is a towering figure not only in movie music, but pop culture and contemporary music—and highly influential in several fields. IMDB

Comments (22):

Posted by Lukas Kendall on December 6, 2011 1:53 PM

161 remaining in stock as of 12/6/11 - this is the end of 3,000 copies and no more will be pressed!

Lukas

Posted by sprocket on December 6, 2011 1:56 PM

deleted.

Posted by The Man-Eating Cow on December 6, 2011 1:56 PM

And it's fantastic! Do yourselves a favor, and don't miss out on this one!

Posted by David Sones (Allardyce) on December 6, 2011 1:58 PM

I don't know why I don't own this. I should remedy the situation.

Posted by Bill Carson, Earl of Poncey on December 6, 2011 2:00 PM

161 people didnt order their copy yet?!!!

A Morricone western classic? Arguably one of his best? One of Edda's soaring arias? I've seen grown men have a fistfight at a Movie jumble battling for this score when it was on LP and someone had one for sale!!

Scandalous.

Whats wrong with collectors these days?

Anyone who has a passing interest in Morricone or likes westerns scores, Snap one up, you wont be disappointed.

Posted by Chris Rimmer on December 6, 2011 3:18 PM

Wonderful score and superb presentation by FSM.

Track 2 The Prologue/The Chase (02:47) is one of my favourite Morricone tracks, what a way to start a film.

Sadly, I didn't think the film was very good, but the music, just out of this world.

Those were the days, when you went to see a film just because Ennio Morricone's name was on the credits.

Gee, I sat through some rubbish, just to hear his music.

Posted by Bill Carson, Earl of Poncey on December 6, 2011 3:50 PM

Track 2 The Prologue/The Chase (02:47) is one of my favourite Morricone tracks, what a way to start a film.

Sadly, I didn't think the film was very good, but the music, just out of this world.
Gee, I sat through some rubbish, just to hear his music.[/endquote]

Did you really think so Chris?
Quite a stylish Henri Verneuil effort, I thought.
Admittedly the stunning opening promises more than the film delivers but given some of the plots of the italian westerns, this was a masterpeice compared to the mcGregors films and such like.

I thought the storyline had meat on it - being chased by the soldiers, the long trek with the priest, building the dam and helping the villagers, the white horse, the finale with the dam and the indians. It was more than tolerable.
And that opening - with the soldiers chasing Leon Alastray - with combination of speeded up and then freeze-frames they shoot his gang off their horses- added to the music - was very effective.

Posted by T.J. Turner on December 6, 2011 4:03 PM

This score has one of the best love themes ever! And it appears that Alan Silvestri based his theme from "The Mexican" on it. Did anyone catch that?

Posted by Chris Rimmer on December 6, 2011 4:06 PM

Bill, I didn't mean that Guns was all that bad, the opening was spectacular, one of the best opening credits ever, and the story was pretty good, my comment about sitting through some rubbish, just to hear Ennio's music was really aimed at some other less than entertaining movies I've sat through after seeing Ennio's name on the poster advertising next weeks film.

Navajo Joe for one, not one of Burt Reynolds best, but again the music, wow, and why oh why did they show "Here we Go Round The Mulberry Bush" as the supporting feature every time there was a Spaghetti Western on, I worked out that I saw that film 35 times, just to see a main film scored by the Maestro.

Posted by Morricone on December 6, 2011 4:28 PM

This is great news. This will be the first American limited edition sellout for Morricone (there were many in European editions) since the Varese RED SONJA/BLOODLINE way back when.

Grab this! It's a Morricone western after all!

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Track List

Click on track TIME for MP3 sound clip. Click on track title (selected tracks only) for Real Audio. Guns for San Sebastian Music Composed and Conducted by Ennio Morricone The Overture 3:45 Prologue/The Chase 2:47 Church Music/Sneaking Away 1:46 The Long Trek 5:11 The Assault 1:29 The Bandits/Leon Tied/Bleeding Statue 2:46 Love Theme From Guns for San Sebastian (Kinita's Plea) 2:01 Restoring the Village 1:08 Teclo Shamed/Surveying the Fields 2:04 Building the Dam/Hymn for San Sebastian 1:26 Leon Fights Teclo 1:56 The Burning Village 2:36 Love Theme From Guns for San Sebastian (Leon Tells His Love) 2:52 Love Theme From Guns for San Sebastian (Leon Leaves Kinita) 2:53 Music at the Governor's Dinner 1:51 Army March/Yaqui Camp 1:41 The White Stallion 1:33 The Gift 3:23 Gift Returned/Leon's Mass/The Attack 3:34 The Villagers Prepare to Blow Up the Dam 1:27 Teclo's Death/Victory 1:56 End Title 4:01 Total Time: 55:02 Bonus Tracks The Chase (alternate) 1:54 Love Theme From Guns for San Sebastian (Leon Tells His Love) (album version) 2:51 Total Time: 4:47 Total Disc Time: 59:56

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