Recently, most Americana that I have discussed on Classicalite has dealt with blues, jazz and folk music. I've left a big part out of that series: Western music.
Yes, Western music has become a major part of American film. Because who can forget classics like The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly or the slew of spaghetti Westerns brought to us by Sergio Leone (you see where the "spaghetti" moniker comes from)?
What really made the landscape of these films come alive was the very original Italo-Western music that propped it up. The whistles, thistles, flutes and boots are all meshed together to storm the Western front in film.
Manifest destiny, ho.
The behind most of this great music is none other than Ennio Morricone--who scored a major original soundtrack to Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) and perhaps one of my all-time favorites, Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers (1966), which may not be "Western" per se but is still regarded as an international classic.
Of course, as per Quentin Jerome Tarantino, Morricone as contributed "The Django Theme" for Django Unchained.
Now, thankfully, we can hear the composer/conductor himself speak, in detail, at the BAMcinematek on Saturday, March 22 at 5:30 p.m.
He'll open for a screening of Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West, replete with a discussion about his prolific career: 5 Grammy nominations, 2 Grammy wins, induction into Grammy Hall of Fame, 2 Golden Globe Awards, ASCAP's Lifetime Achievement Award and 27 gold and 6 platinum records.
Be it here or at the Barclays in Brooklyn, don't miss the event!
Brooklyn Academy of Music members receive a $5 discount on all purchases so sign up at BAM.com today.
To wit, here is Ennio Morricone and Elisa's "Ancora Qui." Remember that sound?
