L'avventuriero

Ennio Morricone's 1967 soundtrack for the film L'Avventuriero (The Rover) is a fascinating mixture of styles, as eclectic as much film music of the time, but brilliant and coherent in its transitions from faux Baroque to high Romanticism and pungent, experimental Modernism. One can easily appreciate that this is music for an action film, but feel more immediately the yearning and dark emotions that are central to this story of an aging buccaneer. The film is set shortly after the French Revolution, and opens with period-style music for harpsichord and strings; the main theme quickly follows, an aching, arching melody for violins over somber harmonies. This is followed by ominous music for voices and low percussion and a skittering violin solo that builds in tension as additional solo strings are added in dissonant counterpoint. Throughout the remaining scenes, Morricone shifts between delicate chamber passages and the tense, concerto-like violin music, and balances these elements; the score holds together rather well, with the possible exceptions of Il Varo, which stands out as an anachronistic, pseudo-Renaissance dance, and the closing track, Momenti Sereni, which ends unexpectedly and unsatisfactorily. Performed by an uncredited orchestra but conducted by Bruno Nicolai, the music sounds terrific, undoubtedly due to superior care of the original analog tapes and expert remastering.

『残虐の掟』(1967) 音楽　エンニオ・モリコーネ 監督　テレンス・ヤング 前半「残虐の掟」は「地獄の黙示録」の原作者 としても知られるジョセフ・コンラッド原作による、 テレンス・ヤング監督の18世紀のフランスを舞台に した冒険活劇。主演はアンソニー・クイン、 ロザンナ・スキャッフィーノ。あまりに美しいモリコーネ 節満開のストリングスのテーマ、そして不協和音的 サウンドとコーラスが重なり合う、これまたモリコーネ節 炸裂のナンバーなど。そして 『遥かなる青い海』(1971) サウンドトラック 音楽　エンニオ・モリコーネ 監督　フォルコ・クイリチ そして、海洋ドキュメント・タッチの作品の巨匠、 フォルコ・クイリチの、ポリネシアを舞台にした傑作の サントラ。大海原を思わせる大らかで悲しげに 美しいメロディがストリングスで。こちらも、美しい モリコーネ・ナンバーのファンにはたまらない傑作。 名盤2枚のカップリング。 (C)馬場敏裕