Title: Tepepa
Year: 1969
Composer: Ennio Morricone
After
Halloween it’s time to start a new review series concentrating on the music of
spaghetti westerns. And a series about spaghetti westerns couldn’t be complete
without a mention of the one composer who pretty much created the sound for the
films or at least perfected it. I’ll start from a score of his that isn’t that
well-known though, called Tepepa. The
film tells a story during the time of the Mexican revolution and features a
score that is missing some of the usual trademarks Morricone implemented on
these films.
The score
begins with its connecting little motif, a two-note piano rumble. It’s followed
by a very familiar sounding theme for woodwinds and acoustic guitar. I don’t
know what makes the theme sound so ‘Mexican’ but it certainly has that kind of fling
to my ear. After the theme we get a development section that has the piano
motif dancing amid quicker march-like brass and guitars. It’s followed by a
classical music inspired chorale before quieting down back to the main theme.
This title track is easily the best thing about the score since it’s just so
uplifting and melodically pleasing throughout leaving a warm feeling to the
listener’s heart. The ending cue reprises the first track faithfully but has a
different guitar introduction and some of the other instrumental changes and
additional main theme moments compared to the first version and it actually
ends with the chorale providing a powerful close to the album.
Tepepa e Price has some interesting instrumental colours with
guitars and whistles without a significant theme. The piano motif transforms
into a piece of slight unease in Tradimento
primo over strings that are so undeniably Morricone western. It also
features a twanging guitar and other stranger guitar string manipulations. A metà strada has also the Morricone
western style written over it. It’s a peaceful cue where the sunset imagery is
created by soft strings and distant guitars.
There’s
actually an original song sung by an artist called Christy who worked with
Morricone in some of his spaghetti western scores. The melody is quite powerful
and the performance is just so over-the-top passionate, that it’s just a blast
to listen to. The song itself consists of a constant guitar base where the
verses are divided by crystal-clear trumpet solos. There are much better
Morricone songs available but this one doesn’t distract from the overall style
and is good fun nonetheless.
Una rosa develops the beginning track’s Mexican
influences even further with a cheerful Mariachi band source cue. Consegna delle armi is another serene
elegy that was done better in other Morricone westerns. The only two pieces of
real suspense writing are Una povera casa
and Tradimendo secondo. The latter
features similar reprises of the piano motif and the twanging guitar to the
first version. However they’re short-lived because of disruptive suspense material
consisting of swirling strings, harpsichord chords and military percussion.
I own the
version of the score that’s only 30 minutes long. I don’t know whether longer
versions of the score add something new to the mix but besides the killer title
track and the song, there isn’t really that much originality the listener can
get a grasp on. Those moments I mentioned though are quite special and provide
enough beautiful melodies to get through the short duration of the album.
Rating: ****
Tracklist:
1. Viva la
revoluciòn [Tepepa] (04:22) *****
2. Tepepa e
Price (00:58) ****
3. Tradimento
primo (02:17) ****
4. A metà strada
(01:51) *****
5. Al
Messico che vorrei (04:52) *****
6. Una rosa
(01:47) ***
7. Consegna
delle armi (01:20) ****
8. Una povera
casa (01:03) ***
9. Tradimento
secondo (02:55) *****
10. Tepepa
[Viva la ravoluciòn] (05:37) *****
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