Title: Padre
Pio – tra cielo e terra
Composer: Ennio Morricone
Year: 2000
Maestro
Morricone is no stranger to scoring films featuring religious figures. In the
2000s he composed the music for three TV movies about two popes: John Paul II
and John XXIII. However the first project of that nature in the new millennium
for him was the music written for a TV miniseries about a monk called Padre Pio
who, among other things, exhibited stigmata and was later canonized by the
Catholic Church. The music offers a kind of religious quality that Morricone
has provided to many films over the years. No matter the connotations, it is a
pleasant and beautiful listening experience in any case.
The score
begins with an absolutely stunning performance of the title theme. The A
section of the melody is built around a rising hopeful tune reaching for the heavens
and written in the composer’s typical style discussed above. Surprisingly it is
followed by a short victorious brass fanfare that is sadly never heard again
before the B section melody begins along with heavenly choral voices. This
section reminds me of the main theme of The
mission with similar harmonies and simplicity of the melody. Eventually the
moods that started the piece bring it to a peaceful close. The main theme is
reprised in La croce della gloria with
another Morricone favourite, a solo oboe not far from the one played in that
other religious film. The cue’s ending takes a darker turn to a more sacred
direction with melodies and harmonies clearly inspired by ancient Latin hymns. Nel silenzio offers a more playful
variation of the B section melody over a pizzicato bassline and an occasional
bed of warm strings, eventually performed by the chorus in unison. Some
textures heard here remind me of another Morricone score from 2000, Mission to Mars. It’s strange how
Maestro Morricone can make similar moods work in completely different film
genres. The last full reprise of the theme is for solo organ and strings in
track 7 and though the organ sounds somewhat synthetic, the backing strings are
at their most moving here.
La sofferenza introduces a different long-lined melody,
another one that brings tons of others by Morricone to mind. Yet it is just so
delicately gorgeous with its presentation and viola solo, that the familiarity
doesn’t ruin the overall experience. The reprise of that theme in Dolore come amore is written just for
the strings which have such a wonderful echo that makes the sounds float
straight down from above. Yet another solo string piece La verita’ nelle stimmate is clearly a sacred composition that
doesn’t reach the heights of the previous themes but is still gorgeous with its
somber tone. 10-minute Sia fatta la sua
volonta takes the minimalism of the album’s beginning to new directions and
features a simple harp tune that plays over and over on top of rather abstract
string harmonies which are slowly building up with intensity towards an unseen
closure. At 6.5-minute mark however the mood warms up to the glorious strings
which guide the cue back to a safe haven. Though there seems to be not that
much happening, the cue is all about textures and moods that for me depict
spirituality through music. It could be either a moment just before sunrise and
the first rays of emerging light or a soul ascending through a layer of clouds depending
on what you believe in. Nevertheless its beauty is undeniable. La casa della sofferenza brings a smile
to my face because there is a direct quote of Gabriel’s oboe’s opening line hidden in the passionate woodwind
solo that plays over the harmonic base of the main theme.
There are a
few exceptions to the overall free-floating nature of the cues. Il dolore e l’ira is another version of
the doomsday hymn Dies irae, this
time performed with a harpsichord over rather pleasant harmonies. As the tune
gets going, it also gets brisk accompanying staccato chords that add a sense of
lurking danger. 7 raccordi is clearly
this album’s version of the trademark long suspenseful track. However this time
there is just something about the playing which reveals a spectrum of different
moods in addition to suspense: terror, agony and perhaps even remorse or
reflection. It’s hard to describe but compare it to other straight up Morriconean
suspense cues and hear what I mean. For instance the last two sections feature
the hymnal quality heard previously at the end of track 3. Those moments are
obviously darker than the other material but far from suspenseful. The album
ends with Solo voci which is the most
sacred cue of all featuring just the acapella choir singing in Latin. Though
there are melodic quotes to Dies irae,
it is an original composition that doesn’t sound like a composer trying to
imitate a sacred sound but a piece of genuine church music. The modern
harmonies are soothing with their meditative quality and the piece is a perfect
way to end the album that in itself already consists of mostly slow-moving
cues.
Even though
I’m not a religious person I can still appreciate what Morricone has created
here: a true work of beauty that transcends all prejudices one might have with
a title like this. No matter if you are a believer or not, there is no denying
that this music truly reaches the very depths of the within. Whether you call it
a soul or just emotions, you’ll know after listening to this album.
Rating: *****
Tracklist:
1. Padre
Pio tra cielo e terra (04:18) *****
2. La sofferenza
(04:10) *****
3. La croce
della gloria (03:24) ****
4. Il
dolore e l'ira (03:46) *****
5. Nel silenzio
(05:10) ****
6. La
verita' nelle stimmate (02:27) ****
7. Tra
cielo e terra (03:25) *****
8. Dolore
come amore (04:12) *****
9. Sia
fatta la sua volonta (09:56) *****
10. La casa
della sofferenza (03:20) *****
11. 7 raccordi
(10:55) ****
12. Solo voci
(05:54) *****
