Oh, the horror: part 9

Title: The legend of blood castle (aka Le vergini cavalcano la morte)

Year: 1973

Composer: Carlo Savina

Erzsébet Báthory was rumoured to be one of the most notorious serial killers who was responsible for hundreds of deaths at the turn of the 17^th century. Whether or not the myth is that accurate, her case has been an inspiration of many literary and film works, also for The legend of blood castle. The music by Carlo Savina plays homage to modern classical composers and the whole work plays out a bit like a suspenseful tone poem better appreciated as a whole than a series of single cues.

Main titles start the score with eerie drum beats that are then joined by a foreboding choir, electric organ, harpsichord and a buzzing string section that offer a moment of rising tension. It’s a perfect opening to the score which is followed by Dark presences, a passionate viola solo still shrouded in darkness with its abstract harmonies. That same instrumentation carries over to Into Hell which also has a surprising addition of sassy saxophone and brass instruments in the middle of the cue before the suspenseful viola ends the cue with ominous murmurs. Harpsichord concert is a short piece of Baroque source music that is still very much in tune with the other cues. It has an original beginning that then turns into a direct quote from J.S. Bach’s Well-tempered clavier and then goes its own way with similar rising chords Savina utilized in the suspense cues.  Reprises of the previous moments of horror with the viola are heard once more in Bloody ceremony and at the beginning of Devil’s hunt. The latter also introduces a ghostly vocal theme that resembles a children’s tune I used to sing as a kid. That melody has atonal harmonies though, so that’s where the similarities to that tune end pretty much.

Forceful electric guitar and piano chords start the score’s loudest cue Night terror along with powerful choral voices. Finally it lands to a more stable base with tinkling and swirling orchestration while the choir lurks in the background. Hungry ghosts is a reprise of the main titles which results in screaming chorus and eventual march-like percussion which ends the cue quietly. What follows is an 8-minute suite full of slowly wandering strings, the only attempts at major key compositions around the 2- and 8-minute marks, barely audible percussive beats with sparse harpsichord, piano and musicbox tinkles which finally make way to a powerful closing string coda. It’s a letdown compared to the preceding, more effective suspense material but luckily the childlike vocal theme returns in The haunting bringing together several quotations from the preceding material. Finale is similar in a way beginning with the choral judgment of track 7, then reprising the vocal theme and finally concluding to a quiet coda consisting of electric guitar notes, piano and harpsichord harmonies and a solitary female voice singing in the darkness and slowly fading away.

As mentioned in the opening paragraph, there’s a certain flow in the music that brings great cohesion to the overall experience. It’s not a cheerful score, but an intriguing one nevertheless. Most importantly it’s never unpleasant to listen to and there is even something eerily beautiful with the delicate chamber-sized orchestrations.

Rating: ****

Tracklist:

1. Le vergini cavalcano la morte (Main titles) (01:55) ****

2. Le vergini cavalcano la morte (Dark presences) (02:09) ****

3. Le vergini cavalcano la morte (Into Hell) (05:10) ****

4. Le vergini cavalcano la morte (Harpsichord concert) (03:56) *****

5. Le vergini cavalcano la morte (Bloody ceremony) (02:24) ***

6. Le vergini cavalcano la morte (Devil’s hunt) (02:50) ****

7. Le vergini cavalcano la morte (Night terror) (03:31) *****

8. Le vergini cavalcano la morte (Hungry ghosts) (03:14) ****

9. Le vergini cavalcano la morte (Maidens ride death) (08:39) ***

10. Le vergini cavalcano la morte (The haunting) (02:06) ****

11. Le vergini cavalcano la morte (Finale) (03:19) ****