Spaghetti and cowboys: part 8

Title: Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (I’m Sartana, your angel of death)

Year: 1969

Composer: Vasco Vassil Kojucharov & Elsio Mancuso

I’m concentrating my reviews mostly on Italian film composers but for Vasco Kojucharov I’m making an exception. He was born in Bulgaria but made his film composer career mostly in Italy scoring a number of Spaghetti Western films. A few of his scores were credited as collaborate projects with another composer Elsio Mancuso under the alias Vasco & Mancuso. This Western score lists both composers in many sources but the album only credits Kojucharov as the sole composer. Who knows whether or not it is a joint project or a solo one but Kojucharov’s distinctive style is still heard throughout this plentiful 50-minute album.

The score consists of three elements and their variations. By far the best one is the title theme which is heard right from the get-go. It’s an electric-guitar waltz with a driving percussion backing resembling galloping horses. It’s certainly catchy and heroic and the arrangement for the entire orchestra is exquisite. The A section has some jazzy chords which is another big plus and makes the tune more colourful. Seq. 5 includes a quiet variation for solo harmonica performed by Franco de Gemini. A laid-back campfire version of Seq. 15 for the harmonica and xylophone is another nice addition which resolves eventually to the full comedic version of the secondary theme. The following cue moves the melody to solo organ and harpsichord after some comedic interruptions by the low woodwinds. The most massive arrangement which ends into a victorious crescendo is disappointingly not the last cue, but track 22, which is followed by a few other slow cues mostly filled with suspense music and a few main theme statements.

The suspense music is another prominent element heard first in Seq. 2 & 3. These moments are scored for tremolo strings and chromatic chord changes often written for harpsichord, electric guitar or xylophones resolving to an unexpected minor chord. If the suspense moments don’t utilize this chromatic motif, they consist of solo percussion that sometimes sounds like a practice take of a drummer rehearsing between the cues. In the film they probably work but on the album they lose their magic and become boring. The best suspense moment is Seq. 17 in which elements of the main theme are fused with the jazzy solo percussion and organ chords creating otherworldly soundscapes.

The last element is the comedic theme for the sidekick performed by a banjo. This melody is first heard in Seq. 4 after a unique harpsichord moment. It’s surprisingly similar to Santa Claus is coming to town, whether or not intentional, I don’t know. This is another tune similar to the suspense motif which becomes a little tiring after a while. It’s unfortunate that the main theme gets several great variations but this secondary theme basically sounds the same every time it appears.

Besides these elements I have very little to say about the album. The mood may change a lot within a single cue from a main theme statement to suspense and an appearance of the secondary banjo theme. Some source music like moments appear in between like Seq. 12, which is a cheerful solo harpsichord piece suitable for a saloon setting, or Seq. 20 which is a classically inspired piece of solo organ music probably for a funeral scene.

Sono Sartana… is a hard album to thoroughly enjoy. Especially the suspenseful moments would benefit from some trimming and become tiresome after a while. The main theme however is stellar and the reason for repeated listens. Hopefully this score and its potential success would make room for more obscure titles from Kojucharov’s catalogue to get released. The talent is there but the execution could have been more interesting.

Rating: ***1/2

Tracklist:

1. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 1) (02:25) *****

2. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 2) (02:52) ***

3. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 3) (01:15) ***

4. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 4) (01:37) ****

5. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 5) (01:17) *****

6. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 6) (01:14) ***

7. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 7) (01:40) ****

8. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 8) (03:01) **

9. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 9) (02:40) ***

10. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 10) (02:28) ***

11. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 11) (01:00) ****

12. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 12) (02:05) ***

13. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 13) (02:12) ****

14. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 14) (01:30) ***

15. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 15) (02:21) *****

16. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 16) (01:58) ****

17. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 17) (03:17) ****

18. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 18) (02:00) ****

19. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 19) (01:29) ***

20. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 20) (01:16) ****

21. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 21) (02:09) ****

22. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 22) (01:00) *****

23. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 23) (03:25) ****

24. Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino (Seq. 24) (03:40) ****