In this first "Dollars Trilogy" film, Morricone is credited with a pseudonym ("Dan Savio"), and today doesn't think much of the score (or the film), but I think this soundtrack qualifies as the first of the quintessential spaghetti western scores. The use of whistles, acoustic and electric guitars, recorders, whips, anvil, etc... all contributed to creating a fresh sound-world at the time. The "Torture" cue also features what sounds like free improvisation, which Morricone explored in his free music combo "Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza".
There have been a few releases of the soundtrack to "A Fistful of Dollars" over the years, but, aside from a rare bootleg complete score, the best release is the 17 track GDM release, which is also on iTunes fortunately (link at bottom). All of the major themes are present on this disc (and in fact the "Torture" cue kind of goes on too long for my tastes, considering that that is basically a form of sound design in my opinion). An interesting interview with Morricone can be read here.
| Trk | Title |
Film Sequence
|
Themes
|
| 1 | Main Title (2:58) |
Title sequence, Joe rides into a small
village in the middle of the wilderness (the Rojos' "small house").
|
Whistled main theme over guitar
rhythm, then building with percussion/bells, chorus ("We
can fight"), electric guitar, strings,
brass etc, with a brief choral/violin interlude at 1:36 (later developed in
"Ride").
|
| 2 | Nearly Dead (Quasi Morto, 1:40) |
A bandit (Chico) gives Joe a warning
look to ignore the unsavory activities going on. Joe catches the eye of an imprisoned woman,
Marisol. (also used when the Baxter men shoot at Joe's mule).
|
Piano builds on guitar part of main
title, violin/recorder/harmonica plays counter melody.
|
Joe
rides past a seemingly dead man on a horse with the sign "Adios
Amigo" on his back. ("I've never seen a town as dead as this
one."). Later, a faster variation
(unreleased) is used after Joe shoots the Baxter men.
"My mistake. Four coffins." |
At 0:50, a more relaxed variation of the opening whistle/guitar texture returns, followed by a violin/cello answer. The fast,
descending recorder/piccolo figure at 0:54 is a kind of "Joe" signature figure
|
||
| 3 | Suspense Music (Musica Sospesa. 1:02) |
After Joe signs up with the
Rojos, Chico shows him to his room.
Joe eavesdrops on the Rojos.
|
Atmospheric suspense texture, with notable elements being muffled electric guitar, piano clusters, harmonica, and variations of the "Joe" motif
|
| 4 | Square Dance (1:36) |
An army troop arrives escorting
a stagecoach with something valuable inside (gold for a Gatling gun
purchase).
|
Rustic, staccato strings supported by electric guitar/timpani/bongo downbeats, varying in
intensity
|
| 5 | Ramon (1:05) |
After killing off the army
troop, Ramon emerges from behind his Gatling gun. He shoots a fleeing soldier with a shotgun.
"Stagecoaches are an uncomfortable way to travel." |
Sinister string chords with
timpani/snare accents, joined by brass, guitar, a brief wind interlude, recap
|
| 6 | Consuelo Baxter (1:18) |
When Consuelo Baxter goes to her
bedroom she is surprised by Joe, who begins to explain the Rojos' real
intentions.
|
Eerie, sustained
strings/harmonics, building to a climax, joined by brass, timpani
|
| 7 | Double Games (Doppi Giochi, 1:41) |
The Baxters and the Rojos are
both tricked by Joe into riding out to the cemetery to intercept some
soldiers (corpses) who could expose the Rojos' plan.
|
Title theme in a galloping arrangement with el. guitar melody and chorus ("We can win"), followed by the choral interlude, then transitioning to a new oboe/choir theme.
|
Joe
stays behind at the Rojos' compound and sneaks in.
|
At 0:57, title theme returns in a lively ac. guitar/recorder duet
|
||
| 8 | For a Fistful of Dollars (Per Un Pugno Di Dollari, 1:26) |
Joe announces to the Rojos that
he's available for hire, and then goes to confront the Baxter men who shot at
his mule ("Get three coffins ready."). Also used when the Baxters prepare to go to
the Rojos' dinner invitation, and during parts of the Baxters and the Rojos'
prisoner exchange, and finally when Joe is beginning to relearn how to shoot
his gun while hiding from Ramon.
|
Funeral march on strings/guitar
with sad/noble theme on cor anglais (oboe), building and then joined by female choir
|
| 9 | Exchange of the Prisoners (0:55) |
Marisol and the Baxters' son
pass each other on horseback.
Marisol's son, Jesus, runs out and they have a brief family
reunion. Also used when Joe's aim
improves while practicing in a cave, and gets an idea with the metal sheet.
|
Slow military drums (snare/bass),
building to trumpet/string accents,
supported by choir
|
| 10 | Ride (Cavalgata, 3:29) |
After fooling the Rojos into
thinking that he's passed out from drinking, Joe rides out to Ramon's small
house in order to free Marisol. A
version is also used when Joe races back to his room after freeing Marisol.
|
Falling "Joe" motif leads to variation of main title choral
interlude in a galloping rhythm, trumpets soon support the chorus. After a pause at 1:12 comes a brief texture of building brass/choir/snare, then a return to the choral galloping, bells, trumpet, etc...
|
| 11 | The Pursuit (L'Inseguimento, 2:25) |
The Rojos hear gunshots and rush
to the small house. Meanwhile Joe
kills the last of the Rojos at the small house and reunites Marisol with her
family, freeing them all.
"Why do you do this for us?"
"Why? Cause I knew someone like you once. There was no one there to help."
|
Roiling suspense in snare,
timpani, el. guitar, brass, building to a trumpet fanfare/cadence with string
accents (0:51), then a return to the choral interlude motif at 1:02, and finally a lonely version of the funeral march theme at 1:28 on cor anglais/choir/strings
|
| 12 | Torture (Tortura, 9:31) |
Partially used when the Rojos
beat Joe, trying to find out where he hid Marisol. Later, Joe manages to escape by killing
Chico and a guard with a huge rolling barrel.
The remainder was used (to chilling effect) when the Baxters surrender and
try to escape from their burning house, and the Rojos mercilessly shoot them
all down in a massacre. Joe briefly
pauses his hidden coffin escape to witness the carnage.
|
Tam-tam textures lead to atonal
piano/string clusters, sinister brass/snare, weird voices, etc…essentially
avant-garde, atmospheric horror music, at different dynamic levels. The "Joe" motif makes a weak reappearance at 2:19, 5:13 and 7:13, and at 3:19, 6:01, and 7:13 an electric bass
line briefly appears as a kind of rhythmic motif. I suspect all this was largely improvised
music. The cue ends with some
insistent snare figures and moaning brass.
|
| 13 | Search for the Escaped (Alla Ricerca Dell'Evaso, 1:22) |
Joe crawls and hides as Ramon's
men look for him.
|
Tense brass/wind accents over a
hammered piano/snare rhythm, joined by male chorus (loose variation of choral
interlude theme)
|
| 14 | Without Pity (Senza Pieta, 2:08) |
Joe asks Piripero the coffin
builder to help him sneak out in a coffin.
Ramon's men set off an explosive at the Baxter house, thinking they
are harboring Joe.
|
Slow, hesitant melody on
strings. At 1:31 the mood changes to
an arrangement of the middle part of "The Pursuit" (a building trumpet/snare
fanfare into the choral interlude motif)
|
| 15 | The Reaction (La Reazione, 2:36) |
Unused cue, probably for the
sequence when Ramon shoots at Joe, but Joe keeps getting up (he is protected
by the hidden metal shield)
"You shoot to kill, you better hit the heart, Ramon. Aim for the heart or you'll never stop
me."
|
A harmonica intro leads to
"showdown" music with tremolo violin, staccato piano/el. bass,
snare, timpani, followed by several falling "Joe" figures, leading
into the "Pursuit" fanfare cadence with harmonica. From
0:58 the showdown/Joe motif/fanfare sequence more or less repeats with some variations.
|
| 16 | For a Fistful of Dollars (repr) (1:49) |
An explosion startles Ramon and
his men. Joe is revealed when the
smoke clears ("Heard you wanted to see me."). Ramon and four of his men move into
position for a showdown.
|
Funeral march theme reprise on
guitar/strings with melody in trumpet, joined by choir/snare in a middle
section crescendo
|
| 17 | Finale (1:09) |
Joe gets on his horse and leaves
town, as the camera pulls back to reveal the dead bodies of Ramon and his
men, with Piripero measuring them for coffins.
|
Title theme guitar
rhythm with "Joe" figures and whip cracks (?), quickly moving into the choral interlude; el. guitar teases the main melody, which soon becomes whistling, all supported by male choir ("We can win"), etc...
|
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