A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

A 1998 tv movie helmed by Massimo Spano, La Casa Bruciata came during an extraordinary run of form from Ennio Morricone - the couple of years either side included Nostromo, Lolita, I Guardiani del Cielo, Il Quarto Re, Bulworth, What Dreams May Come, The Legend of 1900, Padre Pio, Canone Inverso, Mission to Mars, Vatel and Malena - along with twenty other scores!  I know little about this particular movie except that it is a religious one set in South America - and of course Morricone has a bit of prior form in that arena, having written the classic The Mission for such a piece.

There are surface-level similarities with that score, particularly in the use of choir and inclusion of pan flutes in the composer's orchestra, but he never goes into quite so much depth here.  "Sia Fatta la Tua Volonta" opens the album and is a wonderful theme, highlighting those pipes; "La Casa Bruciata" follows, with the choir singing one of Morricone's classic choral pieces; "Un Grande Bambino" is a delightful, sweet theme; sweep appears in "Tony e il Regazzo", another good theme; and there is suspense in "Violenza e Terrore" (the cue's title gives away the fact that it's unlikely to be particularly cheerful), with the composer as ever bringing forth brass bursts and angular string runs to conjure a perfect atmosphere.

That brief paragraph may give the impression that the score has little to offer, but don't let it - I've written so many reviews of Morricone scores, I've long since run out of adjectives to describe the breathtaking themes he continues to churn out on an alarmingly regular basis.  For sure, there are similarities with other scores, but this is frankly inevitable for someone who has written so many.  As with many of his tv movie scores, he created a core of material here and then reused it virtually without alteration through the film, so after the first five tracks (running about 18 minutes between them), aside from a couple of dance pieces towards the end the rest of the album is essentially all reprising music which has already been featured.  This is not a new thing for Morricone albums and is really just an occupational hazard of collecting his things; as usual, the quality of the core material is so great that it doesn't really matter.  This new album is not exactly essential Morricone or, to be honest, close to it - but it's most certainly an essential purchase for fans of the composer's melodic side.

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Tracks

1. Sia Fatta la Tua Volonta (4:02)
2. La Casa Bruciata (2:55)
3. Un Grande Bambino (2:55)
4. Tony e il Ragazzo (3:09)
5. Violenza e Terrore (4:36)
6. Prisaon da Vida (2:57)
7. Un Grande Bambino (reprise) (2:55)
8. La Casa Bruciata (reprise) (2:56)
9. Tony e il Ragazzo (reprise) (3:46)
10. Terrore e Fuoco (2:13)
11. Uomini in Esodo (2:56)
12. 1a Danza (2:26)
13. 2a Danza (3:27)
14. Sia Fatta la Tua Volonta (reprise) (5:06)