Of course, the great Ennio Morricone will forever most be associated with his scores for spaghetti westerns, but running close behind in most of his fans' estimations will be his religious music, of which he has written a great deal - from The Mission to Moses to What Dreams May Come, he has entered the genre on countless occasions and has written some of his most spirited music therein.  Il Papa Buono is his latest effort, a tv movie about Pope John XXIII (who is played, unbelievably, by Bob Hoskins).

The album opens with the main theme, a stirring piece for orchestra and wordless mixed choir.  It's actually very similar to one of the themes in Morricone's rejected score for What Dreams May Come (which is, in fact, one of his very strongest efforts) and is rather moving.  These grand religious themes are what most people will remember from the score, but also highlights are some particularly strident pieces of suspense music.  Morricone's suspense music can either drive you to drink and drugs, or leave you deep in admiration.  Il Papa Buono very much falls into the latter camp.  With its harpsichord, short viola "stabs" and pulsating theme, "La crisi di Cuba" is a wonderful reminder of Morricone's classic theme from Investigation of a Citizen Under Suspicion.

A real highlight is "Tre suoni per mille voci", featuring an excellent soprano solo by Marta Vulpi.  It's for a capella choir (with soprano solo) and, again, recalls What Dreams May Come to an extent.  It really is a piece of stunning beauty, highly moving, and I've no doubt that there isn't another film composer - or, probably, composer - in the world today who could come up with a piece of music quite like it.

I have to say that, after a period in which Morricone seemed to be bettering himself with each new score in the late 1990s and early 2000s - the era of The Legend of 1900, Canone Inverso, Mission to Mars, Vatel, Malena - there came a slight lull.  While none has been without merit, his last few scores just haven't hit me on the same level.  Il Papa Buono is a welcome return to form - I don't think we're quite back to the level of those scores I mentioned, but in patches Il Pape Buono - the composer's sixteenth effort since the dawn of the century - is Morricone's best score for a couple of years.

The album is available on Image Music and features copious liner notes - in Italian.  It is available, on import from Italy, at the Amazon link below.

Buy this CD by clicking here!

Tracks