CD REVIEW - Una Nuvola di Polvere...un Grido di Morte... Arriva Sartana


Una Nuvola di Polvere...un Grido di Morte...Arriva Sartana
Music by Bruno Nicolai
Saimel 3997910 (Spain)
24 Tracks 53:16 mins

You pretty much know what you're getting when you listen to a Bruno Nicolai Italian Western score - it'll sound pretty much like the classic Morricone- western style, and this 1970 score is no exception.
It's not one of the composer's more melodic efforts and there is a great deal of suspenseful and often atonal writing to get through before we come to the good stuff, but there is some, with top of the heap being track two (there are no track titles as such), which is the main theme in all its glory, starting out with electric guitar and flute calling and answering one another, before the theme bursts forth in fine galloping style with brass, strings and electric guitar, increasing in power towards its climax.
Both elements of this theme do crop up here and there amongst the suspense, and there are more straightforward variations like the fateful mover that is track 5, as well as track ten which gallops towards an elegiac conclusion. Tracks 21 and 22 seem to be alternate arangements of the big showdown sequence and are good examples of the classic treatment of such scenes; with the final track presenting a short reprise of the main theme in all its glory.
One more track stands out on the disc, that being track 7, which presents some nice, easy-going travel music.
The accompanying booklet and inlay feature colour stills and poster artwork from the film, together with notes, which are unfortunately in Spanish only.
Whilst not one of Nicolai's greatest western scores, it still has enough good moments for me to recommend it to fans of the genre.