CD REVIEW - I LUNGHI GIORNI DELL'ORO + A ROUNDUP OF THINGS TO COME


I Lunghi Giorni Dell'Oro
Music by Amedeo Tommasi
GDM CD Club 7047
19 Tracks 49:57 mins

This 1967 Italian Western starred Guy Maddison and received a score from a new name to me, Amadeo Tommasi. From looking at his credits on the Internet Movie Database, it appears he scored a good many productions, both film and TV, over the following decades, although this is the first score of his I have come across.
Actually, from listening to this, I am surprised he didn't become a staple of the genre, as he certainly understands what it takes to compose for an Italian Western. His score is filled with great themes in the classic style of so many of his contemporaries, from the dramatic opening song, voiced in English by an uncredited male vocalist, who unfortunately is somewhat limited in his range. The number is reprised instrumentally throughout the score, either with electric guitar lead or on trumpet. In fact, electric guitar features very strongly throughout, taking lead on the secondary theme, a weighty piece, which I presume represents the grim determination of the film's hero, and also features in the more menacing moments, for which there is a percussive motif that recurrs here and there to great effect.
There is also a very nice love theme, given an almost concerto-like piano treatment and a good flute-lead nocturne. And of course no score of this kind would not be complete without its share of saloon piano tracks, of which there are three. All in all, a fabulous score and a must-have for all you Italian Western enthusiasts.
Accompanying the disc is a a colourful booklet, featuring stills from the film. You can order your copy from www.hillsidecd.co.uk.


Well, as I sign off for Christmas, and wish you the very best for the holidays and for the year ahead, I'll just give you a taste of what's coming up in the days and weeks to come.
Already on my desk are a couple more Italian Western score from the GDM Hillside Series, Robby Poitevin's Little Rita Nel West and Angelo Francesco Lavagnino's L'Uomo Dalla Pistola D'Oro; more Italian film scores in the shape of a double-disc release from Digitmovies of Giovanni Fusco's music for La Guerra Di Trola and La Leggenda Di Enea; two new releases from La-La Land Records, the first the score from the new live-action version of the videogame Hitman, by Geoff Zanelli, the second, a limited edition premiere release of George Greeley's music for the classic '60s comedy series My Favorite Martian; two from Varese Sarabande, Brian Tyler's much-anticipated music for AVPR, and Simon Boswell's score for the latest reimagining of The Wizard of Oz, Tin Man; Tim Curran's new music for the John Ford silent Hangman's House; two game scores, in the shape of Cris Velasco's music for Clive Barker's Jericho, and the much-awaited 2-disc release of Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori's music for one of the big game releases of the year, Halo 3.
As well as these, I hope to bring you reviews of the latest Film Score Monthly releases, a double disc pairing of Korngold scores for King's Row and The Sea Wolf, and a disc featuring two scores from classic '70s filmmaking, Michael Small's Klute and David Shire's All The President's Men; a couple of great new Screen Archives releases of music from the much-underrated Dimitri Tiomkin, D.O.A. and the classic High Noon; five new releases from Digitmovies, Bruno Nicolai's Gatti Rossi in un Labirinto di Vetro, the same composer's expanded CorriUomo Corri, Stelvio Cipriani's Solamente Nero, Gianni Ferrio's La Poliziotta, and a special boxed set to mark the label's 100th release, featuring three previously unreleased scores from police movies. Finally, Varese Sarabande have upcoming releases for James Newton Howard's I Am Legend, the same composer's Charlie Wilson's War, and his collaboration with Peter Golub on The Great Debaters, Marc Shaiman's The Bucket List, Randy Edelman's 27 Dresses, Mark Isham's The Mist, Trevor Morris' The Tudors, and George S. Clinton's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, which I hope will be much expanded from the promo release I was pleased to review for you a few months back. Hopefully, I'll be able to bring you review of most, if not all, of these. So, plenty to look forward to, I hope.