Ennio Morricone’s score for the 1966 Sergio Sollima Western La resa dei conti (aka The Big Gundown) has not lacked for vinyl releases. Originally released in Italy, the United States, and the UK upon its original cinematic offering, along with a US reissue in 1974. It also saw two reissues in 2015, with Dagored re-releasing the remastered original score, and Mondo putting out a double LP expanded edition.
Music On Vinyl’s At the Movies sublabel marks another edition, but for those who’ve yet to snag a prior version, it’s well worth owning. The jacket artwork pulls from the original Italian poster, making this an excellent-looking presentation when paired with the orange and yellow swirled vinyl within the sleeve. That’s a purely visual assessment, however.
The music itself is as stellar as always, and benefits from the excellent in-house pressing from Music On Vinyl, with a robustly clear presentation. The label’s work is such that the soaring sounds of Il Maestro can be turned up to concert hall levels and not suffer any clipping or distortion, while still maintaining clear tonal separation.
The score also features the vocal song, Run Man Run, featuring Maria Cristina Brancucci, along with featuring the talents of I Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni on Corri Uomo Corri, rather than the usual wordless vocal accents. While certainly familiar as the work of Morricone – La Resa certainly brings to mind The Ecstasy of Gold in its build and soaring horns – the composer uses some interesting devices to create a slightly different interpretation of the Western score.
Most notably, it’s the interpolation of Beethoven’s Für Elise on La Condanna that most grabs the ear. With its deft switching from delicate piano to jangly mariachi guitarra, the piece feels as if it’s two worlds coming together to create something new – not unlike what Morricone would do with psychedelic electric guitar a few years later on another Sollima picture Giù la testa. While not among Il Maestro’s most famous works, there’s much to be discovered here.
