Oceano

Description

Quartet Records, in collaboration with EMI Music Publishing, presents a remastered reissue of Ennio Morricone's impressive, epic score for Gillo Pontecorvo's ambitious, slavery-condemning 1969 production QUEIMADA (aka BURN!), starring Marlon Brando. The filmtells the story of a British mercenary who in 1844 helped the slaves of an Antilles island colony revolt and gain independence for the island from Portugal, but later returned to hunt down a local rebel leader and former protege. Because they previously worked together with great success on THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS, the next collaboration between Morricone and Pontecorvo was eagerly awaited. The composer rose to the occasion, writing a monumental score, led by the freedom hymn "Abolicao", a kind of beat Luba-mass. The music of QUEIMADA is characterized by its rich textures, dramatic contrasts, and a fusion of European, African, and Latin American elements. Morricone avoids falling into decorative folklore, instead creating a deeply emotional score, using both traditional orchestra and choir, organ, tribal percussion, electric guitars and Hammond organ, generating a fascinating hybrid soundscape. In 1969, only a 45-rpm single was released in Italy and France with the hit "Abolicao." The score was not released on LP until 1971 when United Artists Records issued it in the U.S .and Japan. The CD has had different editions in Italy, from a weird selection of just nine cues on the ViviMusica label, along with some spaghetti western themes, to a firstexpanded edition of 26 cues in 2001 and the complete 31-cue score in 2012, both by GDM. This is a reissue of the latter, supervised by Daniel Winkler and Claudio Fuiano, and completely restored, edited and remastered by Chris Malone from the original master tapes. The package includes in-depth liner notes by Miguel Angel Ordonez.

Description

Quartet Records presents the premiere complete vinyl release of Ennio Morricone's fascinating score for Folco Quilici's OCEANO (1971), a pseudo-documentary filmabout a young Polynesian, Tanai, who goes in search of the island of his dreams. On an epic sea voyage from Polynesia to Alaska aboard a tiny fragile raft, he is guided by the voices of his ancestors.Morricone' score for OCEANO seeks to merge nature with mythology. It breathes, vibrates, transmits, and is characterizedby its episodic and atmospheric structure, taking the form of an evocative soundscape. The composer draws on resources that recall a primitive, spiritual component: tribal percussion (tablas and bongos), solo woodwinds (flutesand clarinets), guitar, sitar, clanging metal and harp. The fusion of timbres in this instrumentation is unconventional. He expressively sets to music ideas associated with wind or nature, sound textures that construct Tanai's intimate journey: we hear the sea, we feel the air roaring over the sail of his canoe, the danger lurking in the ocean, his loneliness. The music is another character that gives the filma lyrical dimension and complements the visual element, transcending its narrative function to become a gateway to meditation on the mystery of the sea and existence. Through his unmistakable style, Morricone invites us to immerse ourselves in a world of introspection, beauty and silent emotion.The original 40-minute program was released on vinyl in 1971 in Italy and Japan, and both those LPs quickly becamecollector's items. Quartet Records recently released a CD featuring the complete 70-minute score. This is the firstrelease of the same program on vinyl, presented as a transparent blue-ocean 2XLP, mastered by Chris Malone, and packaged in a deluxe gatefold sleeve.