IL MERCENARIO (1968)
Il Mercenario, also known as The Mercenary or A Professional Gun, is a spaghetti western directed by Sergio Corbucci, starring Franco Nero, Jack Palance, and Tony Musante. The plot involves a Polish mercenary who travels to Mexico during the Revolutionary War, and finds himself coming to the aid of a peasant girl and a community of mine workers who are trying to instigate a revolution against the oppressive local Mexican government, only for him to be double-crossed by a rival American hired gun.
Il Mercenario is one of the most acclaimed of Morricone’s non-Leone western scores, and has been rightly lauded over the years as one of his most vivacious, authentic, and enjoyable. As is always the case, the score is extrapolated from a series of recurring themes, the most prominent of which is the main title, “Bamba Vivace,” often labeled as “Titoli di Testa”. It begins a scintillating passage for call-and-response brasses and yelping voices, before eventually emerging into a galloping Mexican-flavored march anchored by flashing mariachi-style strings, bright trumpets, and vocals singing in Spanish.
Other cues of note include the evocative combination of church organ, guitar, and whistles in “Estasi,” which introduced the whistling theme that acts as a recurring motif for Tony Musante’s character Paco; Paco’s theme features strongly as the score develops, amid lush and evocative writing for strings and guitar in “Il Mercenario (Ripresa),” and electric guitars and dramatic percussion in “Il Mercenario,” among others. Later, “Suspense” reprises the brass flamboyance of the opening cue as part of an action sequence, while “Paco” offers another statement of the main title’s second half. Not only this, there are several Spanish-language songs, some of which are accented by pseudo-comedy sound effects from vocalists, a couple more authentic pieces of festive Mexican celebration music
However, even with all this, the most famous piece of the score is theme that first appears in “Liberta”. This is one of Morricone’s most iconic melodies, a slow, stately, noble piece for strings, trumpets, and guitars, which becomes grander and more emotional as it develops, especially once the voices are added. It reaches its zenith the finale, ‘L’Arena,” which takes the theme heard earlier in “Liberta” and turns it into a masterpiece by blending it with Paco’s whistle motif, re-orchestrating parts of it for electric guitars and rapped snare drums, and increasing the choral element significantly; it’s just superb. Contemporary soundtrack fans might know this theme from its prominent inclusion in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol.2 from 2004, but this is where it comes from.
As one of the most popular early Morricone scores the score for Il Mercenario has been released multiple times over the years, on LP and CD, with multiple different permutations of different cues, and paired with other scores. This release is the one released by GDM Music in 2002 as a standalone; it was also re-released again in 2014 as a limited edition of 300 copies with enhanced sound quality.
Track Listing: 1. Bamba Vivace (Titoli di Testa) (2:13),2. Estasi (2:01),3. Il Mercenario (Sueno Mejicano) (2:28),4. Fiesta (Mariachi) (:55),5. Il Mercenario (Ripresa) (2:06),6. Canto a Mia Terra (3:12),7. Il Mercenario (1:33),8. Liberta (4:13),9. Il Mercenario (Sueno Mejicano 2) (1:46),10. Fiesta (Valzer) (1:44),11. Notte di Nozze (1:19),12. Il Mercenario (Ripresa Terza) (2:09),13. Il Mercenario (Suspense) (2:15),14. Paco (2:29),15. Ricciolo (2:25),16. Il Mercenario (L’Arena) (4:44). GDM/Intermezzo Media GDM-4335, 37 minutes 32 seconds.
