E PER TETTO UN CIELO DI STELLE [A SKY FULL OF STARS FOR A ROOF] (1968)
E Per Tetto Un Cielo di Stelle – A Sky Full of Stars for a Roof – is an Italian comedy spaghetti western directed by Giulio Petroni, starring Giuliano Gemma, Mario Adorf, and Magda Konopka. The story follows two drifters, Tim and Harry, who become travelling companions across the Old West. However, problems arise when men from Tim’s past arrive with scores to settle – one of whom is a crazed gunman with an itchy trigger finger. Before long Tim and Harry are on the run, getting into adventures, and trying to stay alive long enough to make some money and escape for good.
The “Main Title” is a friendly, laid-back theme for acoustic guitar and Alessandro Alessandrini’s iconic whistling, and initially it has a lot in common tonally with things like Burt Bacharach’s Butch Cassidy score; eventually it transforms into another one of those wonderful galloping main title marches for multiple layered guitars, hoofbeat tapped snares, a flurry of vibrant horns, and a country-bluegrass fiddle which runs through the entire piece and allows it to stand out from others of its type. It is, as always quite outstanding.
“The Mermaid” is a light, jaunty piece for guitars and flute; cues like “Friends” and “Riding Together” reprise the whistled theme from the first half of the main title; “Bill & Harry” fight offers a chirpy honkytonk variation on the same theme featuring prominent banjos, a style which continues later in the upbeat and comical “Circus Tricks”. “Insegumento All’Alba” is the first of several scintillating reprises of the second half of the main theme, the others of which include the bombastic but brief “Military Escort” the exciting “Chased,” and the tremendous “Attack on the Ranch,” which impresses with its addition of screaming, agitated brass and more imposing, threating aura. And there are the usual saloon piano pieces, hoe-downs, and elements of source music that Morricone often writes for movies like this.
The longest piece on the score is “Harry’s Ranch,” a pastoral and occasionally poignant variation on the main theme for slower, more introspective strings and brasses that is at times quite lovely. The “Finale and End Titles” sums up most of the score’s most important thematic content, offering subdued and emotionally heightened statements of the whistled theme, and the Harry’s Ranch theme, before finishing on a high with a final statement of the march.
The best soundtrack release for E Per Tetto Un Cielo di Stelle is this one, released by Hexacord in 2002, although the vintage sound quality does leave a more than a little to be desired at times, and often comes close to being annoyingly poor. The Japanese label Avanz also has a CD release, combined with music for other scores, which is a digital re-pressing of the original 1978 vinyl LP, and also includes numerous outtakes.
Track Listing: 1. Main Title (4:24), 2. The Mermaid (1:21), 3. Saloon Piano (2:52), 4. Friends (0:34), 5. Bill & Harry Fight (3:15), 6. Riding Together (0:53), 7. Sandstone (1:57), 8. Insegumento All’Alba (2:14), 9. Banjo (0:56), 10. Street Dance (1:05), 11. Eating Turkey (1:02), 12. Flirting With the Widow MacDonald (0:31), 13. Circus Tricks (3:03), 14. My Friend the Banjo (1:29), 15. Before the Hanging (1:16), 16. Making Plans (0:44), 17. Arrival at the Cantina (0:35), 18. The Well’s Fargo Coach (1:35), 19. Miltary Escort (0:50), 20. Harry’s Ranch – Main Theme (5:17), 21. Chased! (3:09), 22. Samuel Pratt Arrives (1:38), 23. Around the Ranch Table (0:48), 24. Attack on the Ranch (1:02), 25. Finale & End Titles (4:51). Hexacord/Hillside HCD-16, 47 minutes 21 seconds.
