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AKA:
Bataille de San Sebastian, La
Cañones de San Sebastián, Los (Mexico)
Cannoni di San Sebastian, I (Italy)
The Guns of San Sebastian (USA) (working title)
Hölle von San Sebastian, Die (West Germany)
San Sebastian (West Germany)
It has taken eight years and over 130 CDs but FSM finally releases a score by the great Ennio Morricone: Guns for San Sebastian (1968), commonly known as a western but more accurately a historical adventure set in Mexico circa 1750. The film stars Anthony Quinn as an outlaw who is mistaken for a priest and protects a humble village against a violent tribe of Indians; Charles Bronson is the antagonist and Anjanette Comer the love interest. Filmed in Mexico, the international production is a sunburnt, action-packed look at a violent time in colonial Latin American history.
The late 1960s were an especially fertile period for Ennio Morricone, whose prolific genius has enhanced hundreds of films for over 40 years. By 1968 Morricone had already scored the groundbreaking Dollars trilogy for Sergio Leone -- establishing the revolutionary style for the "spaghetti" westerns -- and Guns for San Sebastian preceded their western masterpiece, Once Upon a Time in the West. In both films, the operatic grandeur of Morricone's transcendent themes enhance the spiritual journey of a stranger in a strange land, orchestrated for choir as well as orchestra; in Guns for San Sebastian, voices appears for the "religion" theme (for Quinn's priest friend) and the love theme, the latter featuring the voice of Edda Dell'Orso.
Guns for San Sebastian is also an action film and Morricone responded with violent, percussive music for the Yaquis Indians, with vocal cries by Gianna Spagnulo (who also performed on Morricone's Navajo Joe and Moses). In addition, Morricone wrote heartfelt, deceptively simple melodies for the peasants whose humanity grounds the story, and unique cues as needed for scenes of action, suspense and humor.
Guns for San Sebastian has been available on LP and CD over the years, but always in a brief (33:24) program with deficient sound quality. This premiere CD of the complete score (resequenced in film order) has been remixed and remastered from the original 1/2" stereo tapes (recorded in Italy) for superior sound quality. It is the definitive presentation of this classic Morricone score.
- FSM
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