• Composed by Ennio Morricone
• ScreenTrax / 2000 / 72:58

Written by Sergio Leone, My Name Is Nobody was a gentle parody of the spaghetti western genre (which Leone had of course done so much to create), starring Henry Fonda as an ageing gunman persuaded by a young apprentice (played by Terrence Hill) whose name really is “Nobody” to take on one last fight.  Ennio Morricone was of course the perfect choice to write the music.  The result is an absolutely rollicking score that contains just the right mix of self-parody and brilliant creation of its own.  The comic touches are assured, the genuine dramatic moments just as powerful as ever.  The main theme is on the comic side of the equation, female chorus (I Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni, of course) la-la-ing away accompanied by some tuneful flutters from a flute and a little synth work too.  It’s great stuff – very silly, and quite brilliant.

“Buona Fortuna Jack” is the most serious of the themes, a really beautiful one for Fonda’s character which begins with gentle whistling (Alessandro Alessandroni, of course) before the second half presents one of those wonderful Morricone melodies for female voice (Edda dell’Orso, of course).  If that’s the serious side, then the silly side comes back with full force in the extraordinary “Mucchio Selvaggio”, with a brilliant action theme alternating with a version of “Ride of the Valkyries” played by synthesised car horns.  It’s just as odd as it sounds, but so exquisitely crafted, so beautifully comic – only Morricone…  “Se Selqualcuno e’ Colpa Mia” is the most obvious self-parody in the score, with the tick-tock rhythm of For a Few Dollars More mixing with the epic style of Once Upon a Time in the West‘s “Man with the Harmonica”.  Apart from a handful of dissonant suspense music, most of the rest of the score is drawn from those four themes.  There have been various presentations of the material over the years, fortunately all retaining by far the score’s superior arrangement, which is the 10-track original album.  The sound quality of this ScreenTrax release (later reissued by GDM) is brilliant considering it was recorded in 1973.  Above all, the music is exceptional, 100% fun from start to finish.  *****

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