This interval has a long association with love and feminine beauty in classical music, the opening of Liszt’s Liebestraum being a prime example: Liszt Liebestraum In the case of Jill’s theme, the interval of the sixth is especially prominent as it begins the A theme and is stated four times within its eight bars:
“A theme made of intervals” describes many of Morricone’s themes. In some cases I have augmented the result with timbre, in others with the pursuit of a theme made of intervals.” For this reason, especially in the first films of Leone but also … on many occasions afterward, I have attempted to distinguish it, to subtract it from its conventional function.
“Certainly the theme is extremely important, even if I personally have always considered it of little significance. While the melody of this section may seem fairly traditional, it nevertheless bears “Morriconean” trademarks. And its wordlessness in this case makes its impact even more direct as it is treated as a purely musical sound rather than a vehicle for a text. As an entirely human instrument, the voice lends the music a poignant quality that fits well with the tragic circumstances that Jill finds herself in. Once again, Morricone’s unique sense of scoring comes to the fore in the A section with a broad new melody sung by a wordless soprano (Edda Dell’Orso, who sang for several other Morricone scores, perhaps most notably for “The Ecstasy of Gold” in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly). The second statement of the introduction is considerably warmer in tone as the middle registers become filled out, the rich sound of the alto flute being added to the melody and the string section to the accompaniment. Its simplicity may perhaps evoke Jill’s desire to live a simple life out west with her husband Brett McBain after having moved from New Orleans. Harmonically, the introduction is based on a very simple progression, I-IV-V-I, or what might be called the primary progression since it is one of the most basic progressions in all of music (see example below). The melody here is constructed almost entirely out of one of Morricone’s favorite melodic devices: the anticipation, which states a note twice successively, first on a weak beat then on a strong beat: Morricone immediately reveals his penchant for unusual scorings as he sets the first statement for harpsichord and vibraphone accompanied by the cello. The introduction comprises a two-phrase melody stated twice. Jill’s theme falls into two sections according to the melodic material: an introduction and a main theme, the latter divided into a scheme of ABAA. Below is a recording of the complete cue: I begin with Jill’s theme, or what is generally referred to as the film’s main theme. This and the following two posts will provide film music analyses that examine these devices in his themes for Once Upon a Time in the West, another Leone western that followed soon after the “dollars” trilogy. While Morricone’s colorful orchestrations are obvious in his scores, his frequent melodic and harmonic devices are less so. Perhaps I am deceiving myself by thinking that while following the theme, people also assimilate and appreciate the instrumental solutions.” But the theme helps the director and serves the public. … If you take away the melody from all my pieces of this or other types, the piece still will remain … on its own feet. “I have always believed that the inventive use of tone color is one of a film composer’s most important means of expression.”Īnd in discussing the main title cues for the “dollars” films, he notes that he prioritizes tone color even above melody:
Indeed, in a translated volume of lectures by Morricone and musicologist Sergio Miceli, Morricone remarks that What tends to separate one from the next is his unique orchestrations. And yet, it is not as if all of his scores sound the same. But in his film themes, Morricone tends to draw upon a relatively limited palette for melody and harmony, hence giving his music a very recognizable sound. Ennio Morricone has one of the most distinctive sounds in all of film music, a highly unusual trait in a business where the composer is generally a musical chameleon, writing in different styles to suit different films.