Released on Kronos Records June 2015.
Guido and Maurizio De Angelis are a composing duo who are synonymous with music for Italian cinema, they have a distinct and instantly recognizable sound and style. They have worked on numerous movies and TV productions and are probably better known for their unique sounding songs rather than their instrumental scores although saying this their orchestral music too posses a certain quirky original persona that is attractive and lends itself well to many of the motion pictures that they have scored. The style which they employ is I suppose a fusion of dramatic sounding flourishes and also a kind of folk orientated more traditional sound. The composing siblings rely upon solo guitar and organ to create the basics of their compositions and add to these strings, percussion and choir. They first came to the film music communities attention when they wrote the score for the comedy spaghetti western THE CONTINUING STORY OF TRINITY. Which was the sequel to the highly successful THEY CALL ME TRINITY which contained a score by Franco Micalizzi and Roberto Pregadio. After the success of their music in the second TRINITY movie De Angelis became much in demand and worked on a plethora of varying genres for both the big and small screen. MAN FROM THE EAST, AFYON OPPIO,LA POLOZIA INCRIMINA, LA LEGGE ASSOLVE, ZORRO,SAVANA VIOLENTA,IL CORSARO NERO,KILLER FISH, TORSO,ROMA VIOLENTA,TEDEUM,EL BOSQUE DE TALLAC, SANDOKAN, PUI FORTE RAGAZZI, WATCH OUT WE’RE MAD,UPPERCUT,DOUBLE TROUBLE, MANNAJA,KEOMA,VALDEZ HORSES and the score contained on this release CANTERBURY N2 (TALES OF CANTERBURY) all benefited from the highly original and innovative compositions of the Brothers De Angelis. Guido and Maurizio were in fact among the most prolific song writers in Italy during the 1970,s and became so in demand that they had to invent a string of alias’s for many of their projects because they did not want to overwhelm the market with scores and music credited to them. The alias that is most familiar is Oliver Onions and a name that regularly appeared upon their soundtracks as featured vocalist. Although the Brothers De Angelis were very active within the music world and released numerous stand alone albums it is probably fair to say that it is their music for cinema that is best known throughout the world, the composers association with the films of Bud Spencer and Terence Hill is well known with their composition DUNE BUGGY from one of these comedies reaching the top of the charts in Europe.
During the late 1970,s they also provided an alternative theme for the television series THE RETURN OF THE SAINT which starred British actor Ian Ogilvy, the song TAKING IT EASY appeared on the European versions of the show but was not used in the UK or the United States. They also provided the scores for many animated series such as ASHITA NO JOE, GALAXY EXPRESS 999, BOBOBOBS, AROUND THE WORLD WITH WILLY FOG and most famously the infectious opening theme and scores for DOGTANIAN AND THE THREE MUSKEHOUNDS.
In 2007 the Brothers returned to the stage to give their first concert in 25 Years which was held at the Lucca Comics Festival. Their music is still much in demand but more recently in the way of samples and has been heard in the movie FASTER (Goodbye my Friend) and BOTTLE ROCKET in which we can hear ZORRO IS BACK which is taken from the 1975 production of ZORRO. The music for CANTERBURY N2-NEW ROMANCES OF THE 300 can be termed as typical De Angelis material, but there is a lot more to this soundtrack thematically than many of the other scores that De Angelis provided. The soundtrack is a collection of five central themes, TITOLO, OSURITA, AMORE, PACE, ALLEGRO and TEMA MEDIEVALE which are in the first instance introduced and then is reprised and expanded upon, being presented in varying guises and given a fresh and vibrant appeal via clever and at times quite eccentric and unusual orchestration. The score also contains two songs which are sung in Italian and are soothing and subdued compared with other De Angelis compositions. The central theme is a striking piece which utilises female solo voice and choir that are underlined by use of a solitary beating drum, and a sprinkling of harpsichord and organ, the choral work almost certainly being Nora Orlandi’s 4 + 4 Coro who worked with De Angelis on many occasions. The composers also make effective use of rather calming harpsichord within the score and combine this with guitar and woodwind to achieve a sound and style that is perfectly in keeping with the storyline and images that are unfolding on screen. Also at times banjo, recorder and percussion is introduced and choir and organ are well placed to achieve maximum effect. In fact in places one can hear small references to past De Angelis scores such as THE CONTINUING STORY OF TRINITY. Guido and Maurizio De Angelis were born in ROCCA DI PAPA near Rome Guido on December 22nd 1944 and Maurizio on February 22nd 1947. Their musical careers started in the early part of 1963 after successfully releasing an album of their music, soon after this they were asked to become arrangers for the RCA ITALIANA label, which consequently led them to become even more successful releasing numerous albums and performing songs as well as arranging music.
CANTERBURY NO 2 -NEW ROMANCES OF THE 300 (THE TALES OF CANTERBURY) was released in 1973, a bawdy, erotic comedy directed by Joe D’Amato under the name of John Shadow. The writer Chaucer accompanied by escort Knight quick become caught in bad weather they take refuge at an inn and because of the weather conditions along with other pilgrims making the journey to Canterbury are unable to continue on their way, so they sit and talk and tell stories. Director D’Amato (birth name-Aristide Massaccesi) is considered to be Italy’s most prolific film maker with over 200 motion pictures to his credit. Not only a director, but an actor, cinematographer, producer, screen writer and editor. During his career in the motion picture industry he worked on every genre imaginable and even combined genres to create new types of movies. Born in Rome on December 15th 1936, he was also credited for filming the first Italian made pornographic movie and has been connected with cult movies such as BLACK EMANNUELE,BEYOND THE DARKNESS and RED BLOOD. He died in Rome on January 23rd 1999.
John Mansell. Movie music International.(IFMCA). 2015.
MOVIE MUSIC INTERNATIONAL. (MMI) . 