CANTERBURY NO 2.

Directed by Joe d’Amato under the alias of John Shadow CANTERBURY NO 2 or TALES OF CANTERBURY was a rather bawdy, comical and erotic movie. The film was scored by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis who first came to the attention of film music collectors via their score to TRINITY IS STILL MY NAME. Over the years the composing duo have acquired quite a following and are well known for their somewhat unorthodox methods of film scoring, their style definitely being unique and original. De Angelis combine a folk or traditional sound with symphonic flourishes and to a degree it works well, they also have something of a tradition for producing catchy or somewhat unusual songs within their film scores, KEOMA comes to mind as does AFFYON OPPIO and the aforementioned TRINITY IS STILL MY NAME which contained two vocals TRINITY STAND TALL and the haunting REMEMBER, to be fair it is probably these vocals that they are better known for in Europe rather than their orchestral compositions but saying this their symphonic efforts are well crafted and in most cases are fine examples of music from Italian cinema. CANTERBURY NO 2 has never seen a release of any kind so this compact disc on Kronos records is certainly a welcome sight.

It is in my opinion one of the De Angelis brothers better efforts and contains a handful of themes which are heard in various guises throughout the work, the composing duo arranging and orchestrating these to allow them to remain fresh throughout the work. There are a number of musical references within the soundtrack that have certain affiliations to other De Angelis scores and there is also that unusual, quirky and original sound present all the way through the work that we immediately associate with Guido and Maurizio plus two vocals. It is surprising that this soundtrack was not issued at the time of the film being on general release in Italy because the composers were during this period much in demand and also popular among collectors all over Europe. Released as part of the Kronos Gold series this score will I am certain become essential listening for any fan of Italian film music it is entertaining and also theme laden. Presented well by Kronos with vibrant cover art this is certainly one for you.