CARI MOSTRI DEL MARE. (sleeve notes).

Sleeve notes for the Kronos records release, CARI MOSTRI MARE, Available NOW.

http://kronosrecords.com/KG36.html

Composer Carlo Savina, was born in Turin, Italy on August 29th, 1919, he became one of the most sought after and busiest composers of film and television music in his native Italy and later became respected and much in demand within the rest of Europe and the United States. As a composer Savina worked on numerous movies and was able to easily adapt his style and creative thoughts to cater for any genre of film, he worked on numerous assignments for the cinema which included, romantic comedies, tales of drama and adventure, westerns and historical period pieces as well as thrillers, horror movies, Police dramas and Roman epics. Because of his unique sound and versatility, the composer was able to bring to each project a lushness and melodic perfection that was his own individual musical fingerprint, and this was a style that not only suited and supported the movies that he worked on, but also was appealing as music that could be listened to away from any of the images it was intended to enhance. Savina, also made a name for himself in the role of conductor and arranger and during his career collaborated with many eminent Maestros who penned soundtracks for motion pictures, his career spanned across both what many collectors and film music buffs refer to as the golden and the silver age of film music, he has acted as musical director to, Philippe Sarde (TESS THE TENANT and THE BEAR), Nino Rota (THE GODFATHER, AMACORD, FELLINI ROMA, THE TAMING OF THE SHREW and numerous others), Manuel De Sica (THE GARDEN OF FINZI CONTINI) and most notably Miklos Rozsa on the epic score for BEN HUR. Savina, collaborated with Dr Rozsa many times, and worked on the composer’s epic soundtracks for Hollywood produced Biblically slanted blockbusters that were filmed at Cinecitta in Rome. During the 1960, s, Savina was given the full credit as composer on the motion picture EL CID, this was purely for prints that were released in Italy because of certain contractual issues that existed at the time. Savina’s contribution to the world of cinema has been vast and consistently very good and it is at times hard to come to terms with just how many movies this Maestro has been involved with. He scored numerous Spaghetti westerns either as composer or musical director between 1969 and through to the mid 1980’swhen the genre finally started to fall from grace with cinema audiences.

One of the westerns that Savina composed for was COMING AT YA (1981) which was a 3D movie and was basically a vehicle for actor Tony Anthony, the composer’s music outshining the storyline, the images and any acting that might have taken place. The score is still revered and respected by many to this day and is held in high esteem by collectors and critics alike. Savina came from a musical background, his Father played first clarinet in the orchestra of EIAR which at the time was the Italian public radio broadcaster.
As a youngster Savina found himself constantly surrounded by music and began to become increasing interested in music composition, which was something that his parents became aware of, so they decided that he should from an early age begin to take lessons on the violin. He went on to study music at the Music Conservatory Giuseppe Verdi in Turin from where he graduated with diplomas in Violin, Composition, Piano and conducting. In 1945 Savina began to write musical compositions that were utilized for radio in plays and also for background music on other programmes and shows. He then formed his own orchestra and became well known and much in demand. In 1950 the composer began to write music for the cinema and for the next thirty years became one of the most prolific composer conductors involved in movie music. I suppose one could say that Carlo Savina was to Nino Rota what Bruno Nicolai was to Ennio Morricone. Savina often arranging and conducting Rota’s scores and at times writing additional cues for him when he had moved onto another assignment and the film’s producers felt the need for an extra section of film to be scored. Savina also worked with Ennio Morricone, Armando Trovaioli, Stanley Myers, Stephen Sondheim and Mario Nascimbene as arranger or musical director. But there is no doubt whatsoever that Carlo Savina possessed a great talent and was a gifted composer in his own right and during his career worked on over 200 film scores. In 1985 he was the recipient of the David Di Donatello Award for best music, which was for his score to PIZZA CONNECTION. He passed away on June 23rd, 2002.

THE DIRECTOR.

Bruno Vailati.

An area in which Savina seemed to excel at was the documentary, nowadays I am sure if he were still alive and working would have been very busy writing the scores for the abundance of documentary films that we see on both TV and in the cinema. One such documentary was, CARI MOSTRI DEL MARE or FRIENDLY MONSTERS FROM THE DEEP as it was known outside of Italy which was released in 1977. Directed by, Oceanographer and filmmaker Bruno Vailati who also wrote the screenplay. Vailati, was born on September 2nd, 1919 in Alexandria, Egypt and had a passion for creating these type of documentary movies he was a fearless and adventurous filmmaker who would dive into treacherous waters and explore unchartered seas to bring us rare footage, he worked on many documentaries all of which have garnered a lot of interest. His work as a film producer and writer ranged from 13 one-hour long undersea documentaries titled “Encyclopedia of the Sea,” (which I suppose one can compare to the work of French filmmaker and explorer Jacques Cousteau) to the Italian sword and sandal epic “HERCULES UNCHAINED,”
After graduating from law school at the University of Bologna, Vailati mounted his first film expedition. He travelled to the Red Sea and produced some of the earliest, and at that time the highest quality underwater film footage ever shot. This footage eventually became “The Blue Continent.” Vailati, became known and highly respected as the years rolled forward for his passion and enthusiasm when it came to marine photography. His films, which were made in the main for Italian production companies and sponsors, as well as his own film company, were then sold onto other TV channels and companies and shown throughout the world on public and private TV stations.
In 1954, his “The Blue Continent” was one of two Italian entries at the Venice Film Festival; the other was Federico Fellini’s “La Strada.” As his career progressed the filmmaker, made documentaries in all the worlds seas, and in Italy his movies often attracted more viewers than the so called popular and successful shows on TV. Away from Marine photography and documentaries he worked on, THE GIANT OF MARATHON, THE GOLDEN ARROW, TORPEDO BAY, the aforementioned HERCULES UNCHAINED and a remake of THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD in the early 1960’s. In 1971, Vailati collaborated with fellow filmmaker David L Wolper for a series entitled MEN OF THE SEA, the six-part series of 1-hour documentaries included an episode ANDREA DORIA MINUS 40, which charted Vailati’s exploration of the wreck of an Italian steamship which sank in 1956.
Vailati, passed away in Rome, on February 26th, 1990 after a long battle with cancer, he was 70.

© 2019 John Mansell. Movie Music International.

INTERVIEW WITH GODWIN BORG OF KRONOS RECORDS.

 

 

 

What does film music mean to you, tell us what your feelings, emotions and passions are when it comes to film music or indeed any kind of music?
Film music is very often the main element that keeps me sitting down and not fidgeting around when I m watching a film. If the score fails to please me I rarely am entertained by the film. Good film music has to work with the picture, and ideally also work out on its own as well on record. All music regardless of genre has to evoke feelings, if it fails to do so than it’s not good music.

 

I was once told that as collectors we are music addicts and we can’t stop listening and discovering film music old and new, would you say this pretty much describes a film music collector or at least some of us?
I think this a common trait to a good number of collectors, not sure how many but it is a common trait in many collectors of whatever they collect, from music to miniature scale models. I love discovering new stuff, be it old or new and it is always very exciting. I would not say I’m on a quest to discover new stuff, it just happens all the time though.

 

Are you in favour of all these so-called definitive releases of scores that have already received a release, sometimes the definitive editions containing seconds of extra music, or do you think that less is more when we are used to a certain release?
I’m usually the “only more is more” kind of guy however all these definitive editions, as you correctly put it that have nothing more than a cue or 2 than the 14thousand previous editions of that album, in that case I honestly believe that is taking advantage of the collectors’ compulsive need to own yet another version of X or Y. Sometimes there is editions that really are worth doing again but that is not the case most of the times.

 

What was your first soundtrack purchase?

 

Star Wars by John Williams.

 

 

KRONOS records has in the past few years grown its catalogue of soundtracks, adding a number of superb soundtracks that would ordinarily would not get a release, do you think it is important to release both popular and obscure titles?

 

 

I always was, still am and very likely will be the underdog and underdog fan till the day I croak so give me obscure titles anytime. Nothing wrong with popular titles don’t get me wrong, cause very often I pick an obscure title and end up giving it a sort of second life and a hint at “popularity” it never had but what I care for is not popularity but acknowledgment. There are so many outstanding recordings that never saw a release and for as long as I can I will keep working on releasing these obscure gems that deserve to be known and appreciated by more people who care for good music, not for popular music…

Are there any soundtracks that you have wanted to release and have not been able to for whatever reason?
Oh yes there have been a few, some because the sources were gone, others because the publisher could not be tracked, but yes like other labels I have my titles that never were.

 

 

The Italian soundtrack market never ceases to amaze me, there is always it seems a title coming out that has never been released, do you find that Italian film music creates more of an interest than movie scores from other countries?
I would not know that for sure, however I have released many Italian scores and there is really a gold mine that still yields a lot of musical wealth! Some Italian names are amongst the most known in the film music. Let us not forget that not every country had its Cinecitta, its Golden Age like Italy who has titles big enough to be known by both connoisseurs and the everyday chap.

 

What made you take the decision to establish KRONOS?

 

The fact that so many gems I cared for and no other label seemed interested to do, at least back then would be the main reason.

 

 

You have released a number of Italian scores, the Italian western is always popular, but I guess that that particular area of the market is pretty much exhausted as far as new titles or unreleased titles are concerned, titles such as GODS GUN, A MAN CALLED SLEDGE etc wont ever see a release will they?

 
Never and ever are not two words I often use so my friend never say never but for various reasons some titles are more likely to make it than others.

 

 

 

 

Is the process of re-mastering and re-storing a difficult one?
Depends on the state of the masters, if they are in good to fairly good condition it is yes time consuming but still standard procedure however is the state of the master was not a good one than it’s a completely different story!

 

How do select the titles that you release, is there a catalogue of titles available, or does it involve tracking down each one via film or music companies?

I prefer to do previously unreleased scores, occasionally I also do reissues of long sold out scores, and when possible adding as much previously unreleased good music to them as possible. In most cases you have to track them down one by one but some publishers also have lists of what they have.

 

Do composers have a say in what tracks that you release, or is it a case of they have finished the project and the music is then the property of the film company?

 
It depends on the projects really. When I deal directly with the composers I give them a lot of say, we discuss and together decide what to put in the finished record. When dealing with the production or publisher it’s a different story however even there, there is often the chance to discuss what will work best.

 

The Peplum is a genre that must be popular as you have released several of these, what would you say is the most popular genre of film soundtrack?

 

I love doing Peplum because I grew up watching Peplum (along Spaghetti Westerns) and there are still lots of peplum scores I watched that don’t have a score release on CD so you already know I ll be doing more of that. Every title is a different beast, with a different target audience, there are fans of peplum, fans of drama, fans of horror, spaghetti westerns, erotic movies, animated, comedy…I have covered a lot of genres along peplum, they all sell well in their specific niche but perhaps drama is the most popular.

 

 

How long does it take to release a soundtrack from start to finish and is the art work owned by the film company or by the artist etc?

 
It takes more than many people would think and less than others would imagine but at least in my case it always takes a few weeks from the very early stages; from acquiring the rights and licenses, work on the master, the artwork. It’s not a short process really.
Artwork often is owned by the film company but there are also agencies who own various items of artwork, so again every title is a different beast.

 

You normally do limited editions of 300, do these always sell out and have you ever ad to do a re-press?

 
Yes because the market is what it is nowadays. Sometimes they sell out, sometimes they don’t. So far I have repressed only 2 titles and only because there was a lot of demand. Once the run is out, it is out and I will not do a repress.

 

Would you consider entering into the market to release scores from the new movies such as blockbusters like STAR WARS or are you happy to release music from older movies, and concentrate on these?

 
Definitely happier to work with the older more obscure titles, even though STAR WARS is no teenager anymore now, however it is not obscure enough, is it?

 

Who is your own personal favourite composer or composers?

 
My all time favourite composer since 1982 and until the day I die is BASIL POLEDOURIS. Other composers I hold in the highest esteem MIKLOS ROZSA, BERNARD HERRMANN, ALRED NEWMAN, JOHN SCOTT, JAMES BERNARD, JERRY GOLDSMITH, BRUCO BROUGHTON, JOHN DEBNEY, TORU TAKEMITSU, AKIRA IFUKUBE, MASARU SATO, FRANCESCO De MASI, BRUNO NICOLAI, A.F.LAVAGNINO, ENNIO MORRICONE, CARLO SAVINA, CARLO RUSTICHELLI, RIZ ORTOLANI, GEORGES DELERUE, PHILPPE SARDE, MAURICE JARRE and more classics, more contemporary ones like CHRISTOPHER YOUNG, ROQUE BANOS, CARLES CASES, RACHEL PORTMAN, THOMAS NEWMAN, MICHAEL GIACCHINO and a “few” more.

 

When you look at a score to release what do you take into account?
I have to like it, if it gives nothing to me than it’s a no go. Than if Ideally I can manage to sell it to other fellow film music lovers even better so Ideally I can break even and make some profit to fund future releases, it’s that simple for me.

British movie music from the 1960’s I think is not represented that well, music from the films of AMICUS and TYBURN for example should be released, as it is just so good, do you think this is something that KRONOS might consider for future projects?
As you know I m always in to do some good music but it is never easy to get things going, from personal experience I know that certain titles are sadly bound to keep piling up dust until they turn to dust themselves, either thanks to someone forgetting about them or to someone who asks an unrealistic amount to license it. However Kronos has done already a good couple of titles many deemed impossible and as I said before, never and ever are not words I use often or even like!

 

 

The Gold series is a popular one, can you tell us if there is anything being added to this in the near future?
Yes a good bunch of titles are in the pipeline and all will be revealed in due time, but I can say there is something for everyone, or almost so hang on in there and keep your ears on the ground and await the tremors.

 

webpage: http://www.kronosrecords.com

MACRO- GIUDA UCCIDE IL VENERIDI

 

 

Released in 1973, MACRO- GIUDA UCCIDE IL VENERIDI (aka- JUDAH KILLS FRIDAY) was directed by Stelvio Massi, The, films screenplay was penned by Mario Giazzo and Sophia Kammara, the latter also taking a leading role in the movie. The film is a mix of drama. Romance, crime and sexploitation. On researching the movie, I found hardly any information on it, and it looks as if it was a film that maybe was not that popular when it was released, however the plus side is that the musical score is by one of Italy’s most well-known composers from the 1960’s through to the 1980’s. Nico Fidenco began his career as a singer, but he had always been fascinated with the cinema and made a decision that he would try and break into writing music for films. But. Why did he change direction as he was becoming well known as a singer and was having hits?
“When I was singing I did a few cover versions of movie songs: EXODUS, MOON RIVER, SUZIE WONG and WHAT A SKY, for example.

 

These recordings were very popular in Italy and my interest in movies grew more out of this, so I decided to try and write some material myself. Cinema has always attracted me, even as a child, and to be a part of the cinema world was like a dream come true”. Fidenco, has worked on a variation of genres throughout his career, what was the first score for a movie that he was involved on? “It will probably not be a surprise when I tell you it was a Western, a Spanish-Italian co-production entitled IN THE SHADOW OF THE COLT. It was a very low budget film, nothing like the films of Leone, but nevertheless it was popular in Italy and Spain of course. Well I don’t think it got released anywhere else, so I’m glad it was popular in these two countries, the theme was recorded on a 45-rpm record when the movie was in the cinema and to my surprise, sold over ten thousand copies in Italy, which at that time was the early 1960’s was very good indeed”.

Cover for the CAM Single.

The score for MACRO- GIUDA UCCIDE IL VENERIDI, is at times evocative of the style of Ennio Morricone the composer utilising a light and rhythmic Bossa nova sound that is interspersed with harpsichord flourishes giving the score a rich sound that also is reminiscent of the works of Cipriani and Trovajoli. A sound that Fidenco often re-created via his use of many of the musicians and vocal artists that performed on many of the Italian soundtracks at that time, At, times he would use the choir of Allessandro Alessandroni’ IL CANTORI MODERNI on his soundtracks. What was it like working with Alessandroni?

 

I never actually worked with him in the sense of writing anything together, but yes, I did have him, and his excellent choir perform on some of my scores. If I remember correctly JOHN IL BASTARDO, DYNAMITE JIM and two of the EMMANUELLE soundtracks were performed by them, and RINGO IL TEXICAN I think.  It was all such a long time ago, but Alessandroni was a wonderful person. He was a talented performer, with his guitar and whistle, and a gifted and very underrated composer. Nora Orlandi would also conduct her choir on some of my scores – things like EL CHE GUEVARA. I think she also is very good. Alessandroni was a very good friend of Giacamo Dell Orso who conducted most of my soundtracks. His wife Edda has an exquisite voice and is responsible for a lot of work on Morricone soundtracks, as I’m sure you know. Giacamo would take my musical sketches and turn them into something special. He is a skilled orchestrator and an excellent conductor.

 

This the first time that the complete soundtrack for MACRO- GIUDA UCCIDE IL VENERIDI, has been released on any recording, apart from two tracks that were issued on a CAM single record (AMP 122) at the time of the films release. Which is now something of a rarity. In my opinion the music of Nico Fidenco is just as important as that of Morricone, Nicolai, De Masi and Cipriani. He was responsible for creating the sound of an era, his scores being haunting and dramatic each and every one of them having a life away from the films for which they were intended to support, enhance and punctuate. Did Fidenco himself think that his music had stood the test of time and endured over the years. His western scores. “I do consider the music I provided for these movies to be good, and yes it still has a certain something to it now, but that is my opinion. I know that many Italian Westerns that I thought were great during the 1970’s etc. are for me very hard to sit through now. Times change and so do tastes and styles. It’s all down to the individual, I think”.

John Mansell ©2018.
Move music international.

Pre-order now at Kronos records, Release date August 25th 2018.

http://kronosrecords.com/KG29.html

1. Titoli
2 . Tema
3 . Titoli Prolungamento
4 . Gioventu
5 . Un Viavai
6 . Allegro
7 . Suspense – Rise And Shine
8 . Rise And Shine
9. Suspense II
10. Macabro
11. Suspense III
12. Estasi
13. Allegro
14. Suspense IV
15. Andante
16. Rise And Shine
17. Allegro
18. Allegro
19. Passione
20. Giuda Uccide Il Venerdi (instr)
21. Suspense IV (alt)
22. Coda
23. Coda
24. Suspense II (alt)
25. Strimpello
26. Passeggiata
27. Rise And Shine (short)
28. Suspense – Rise And Shine Prolungamento
29. Suspense II (alt 2)
30. Mistero
31. Giuda Uccide Il Venerdi
32. Passeggiata (alt)
33. Rise And Shine

THE QUEENS MESSENGER. (sleeve notes for the KRONOS RECORDS release)

 

Released in 2001. QUEENS MESSENGER, stars, Gary Daniels as Captain Strong, who is a member of the SAS on loan as it were to the Secret Service, who put him to work as a messenger. Strong is a seasoned and highly thought of officer who has the trust of his government. He is a given a highly volatile assignment which involves the perilous task of delivering an important message to the British Consul in Kazakhstan. He must guard the message with his life, as it contains the details of a number of secret agreements that have been made by a handful of heads of state regarding the control of the country’s oil resources. Strong must keep his wits about as there are many who would like to relieve him of this important document. Ben Samm, is one such person, he is the leader of rebels who most certainly benefit from gaining control of the regions oil exploration right. Whilst travelling to Kazakhstan, Strong meets and teams up with American news reporter Alexi Jones played by Teresa Sherrer, who has heard rumours surrounding the Country’s oil resources and is investigating these, but also becomes curious about Captain Strong’s part in it all. Both the reporter and Strong are captured by the rebels, who have also kidnapped the British Ambassador, and are holding him hostage. Strong decides he must attempt to escape and lead his fellow prisoners to safety. Directed by Mark Roper, QUEENS MESSENGER, is an enjoyabl thriller, that contains more action than storyline, the movies central character becoming involved in an overabundance of chases, shoot outs, and fast paced hand to hand fighting, which take up approximately 90 percent of the films duration. The Bulgarian/Canadian and British co-production, was made on a low budget and sadly at certain points within the movie this does show, but saying this it still manages to entertain without the audience having to think to much about the plot. The musical score for QUEENS MESSENGER is the work of Italian Maestro, Stelvio Cipriani, who came to the notice of the cinema going public back in the 1960, s via his, inventive, haunting and infectious soundtracks to Italian produced westerns, such as A MAN A HORSE AND A GUN, THE BOUNTY KILLER and THEY CALL ME ALLELUJAH to name but three. His theme for A MAN A HORSE AND A GUN became a worldwide hit with artists such as LeRoy Holmes and Henry Mancini including arrangements of it on their albums. Cipriani also became known for his highly emotive and theme laden score to THE ANONYMOUS VENITIAN. The music for QUEENS MESSENGER is in the main action driven, with up-tempo themes and near martial sounding cues dominating the work. But the composer also manages to include a lush and romantic sounding side to the soundtrack, in the tracks, BACK TO LIFE and ALEXI’S THEME with strings that swell and rise and solo piano that is delicate and alluring, which adds a degree of fragility to the proceedings. Its sound not being a million miles away from the composer’s music for THE ANONYMOUS VENETIAN.

 

Cipriani does have a distinct and recognisable sound, but for QUEENS MESSENGER, the composer employed a more conventional approach, relying upon strong performances from, brass. percussion and strings, with Female solo voice making a subtle appearance from time to time, giving the score a touch of ethnic authenticity. He also bolsters and supports the conventional orchestra with a handful of electronic and synthetic additions which combine with the symphonic seamlessly. Thanks to Kronos records we can hear one of the composer’s lesser known works for the silver screen.

ARTIFICIAL.

Sleeve notes for the Kronos records soundtrack release.

As a genre of film and indeed as a genre, whether it is in book form or even a comic book, Science Fiction can either appeal to many or be either loved or loathed but the public at large, yes of course blockbusters from Hollywood as in Star Wars and Close Encounters of the third kind, are examples within the genre that obviously sat well in the eyes of the cinema going public. But, examples such as these are or were few and far between and many SCI-FI films as in shorts or low budget productions do tend to attract something of a niche following. The production values and standards of many being a little shaky to say the least, which is probably due to the budget the film manged to scrape together. The Sci Fi movie when produced correctly and written well is in most cases an enjoyable experience, both visually and cerebrally, often thought provoking and engaging and at times is a journey of discovery, escapism and enthrallment. It is a genre that can create moments of true brilliance within cinema and literature. ARTIFICIAL, is a short film which runs for less than thirty minutes, produced in Spain in 2015 and directed by filmmaker David Perez Sanudo, it is a tale of a man who arrives at a job interview full of hope that he might get the position, but what he does not realise is that he has already been selected and his potential employers make him an offer of 80, thousand Euros to agree to take part in an experiment where he will be cloned. The musical score is by Spanish born composer, Jorge Granda, who has created a highly atmospheric soundtrack via the utilisation of an entirely electronic score, synthetic sounds are at times grating and non-musical when not handled with care and expertise, I am happy to say that this is certainly not the case with this score, the music is pleasing and also very melodic and filled with delicate notations and motifs that trickle along at a steady pace to relay a sense of calm initially, but after a while these calming sounds become a little more tense and begin to alter and transform into something that is slightly more dark and uneasy, let us remember this is a short film which has a duration of just 20 minutes, so the composer had very little time to establish his score and also to expand it into themes or something that remotely resembled thematic material. In a feature length motion picture, the composer has sometimes nearly two hours to enhance the proceedings and is able to introduce more than just one central theme having the luxury of a longer running time in which he create themes for certain characters, in the world of the short film, the composer has an infinitely more difficult job as he must enhance, support and underline the storyline but has very little time in which to do it in, and invariably a smaller budget. For ARTIFICIAL, composer Granda, has worked a little bit of musical magic, he has fashioned a score that is contemporary, synthetic and one that works well with the images and scenarios on screen, but he has also managed to infuse emotion and fragility into the work, which is as we all know rare in electronic soundtracks.

Composer, musician and producer Jorge Granda was born on December 14th, 1985, since the early part of 2010 he has focused upon the composition of music for films and media. He has been involved in the writing of over 30 scores for short films, and has also worked on documentaries and other visual projects. His sound or style is not dissimilar to that of the combined styles of Vangelis and British musician and composer Mike Oldfield, where he combines both synthetic colours and musical textures with conventional instrumentation such as, Guitar, piano and percussive elements alongside samples, fusing these effectively to produce attractive and effecting musical moods and atmospheres. Many of his albums are available on various music sites and he has in a short space of time built up a wonderfully diverse and original sounding body of work. Thanks to Kronos records, we can hear the alluring and haunting sounds that the composer created for ARTIFICIAL.