hollywood

"THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA", it is one of the
key works in Mario's career. It was one of their first
incursions in the American cinema, and although
however it doesn't arrive to the category of "A
FAREWELL TO ARMS", one of their big ones
masterpieces, he knew how to be to the height of the
circumstances. Not in vain itsupposed to work for the
great Joseph L. Mankiewicz, one of the big film
directors of the glorious Hollywood. The maestro's
music has reflected the whole cosmopolitism of the
story and the origins of the spanish dancer's central
character, performed by Ava Gardner. The overture is
magnificent, very rhythmic, supported in a beautiful
bolero rhythm, dynamic constant in the whole score.
The musical comment has one of its achieved moments
in the romantic sentences that have been elaborated
with the sound of a guitar, alone, melancholic, and
talking with the rest of the instruments. The languid
tone of the whole score has its justification in the own
structure of the story that begins recreating the funeral
of the main character, and that one reveals with a
bigger intensity at the end of the same one, in a true and
wonderful musical flash-back. The maestro
remembered with sympathy his episode with Joseph
Mankiewicz, to which due to his good friend's constant
jokes Franco de Simone that was made go by big
directors with nonexistent contracts, ended up hanging
the telephone in three occasions. Finally, Mankiewicz
decided to go personally to the maestro's house. When
he made sound the bell, Nascimbene came out very
mad, solved once and for all by all to tell to Franco de
Simone how full it was of its damned phone jokes. Who
appeared in the door it was the own Mankiewicz that
after receiving the maestro's explanations, he started
to laugh the whole episode.

One of the big films colosalist of the decade of
the fifties was "ALEXANDER THE GREAT", directed by
Robert Rossen in 1956 and that it is in sum, another of
the Mario's big symphonic works.

He has wanted in this occasion to return to the
great orchestra, to the way of Hollywood, in the style
already classic of composers like Rózsa, Korngold or
Steiner. In this intent we can appreciate their masterful
domain of the symphonic music, as well as an exact
use of the percussion, when the one underlined of the
moments of action of the film. It has appealed for
moments to the technical dodecaphonic and the
melodic segmentation. At the same time, he suggests
to their good friend Robert Rossen their intention of not
using in any moment string's instruments. The idea
surprised Rossen that didn't know very well how it
would be accepted in Hollywood a score that was not
very usual. The reason that the maestro adduced was
that the strings section had tendency to be identified
with romantic scenes, and what he sought, was to
concentrate on the character's heroics aspects, being
centered primarily in the battles. Therefore, the
orchestral formation chosen by Nascimbene consisted
of eight choirs, eight trumpets, eight trombones, two
contrabasses, twelve kettledrums and anything less
than twenty percussionists.

When Robert Rossen could listen the final
results while the registration of the music was made, it
was frankly surprised and he no longer had left doubts
on the innovators ideas that have always characterized
to Mario Nascimbene.

Nevertheless, they are still in the score topics
for the feminine characters that invite to the calm and
the serenity. Such it is the case of " Eurydice " or "
Barsine ", while "Main titles", Philip's arrival", "Battle of
Granicus" and "Battle of Gaucamela", they are
centered in the warlike aspects of the film. The cast,
Richard Burton ran in charge of "The Great", very
seconded by Fredric March and Claire Bloom, while the
script was also written by the own Robert Rossen.

In 1957, one of their biggest scores composes
for the screen: "TO FAREWELL TO ARMS." A
sentimental and romantic drama directed by Charles
Vidor and produced by David O'Selznick.

The story of the great love between an
American official and an English nurse, during the First
World War, was object on the part of the teacher of one
of the best scores in the American cinema.
Nascimbene has composed one of its more felt and
beautiful scores, although he only considers it, a simple
romantic comment that was not very complicated of
carrying out. Nevertheless it is a great masterpiece and
their musical perfection is almost absolute. The "Main
Titles" opens up with rhythm of military march that
contrasts strongly with the "Love theme", the most
fortunate part in the whole score and that it
accompanies to the even main character scenes (Rock
Hudson and Jennifer Jones), when its lives are not
inside the warlike conflict. It is able to snatch the
biggest and beautiful registrations to the violin and the
piano that reach bench marks of extreme beauty. The
romantic reason resonates magically in the couple's
spirit, in contrast with the horrors of the battle front. The
violin, wonderfully performed by Dino Asciolla, is the
unquestionable main character of the topic of love
endowing it in turn of a sound of deep dramatism,
intensified at the end of the score with the main
character death and accompanying him of the piano
and of the whole orchestral formation. The rest of the
composition forms it topics like "Three soldiers", in
which harmony and guitar express the spirit of
companionship among the troops. "Alpine march", the
majesty of the Alps and strong percussions that show
the advance of the Italian Army. A variation of "Three
soldiers", this time only with the sound of the harmony,
constitutes it "Death of Passini", the sergeant that dies
after an explosion. A folkloric guitar melody
characterizes the army youth in "Father Galli." The
departure of Henry towards the front is picked up inside
the romantic reason of " Farewell ". An echo of "Alpine
March" allows to feel in " Retreat ". In "Rinaldi's
theme", the piano symbolizes ironically other happy
days far from war and death that remembers with
bitterness the character played by Vittorio De Sica.
The orchestra shines in all her intensity in "Henry's
escapes" that shows the return of Henry beside
Catherine. The couple crosses the lake Como at night
with the purpose of taking refuge in Switzerland, where
a melody that sounds distorted and unreal penetrates
us in "Lake crossing." " Happiness ", is a new
recreation of the topic of accompanied love this time of
the voice of a yodeler, the two young lovers' portrait.
While " Expentancy ", is the symbolic sound of the rain
while Henry convalesces of its wounds in a hospital,
waiting the arrival of its dear Catherine. Finally, the
"End-titles" suggests in its notes the hope of a better
world, in which the lovers live forever.

The orchestration of the whole score ran in
charge of the own Mario Nascimbene, for the one that
its good friend Franco Ferrara the orchestra directed in
the recording made in Rome. To make mention in the
chapter of anecdotes that some years ago, the maestro
was going for a walk for Broadway, when he met with
the window of a store specialized in film music that
exhibited, as authentic jewel, a deluxe edition of
"FAREWELL TO ARMS" to the incredible price of four
hundred dollars. Nascimbene entered in the store and
he made mention to the proprietor of his astonishment
for the exagerated price of the disk for any collector,
and that therefore his music would never leave the
window. The store's owner, a so much stranger for that
last sentence asked him who was, to what the maestro
answered: I am Mario Nascimbene!. An authentic
surprise since the owner turned out to be an enthusiast
of the maestro's music, and he decided to give him the
disk. Nascimbene making honour of their constant
sense of humor responded him that he was making a
wrong business, because it had lost four hundred
dollars.

One of the big classics of the cinema of
adventures is "THE VIKINGS", directed in 1958 by the
artisan Richard Fleischer. One of the fundamental
pieces of Mario's career constitutes and it has
possibly been, one of their good known scores for the
great public, partly to the great success in box office of
the film.

Kirk Douglas, producer and main character of
the movie, were so impressed for Mario's work that he
called him later on for another of their biggest
productions: " SPARTACUS ". Finally Nascimbene had
to tell not to Kirk Douglas, since in that moment it was
in Madrid making "SOLOMON AND SHEBA" for King
Vidor.

It was finally Alex North who took advantage of
the impossibility of Nascimbene, the one that position of
" Spartacus " was made, in which also carried out a
magnificent work, and that besides a good friend, and
one of the favorite composers of Nascimbene.

"THE VIKINGS", it possesses an overflowing
musical coloring, serving to the perfection to the spirit
of the cinema of adventures. It is a specially symphonic
work and it is almost entirely leaning in their main topic,
the "March of the vikings" that shows their notes in
Opening narration." "Next Arrival" home shows us the
arrival from the vikings to the town, while "On the
march", it submerges us in the songs of the party that
Einar offers its father Regnar.

The lyrical vision of the invocation to Odín on
the part of the hag shows in "Eric rescued by Odín", in
the one that Tony Curtis character it will be saved of to
die drowned by the own Odín that a storm that will
make lower the waters takes place. The incursions
show in topics as "Battle with the britons", where the
winds and the percussion look like the fierceness of the
battles.

Fear lyrical and romantic, with protagonism of
the violins, they reflect the relationship of "Eric with
Morgana". "Death of Einar" analyzes with dramatic
notes the hate of the siblings in its final battle.

Finally, Einar's funeral" and End titles", they
are a renovating vision and of a great lyricism of the
topic of the titles. For it has had him to it of a sacred
sound, of great solemnity, propitiated by the use of big
masses corals that they give him an almost magic
aureole. For the " end-titles " it has varied the march of
the Vikings, accompanying her of a strong rhythm and
of the masses corals that intone it now in a conclusive
way.

Surprisingly, in none of the editions of the disk
of United Artists the titles of the different courts were
published, since Nascimbene assures that it was never
consulted on these editions, and that on the other hand
the presentation of these portfolios was very bad and
the sound, quite faulty in general.

Nevertheless these they are the titles of the
different courts that they consisted the editions of
United Artists.

THE VIKINGS. (UAS 5003). (Titles authorized by Claudio
Fuiano). A1: OPENING NARRATION. (1:31)

A2: ARRIVAL HOME. (2:08)

A3: ON THE MARCH. (3:19)

A4: ERIC RESCUED BY ODIN. (1:45)

A5: AELLA'S WARNING. (2:10)

A6: DANCING THE OARS. (1:08)

A7: MORGANA'S SOLITUDE. (2:20)

A8: BATTLE WITH THE BRITONS. (2:07)

B1: CONQUEST OVER NORTHUMBRIA. (1:50)

B2: RETURN THROUGH THE FOG. (2:53)

B3: ERIC AND MORGANA. (1:17)

B4: BATTLE. (2:20)

B5: RESCUE OF MORGANA. (2:20)

B6: DEATH OF EINAR. (1:37)

B7: ERIC AND MORGANA REUNITED.(2:06)

B8: EINAR'S FUNERAL: END TITLES. (2:12)

In all ways, the collector can find although not
without difficulty, the magnificent deluxe edition of the
signature Legend that has been remastered in her
entirety and taken place by Sergio Basseti. The general
supervision ran in charge of the own Nascimbene and it
was recorded in the Meridiana Recording of Rome, the
Maestro's property.

At the moment still it can be in some
establishment of London, and that I eat limited edition, it
already reaches a respectable price. It is worthwhile to
acquire it, since also it contains more music than the
editions of United Artists.

In 1959 Mario Nascimbene moves to Madrid to
participate in the filming of "SOLOMON AND SHEBA",
directed by King Vidor. It is another film "colossal", with
a great budget and deluxe allotment. In her, a solemn
vocal group accompanied by the section of wind, they
introduce the sequence in the one which the proud king
Solomon, is presented in the temple of Jerusalem. It is a
moment in the one that the presence of the sound band,
is particularly significant, serving to the demands of the
colossal script, written anything less than for three
writers: Anthony Veiller, Paul Dudley and George
Bruce, starting from the story of Crane Wilbur, and
narrated according to the outlines from the Hollywood
of the time. On the other hand, the elegant photography
of Freddie Young, one of the most illustrious british
illuminators that knows how to take advantage of the
great format Supertechnirama 70. The movie, it was
produced by the own Vidor and Ted Richmond for the
United Artists. The score of Nascimbene belongs
especially to the time of David and Solomon, with vocal
and instrumental music and with reminiscences of the
old Israel, taking in the film a specially excellent role.

Of the design of this sound it derives a topic
with the sound of a harp, wrapped in the typical musical
scale of the old culture from Mesopotamia, underlined
of a definitive statement of the rhythm. The human
voice together to the musical part, exalts the typical
songs of the Hebrew community, in those that Europe,
will be inspired later on to constitute the Gregorian
songs. We will highlight of the score the meticulous
presence of three chords, leisurely and serious,
accompanied by the mystic to flow of the human voice.
The musical comment of "SOLOMON AND SHEBA", it
will serve as authentic base to develop the score of the
film, "CREATURES THE WORLD FORGOT", strongly
inspired in the work of "SOLOMON AND SHEBA." As
for the artistic part, Yul Brynner was the king Solomon,
while Gina Lollobrigida played to Sheba, accompanied
by a numerous facility of Spanish actors as Julio Peña,
Maruchi Fresno, Félix de Pomés or Luis Prendes,
among others. The same as it happened in "THE
VIKINGS", the editions of United Artists for identical
reasons, didn't contain the titles of the different tracks
that they constitute the work.

SOLOMON AND SHEBA. (UAS 5051). Titles authorized
by Mario Nascimbene and Claudio Fuiano.

A1: RHA-GON. (2:17).

A2: EGYPTIAN INVASSION. (1:28).

A3: BATTLE IN ISRAEL. (1:11).

A4: VICTORY PARADE. (2:41).

A5: PAGAN PARTY. (2:23).

A6: MAIN THEME. (2:03).

A7: DEATH OF KING DAVID. (1:50).

A8: THE MIRACLE. (1:44).

B1: RETURNING TO ARMS. (1:13).

B2: THE MISTY LAKE. (3:06).

B3: HYMN TO JEHOVAH. (3:04).

B4: SHEBAN CARABANS. (1:30).

B5: ABISHAG. (2:00).

B6: SOLOMON'S MEDITATION. (1:35).

B7: PEACE IN ISRAEL. (1:42).

B8: DECLARATION OF LOVE. (1:33).

Richard Fleischer directs in 1962, the one that
is, according to words of the own Nascimbene, its
authentic masterpiece: " BARABBAS ". After the
results obtained in "THE VIKINGS", Richard Fleischer
requests the Maestro's services again, in this story,
written by the Nobel Prize winner, Pal Lagerkvist.
"Barabbas" figure is the main axis in the one that Mario
Nascimbene, it has overturned the whole score. It has
captured with a great domain of the musical technique,
the character's soul, their tormented existence, and
their remorses of conscience until their final sacrifice.

The North American critic of the time defined "
BARABBAS ", as "The most innovational movie score
ever recorded", something like that as "The most
innovative soundtrack, never recorded." This
statement has its explanation in the frequent
employment of the technical MIXERAMA, with which
has made multiple variations of the sound of the
instruments increasing and reducing its speed, as well
as the realization of diverse sound effects for certain
sequences. For example, the main-title that has as
bottom Christ's lashing, the author has composed a
sound main base by way of rumor, crowned with the
use of masses corals that they emit screams
implorants, while an unreal wind shows us little by little
Barabbas' figure. The sequence of the crucifixion,
"Eclipse", is formed by an indescribable and dominant
sharp note of the episode, together to the effect of
voices and sounds that have been recorded reducing
or increasing its speed by means of the technical
MIXERAMA, taking place with it effects of a great
imagination.

So much "Empty tomb", as "The mine", they
are also clear examples of the use of the Mixerama, in
those that has used Gregorian songs in conjunction
with the sound of a soprano and two violins,
accompanied by a double bass that has been
registered halfway speed. Nascimbene was aware that
this film, required a musical treatment very different
from the one used by some of its colleagues, like it is
the case of Miklós Ròzsa for films of similar court. It is
for it that Mario Nascimbene needs to endow to its
compositions of an originality and special personality
that it gets partly, helped of that that he has given in
denominating, the Mixerama.

In " Intermezzo ", it has designed a more
symphonic and more spectacular vision of the main
topic, assembling the orchestra's sections, and leaving
the protagonism in hands of the brass and the
percussion. This topic, accompanies the interval taken
place among both parts of the film, during the
projection, since due to its long footage, it was usual in
the years sixty that the composer carried out a music
that accompanied the audience, while he waited in a
brief rest, the projection of the second half of the film.

In "Rome afire", the notes of the main topic,
they have been distorted, altering their speed, diving in
a dramatic atmosphere, to show us the scene of the fire
of Rome. Lastly "Death of Barabbas" and Dies him", it
is helped again of the Mixerama that emits dramatic
resonances, while Barabbas' topic appears closing the
score slowly. The last court is "Suoni nuovi", the
explanations in charge of a technician, of all the used
procedures, so much with the Mixerama, as of the
orchestral group, offering to the listener, the possibility
to know like the musical universe of Nascimbene is
believed, and that on the other hand, it is not something
very frequent of finding in any soundtrack.

The film was an Italian-American coproduction,
released by Columbia Pictures that had an international
allotment, headed by Anthony Quinn, Silvana Mangano,
Jack Palance, Ernest Borgnine and Vittorio Gassman.