Here are a few tracks from one of Ennio Morricone's earlier scores: Le monachine (The Little Nuns). It features the harp and the harpsichord throughout which I think is an incredibly beautiful texture. The other instrumentation includes upright bass, drums (with brushes), church organs, piano, nylon string guitar, vibraphones, flute, etc... good organic and pure sounding instruments. I've never seen the rather hard-to-find film that goes along with this score but here's a little description to get you in the right mindset: "Italian nuns raise a quiet ruckus to stop a major airline from flying over their village in this gentle comedy. They are upset because the noise from the jets creates a vibration that is threatening to crumble a much-revered ancient fresco. It also interferes with the quiet of their cloistered lives and so the Mother superior and two of her underlings journey to Rome to have a chat with the owner of the airline." Sound pretty wild and intense to me :) With this score though I bet it's fantastic.
Ennio Morricone - Al convento (1963: Le monachine)
- This is the music I wake up to when I need to set an alarm.
Ennio Morricone - Fughetta nell'orto (1963: Le monachine)
- I think Ennio was listening to a lot of Bach when he was writing this stuff.
Ennio Morricone - Mistico ma non troppo (1963: Le monachine)
- A brilliant study of instrumentation and arranging.... such a beautiful piece.
