Broxton Comment-MB-006-67

GALILEO (1968)

Galileo is an Italian biopic directed by Liliana Cavani which examines the life of the famed astronomer and scientist Galileo Galilei, concentrating specifically on his years-long his clash with the Catholic Church regarding his interpretation of his astronomical observations with the newly invented telescope, which posited that the Earth revolves around the sun and not the other way around – something was considered profoundly heretical and controversial in the 1610s. The film stars Irish actor Cyril Cusack as Galileo, Georgi Kaloyanchev as Galileo’s friend and mentor Giordano Bruno, and Piero Vida as Pope Urban VIII.

Galileo sees Morricone as his most dramatically ecclesiastical, using a large orchestra and an imposing male voice choir to carry the weight of the Catholic church. The wide, open enunciation of the choir are really quite spectacular, and the way Morricone arranges them with deft support from a bank of rich brass, slapping percussion, and sharply stabbed pianos and strings is very impressive. “Galileo Nel Circo” and the conclusive cue, “Galileo,” is probably the best example of this style.

Elsewhere, Morricone cultivates an eerie, mysterious atmosphere that appears steeped in medieval church music and plainsong, using church organs, tolling bells, and voices alongside some quite avant-garde writing for strings and horns; cues like “Sogno Primo,” “Sogno Secondo,” and “Sogno Terzo” are very impressive in this regard. Furthermore, Morricone creates several settings of the ‘new’ medieval hymn “Eresia Defunta Sia,” which features new words by the director Liliana Cavani, and is arranged in a variety of ways that range from romantic to mysterious.

Galileo is a challenging score, but one which I personally admire for its marked difference to other Morricone scores from the period – the classicism, the references to and excerpts from medieval church music, and the adherence to avant garde writing stylistics, are as far away from spaghetti westerns and pop dance grooves as it is possible to be. The score has been released several times over the years – often paired with Morricone’s 1970 score I Cannibali – but this version, released by Digitmovies in 2014, is remastered from the original stereo master tapes, and includes six previously unreleased tracks approved by the composer himself.

Track Listing: 1. Lunare Primo (1:37), 2. Eresia Defunta Sia (1:43), 3. Sogno Primo (1:42), 4. Galileo Nel Circo (1:48), 5. Lunare Secondo (1:14), 6. Meditazione Prima (2:45), 7. Meditazione Seconda (2:17), 8. Sogno Secondo (1:20), 9. Sogno Terzo (0:55), 10. Lunare Terzo (2:46), 11. Galileo (2:37), 12. Eresia Defunta Sia (0:34), 13. Sogno Secondo (0:52), 14. Sogno Primo (1:06), 15. Galileo (2:03), 16. Lunare Secondo (2:30), 17. Galileo (2:11). Digitmovies CDDM-256, 30 minutes 01 seconds.

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