另一个次要的主题音乐交替命名为"巴赫"和"报复"，其主要的特征是以著名作曲家巴赫的名字作为标题，并以B-A-C-H连续演变。它是一支扣人心弦的主题音乐，紧张悬疑，不过旋律优美，效果出众，其通过若干的变奏反复呈现出不同的特点。此外还有"来自非洲"，它是一支更加黑暗的悬念音乐，不是那么引人注目，不过专辑里出现了两次不错的新颖的插曲。最后，这张专辑毫无疑问地收录了"Chi Mai"这支单曲，并以此收尾，它永远不会失去它的魅力。

享受这个配乐的最佳方式可能不是按照专辑的真实顺序聆听-因为同一个主题就出现了如此多的版本。不光是我，其他人也会对如此重复的主题喋喋不休，因为不太了解其出现的频率，甚至感到有些乏味-它正是这样一支不可思议的曲子，其令人着迷的作曲艺术绝对地扣人心弦。《危情谍影》是一部绝对经典的莫里康内配乐，这位作曲家的每一位粉丝应当收藏这个音乐。

I realise that not everyone can be multilingual. Some people travel through life without ever leaving their home town, let alone their country, so it is easy to forgive them for not expanding their horizons by learning a foreign tongue. Indeed, frequently on my international travels – as I converse with the locals as if I am a native myself – I witness people from English-speaking countries make not even a slight effort to defer to their generous hosts, simply expecting them to respond in English. Increasingly, these people manage to get by seemingly without considerable difficulty. So even if the practical benefit is not what it once was, the cultural benefit is incalculable – there is no way to appreciate a Spanish poem from the Moorish period in all its glory if one reads a limp English translation. Another great benefit to being a master of so many languages is that I know when I purchase the soundtrack album to a foreign-language film, exactly what I’m getting. Decades of schooling in the language of my nation’s great friends from across the English Channel now allow me to translate Le Profesionnel – in English it approximates to The Professional.

The film was released in France in 1981. Directed by Georges Lautner, it stars Jean-Paul Belmondo as a French secret agent looking to assassinate the leader of a former African colony following a botched attempt on his life several years earlier. One of the great number of sub-categories in Ennio Morricone’s vast filmography is the group of French thrillers starring Belmondo he scored – this one followed Le Casse and Peur Sur La Ville and Le Marginal was still to come. While the music he wrote is nothing short of brilliant, Morricone’s experience on the film was not a happy one at all.

The main secondary theme is called alternately “Bach” and “Le Retour” and features the B-A-C-H progression made so famous by the composer who bore its name. It’s a gripping theme, suspenseful but melodic, very effective, again thrown through a number of variations which all have their own flavours. There’s also “D’Afrique”, a much darker piece of suspense music, nowhere near as striking but providing a nice fresh interlude a couple of times. Finally, the album does feature a (slightly synthy) recording of “Chi Mai” to close, a piece which never loses its appeal.

The best way of appreciating this score is probably not really in the sequence offered here – there are just so many versions of the same theme. But even I, someone forever complaining about such things, don’t get even slightly bored with it despite the frequency of its appearance – it’s just such an incredible piece of music, fascinating compositionally and utterly gripping dramatically. Le Professionnel is an absolutely classic Morricone score which every fan of the composer should have in his or her collection.