It is based on Imre Kersetz's 1975 novel Sorstalansag, about the experiences of a 14-year-old Hungarian Jews during in a concentration camp during the Holocaust, which won the Nobel Prize for literature. Morricone is no stranger to such harrowing films, but here has focused largely on playing against the horror with uplifting music full of hope and the very essence of humanity, rather than concentrating on the brutality and terror of the camp. Anyone with any passing interest in Morricone's career will be familiar with the wonderful contribution made to some of his finest scores by vocalist Edda dell'Orso. It's been several years since she last worked with the composer, and he has rather shied away from writing wordless vocal music since, for soloists at least; but Fateless changes that, with an impressive and classy contribution coming from the ubiquitous Lisa Gerrard. Of course, she has become closely linked with Hans Zimmer and his crop of underlings ever since Gladiator, and has even ushered in various soundalikes trying to emulate her sound, and it has become one of the most overused and irritating facets of film music - because of that, it may be with some trepidation that you considered the prospect of her working on this score, particularly since it would inevitably lead to comparisons between her and dell'Orso.

Fortunately, Morricone makes no attempt to get her to sound like dell'Orso, and his melody is vastly different from anything Zimmer has written for her (or, indeed, she has written for herself). Her voice, which has always sounded expressive and rather unique, now takes on a more classical, virtually operatic sound, with her "singing" being wordless, but only just, with her varied intonations almost giving the impression of her singing some sort of made-up language. First heard in "Return to Life" and later developed in "A Song" and other cues, it is an extraordinarily beautiful piece of music.

That such an impressive and, frankly, knockout piece of music shares the album with several others of equal quality is remarkable. The score's main theme, which both opens and closes the album, is vaguely reminiscent of the composer's magnificent rejected score for What Dreams May Come. The aforementioned "Return to Life" is simply exquisite, opening with a sumptuous theme for solo oboe with string accompaniment, before it is taken up by choir and swelling violins, then Gerrard's vocals before ending with a subdued pan flute solo representing the darker aspects of the story. It is yet another of those pieces Morricone writes every year or two which simply stuns the listener into disbelief, here because of the heartbreaking beauty. "The Field" introduces the next main theme, an elegantly powerful, stirring piece with slight echoes of Casualties of War, and a particularly emotional and poignant reflection of the harrowing nature of the film. The theme is developed, in an entirely different orchestral setting, in "Home Again", where Morricone gives it a distinctly optimistic, hopeful air, this time introducing the melody using xylophone and piano.