Il Maestro E Margherita
Ennio Morricone
" The score by Morricone is solely based on a single romantic theme "Written by Joep de Bruijn - Review of the regular release
Il Maestro E Margherita (The Master and Margaret) is the 1972 film adaptation of the book by the Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov and was directed by Aleksandar Petrović. The Serbian version of the film used the music of a Serbian accordionist and a couple of other Russian composers and musicians, while the Italian version featured a score by Ennio Morricone.
The score by Morricone is solely based on a single romantic theme that underpins the relationship between a writer (the maestro) and his assistant Margaret. Morricone wrote numerous variations on the theme and constantly changes the orchestration throughout the score. At first glance, the theme appears to have a lovely tranquility to itself and a certain kind of orchestral softness that is instantly recognizable as something that can only be written by Morricone. The slow and graceful performances of the bittersweet strings and lower woodwinds are enriched with the occasional use of the vocal abilities of Edda Dell'Orso, the piano or ethnic sounding instrumentation. The more you listen to it, the more you begin to feel the broad aspect of the intentions of the composer and the evolution of the theme, which by now is feeling rather discomforting sweet.
Il Maestro E Margherita has a strong theme, but is that enough? For some a single rendition will suffice and will possibly grow tired of the theme after a while. Unfortunately, I am one of them, despite the more interesting aspects of the constant changes in the orchestrations. I feel rather ashamed that a theme, that was so dear to my heart, is now something I would rather like to avoid hearing.
There have been other scores by Morricone, offering more than the content of a theme, which share the same fate of experiencing something would like to call ''theme fatigue''; La Cosa Buffa and La Bataille de San Sebastian come to mind. La Cosa Buffa, a rather average work, was introduced to me on a release that ended with a series of different takes on the same, nice theme. But that score didn't really feel like a significant loss, unlike La Bataille de San Sebastian. I fell completely fell in love with it in context of the film, adored the love theme tremendously, and continued this admiration through the experiences of a CD release, clocking at just over 30 minutes. But with the arrival of a complete score edition, I was 'infected' with the same fatigue and the love theme virtually lost all its emotional power. Certainly everyone will have had similar experiences with some scores, though perhaps not with these examples or this specific composer.
Il Maestro E Margherita was made available through a CD release by GDM in 2008, that became a rare object. I have always supported a re-release in such cases and so GDM made a new one available in 2016. Personally, I would not recommend to purchase the 2016 edition, but rather choose a compilation featuring its theme.
Track List
1. Incontro (4.15)
2. Il Maestro e Margherita (I) (2.08)
3. Il Maestro e Margherita (II) (1.12)
4. Il Maestro e Margherita (III) (3.38)
5. Il Maestro e Margherita (IV) (2.45)
6. Il Maestro e Margherita (V) (2.48)
7. Il Maestro e Margherita (VI) (1.12)
8. Il Maestro e Margherita (VII) (3.01)
9. Il Maestro e Margherita (VIII) (3.59)
10. Il Maestro e Margherita (IX) (4.21)
11. Titoli e finale (3.54)
Total Length: 33.13
The score by Morricone is solely based on a single romantic theme that underpins the relationship between a writer (the maestro) and his assistant Margaret. Morricone wrote numerous variations on the theme and constantly changes the orchestration throughout the score. At first glance, the theme appears to have a lovely tranquility to itself and a certain kind of orchestral softness that is instantly recognizable as something that can only be written by Morricone. The slow and graceful performances of the bittersweet strings and lower woodwinds are enriched with the occasional use of the vocal abilities of Edda Dell'Orso, the piano or ethnic sounding instrumentation. The more you listen to it, the more you begin to feel the broad aspect of the intentions of the composer and the evolution of the theme, which by now is feeling rather discomforting sweet.
Il Maestro E Margherita has a strong theme, but is that enough? For some a single rendition will suffice and will possibly grow tired of the theme after a while. Unfortunately, I am one of them, despite the more interesting aspects of the constant changes in the orchestrations. I feel rather ashamed that a theme, that was so dear to my heart, is now something I would rather like to avoid hearing.
There have been other scores by Morricone, offering more than the content of a theme, which share the same fate of experiencing something would like to call ''theme fatigue''; La Cosa Buffa and La Bataille de San Sebastian come to mind. La Cosa Buffa, a rather average work, was introduced to me on a release that ended with a series of different takes on the same, nice theme. But that score didn't really feel like a significant loss, unlike La Bataille de San Sebastian. I fell completely fell in love with it in context of the film, adored the love theme tremendously, and continued this admiration through the experiences of a CD release, clocking at just over 30 minutes. But with the arrival of a complete score edition, I was 'infected' with the same fatigue and the love theme virtually lost all its emotional power. Certainly everyone will have had similar experiences with some scores, though perhaps not with these examples or this specific composer.
Il Maestro E Margherita was made available through a CD release by GDM in 2008, that became a rare object. I have always supported a re-release in such cases and so GDM made a new one available in 2016. Personally, I would not recommend to purchase the 2016 edition, but rather choose a compilation featuring its theme.
Track List
1. Incontro (4.15)
2. Il Maestro e Margherita (I) (2.08)
3. Il Maestro e Margherita (II) (1.12)
4. Il Maestro e Margherita (III) (3.38)
5. Il Maestro e Margherita (IV) (2.45)
6. Il Maestro e Margherita (V) (2.48)
7. Il Maestro e Margherita (VI) (1.12)
8. Il Maestro e Margherita (VII) (3.01)
9. Il Maestro e Margherita (VIII) (3.59)
10. Il Maestro e Margherita (IX) (4.21)
11. Titoli e finale (3.54)
Total Length: 33.13