Originally posted by Groovin'
The Mission... ive never heard of it. Is that an (relatively) old movie? ive never really heard too much of his music... although im sure i've heard a bit without realising who the composer is.
1986. Starring Jeremy Irons, Robert De Niro, Aidan Quinn, Liam Neeson, Ray McAnally, Cherie Lunghi. Directed by Roland Joffe.
Absolutely brilliant film, one of my top 2 ever.
A couple of quotes on firstly the film, and then the soundtrack:
"A visually stunning epic, THE MISSION recounts the true story of two men--a man of the sword (Robert De Niro) and a man of the cloth (Jeremy Irons)--both Jesuit missionaries who defied the colonial forces of mighty Spain and Portugal to save an Indian tribe from slavery in mid-18th-century South America. Mendoza (De Niro) is a slave trader and colonial imperialist who murdered his own brother (Aidan Quinn) and seeks penance for his sins by becomining a missionary at Father Gabriel's (Irons) mountaintop mission; Gabriel is a devout and idealistic man who extols nonviolence and peaceful interaction with the natives and colonialists. Despite their differences, the two men must unite to save the mission when Spain, Portugal, and the Catholic church begin negotiating their boundaries in the area--negotiations that will affect both the freedom of the natives and the well-being of the Jesuit missionaries who have set up safe havens for them. Director Roland Joffé's sweeping masterpiece is a haunting account of the unjust treatment of the Guarani Indians of South America and the men who fought desperately, in very different ways, to save them. The film features a mezmerizing musical score by Ennio Morricone that weaves a stunning combination of church choirs and native Indian panpipes into the lush images of the Brazilian rainforest."
"Brilliant and highly-original score is a highlight of Morricone's career
John Williams is a great composer; John Barry is a great composer; Jerry Goldsmith is a great composer. But these men write music that is, by and large, composed within predetermined idioms, using broadly standard orchestration. Ennio Morricone does not do this. On the whole, his music sounds like nothing that has gone before; and it's because of this that I think of him more highly than any other film composer. He manages to write music that serves movies dramatically, that stands on its own terms away from the film, and is daringly original and often breathtakingly brilliant to boot.
The Mission is yet another example of this. It is no exaggeration to say that "On Earth as it is in Heaven" is one of the high water marks of twentieth century music. It is such an incredible piece. The choir chants away in Latin, accompanied by a killer oboe theme and some daringly different percussion hits. Once you play it once, you will never be able to stop returning to it time after time. To those people you know who look down on film music as some kind of poor cousin of classical music (and everyone knows these people), I say this: play "On Earth as it is in Heaven" and watch them change their minds.
There are at least half a dozen other major themes, the most famous of which is "Falls", which has been heard in countless tv commercials (and Danny Elfman scores) since. I can guarantee that whoever hears it will love it; based around a simple melody, Morricone is going for one thing - the heart. Performed sometimes by pan pipes, sometimes by large brass section and sometimes by the whole orchestra in union, it could probably be termed the main theme of the film.
"Ava Maria Guarani" is a work for solo chorus, which sounds peculiarly out of tune at times; this is a pity, for it is otherwise another highly-impressive piece. The other two main melodic themes are "Gabriel's Oboe" and "Brothers"; there's also a somewhat dissonant motif for pan pipes that runs through several tracks, providing some kind of binding gel.
Morricone, probably moreso than anyone else, is able to throw out a devastatingly beautiful melody at a whim, and yet he has made it clear on many occasions that his preferred style of writing is much more modern and avant-garde. This is demonstrated again in some of the suspense music, like "Penance", "Alone" and "Guarani". These tracks are far more difficult to listen to than the melodic "hits" of the score, but nonetheless offer a lot of enjoyment to the more initiated listener.
The album ends with "Miserere", a superb arrangement of the main theme for solo choirboy. The Mission is frequently cited as Morricone's finest score and, while I wouldn't quite go that far - he has written so many great musical works, one loses track - it certainly belongs in everyone's collection as a shining example of how the best film music should sound. There are moments of such staggering brilliance enclosed within that one is left under no doubt that, some day, Morricone will be seen as one of the greatest composers who has ever lived."
That may shed a little light on the matter.
Morricone also did many Spaghetti Western themes, including the famed "Man with No Name" trilogy starring a young ponhco wearing Clint Eastwood.
