Giornata nera per l'ariete - Expanded

Quartet Records, in collaboration with Carosello Edizioni Musicali, presents a definitive, expanded 2-CD edition of Ennio Morricone's celebrated score for a 1971 Italian thriller, Giornata nera per l'ariete (aka The Fifth Cord), directed by Luigi Bazzoni and starring Franco Nero, Silvia Monti, Ira Von Fürstenbergm Edmund Purdon, Pamela Tiffin and Agostina Belli.

Morricone's thriller scores remain some of his most distinctive and original works. As demonstrated in his scores for Dario Argento's efforts in the genre, Morricone's uncanny ability to combine lyricism, unbridled avant-garde experimentation and stylish elegance was his most significant contribution to the category. Giornata nera per l'ariete shows Morricone once again embracing the sophisticated avant-garde sound while beginning his score with a haunting tune performed by Edda Dell'Orso heard over the film's main titles. The lullaby-like theme has a timeless quality, providing a disturbing and disarming melody for the film.

As with many of his giallos, Ennio Morricone's score for Giornata nera per l'ariete was never released on an album (only the main theme was included in the Morricone compilation album COLORI in 1971). In 1996, under the composer's supervision, the Point label released the first official album of the score. In 2001, Dagored expanded the program to 10 minutes, and it was expanded again for release in Japan in 2007 on the Verita Note label. But despite these expansions, there was still some music recorded by Morricone that remained unreleased. For this new Quartet edition, the score has been fully restored, remixed and edited by Daniel Winkler from the original tapes of the recording session, presenting the complete score as Morricone conceived it on disc 1. Disc 2 contains the original remastered album prepared by Morricone in 1996, as well as several alternates.

This CD has been mastered by Chris Malone, supervised by Claudio Fuiano, and includes a 20-page booklet with in-depth liner notes by film music writer Jeff Bond.