further informationLimited edition of 500 copiesFull stereo and completely remastered storyA few days after the arrival of the year 1000, bearer of great misfortune according to the Prophets, the cavalryman Fortunato and two soldiers, Pannocchia and Carestia, travel through Italy in the midst of numerous adventures: The prophetic year is marked only by the discovery on the part of the cavalryman of his wife's betrayal...Director:Franco IndovinaCast:Franco Parenti, Carmelo Bene, Marina Berti, Giancarlo Dettori, Folco Lulli, Philippe Hersent, Gordon Mitchell, Federico Boido, Puccio Ceccarelli, Cosimo Cinieri, Geoffrey Colpleston, Vincenzo Falanga, Voriano Ginesi, Gabriella Giorgelli, Dino Ivaldi, Rossano Jalenti, John Karlsen, Anna Maestri, Gianni Nidito, Michele Passacantilli, Charles Rolands. TRE NEL MILLE CD Review (Didier Thunus)Superstitions are many at the turn of a millennium, as we could witness some ten years ago. According to Luigi Malerba and Tonino Guerra's book, 'Storie dell'anno Mille' (1970), this was already the case in the year 1000. Their hero of several books, Millemosche, horseman without a horse, goes through comical vicissitudes together with Pannocchia and Carestia, two dim-witted characters he meets after a battle where they are the only survivors. Together, they are 'three in the year 1000' (Tre nel mille).Adapted the same year by Franco Indovina for the television, the 4-part series was trimmed down into a movie for theatrical release in 1971, where it didn't meet the viewer's expectations. It was said to be too close to the successful 'L'armata Brancaleone' (1966) by Mario Monicelli, a Vittorio Gassman vehicle, but missing the irony and the contemporary satire of its forerunner. The actors didn't have Gassman's aura either: Franco Parenti was playing Fortunato (the new name of Millemosche), and Carmelo Bene and Giancarlo Dettori were portraying his two new friends. Sadly, it turned out to be the last movie of Indovina, who died the year after in a plane crash.Indovina had already worked with Ennio Morricone on two occasions: 'Menage all'italiana' in 1965, and 'Giochi particolari' also in 1970. But here, he seems to have turned to Egisto Macchi first. Macchi, a very prolific composer and a dear friend of Morricone (both were members of the Gruppo d'improvvisazzione Nuova Consonanza, and Morricone wrote an 'Elegia per Egisto' when his friend died in 1992), wrote for the television series a colourful score, out of gear and merrily chaotic. This approach is completely in contrast with the music Morricone came up with, when commissioned a score for the theatrical release: much more subdued and quiet, as if the change of composer was also an opportunity of changing the mood of the movie, possibly judged too confused at the first screenings. Note that the exact chronology of events is questionable, but it seems that the tv-series with Macchi's score was the originally intended format, even though it was only shown on tv in 1973, when its theatrical condensed version with Morricone's score was already long forgotten. Giorgio Nataletti, a musicologist specialised in traditional Italian music, also gets credited for the tv-series, most likely for the selection of period pieces.Exclusively available so far on a rare LP (released in 1979) from the now cult Cometa series, the music of Morricone is now released on CD, with extra cues. The mood of the score is mostly set by the main theme, 'Ballata trovatica' (the Troubadour Ballad), a very disillusioned piece of calm music, seemingly unrelated to the troubadour tradition: those medieval poets\u002Fcomposers were known to be more joyful and entertaining. First played by a guitar over a section of soft strings, it is reprised later by a delicate harp again over strings. The guitar and the harp are back later for the two previously unreleased versions of the theme.The oddity of the track title applies by the way to many other tracks: those mentioning a lute are not dominated by that ancient plucked string instrument, neither do those referring to a zampogna necessarily showcase those traditional Italian pipes.But don't let this put you down, as this score has quite a few jewels worth discovering. Two tracks unquestionably stand out. 'Elegia con interruzione' (Elegy with interruption) is dominated by a bassoon, wind instruments and human voices, and alternates varied ingredients ranging from the confused mix of notes (maybe a lute and a zampogna among them?) to an ethereal female choir, a male chorus and soft percussions providing the rhythm elements. A truly appealing piece of music. Morricone will find again this brilliant vein in scores like 'I magi randagi' (1996) - listen, for example, to 'Saltarello gioioso' from that later score. A nice companion to this track is the one called 'La grande zampogna' (the big zampogna) for wind instruments, human voices and... lute. Not such an awesome achievement, but still nice to include on your playlist.The other outstanding piece from 'Tre nel mille' is the much too short 'Maiali e altri animali' (Pigs and other animals), for human voices only. The inimitable Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni must have had a lot of fun recording this piece, where each singer reproduces the screams and groans of different animals. Something to have your children listen to. The first unreleased piece, 'Canto degli uccelli' (Chant of the Birds) ideally prolongs it with bird screams.'Responsori per liuto e voci' (Responsories for lute and voices), this time really introducing a lute and human voices, is an alleviating piece of laid back music, in the vein of the 'Primo Rito' and 'Secondo Rito' from 'Escalation'. A responsory is usually a Christian liturgical chant, where a choir responds to the verses of a solo voice. Here, the voices are wordless, but they do seem to respond to the lute however.We mentioned the 'saltarello' from 'I magi randagi' above, a hopping dance which Morricone has used on several occasions, including in 'Tre nel mille' as 'Saltarello dei tre pupazzi' (Saltarello of the three puppets), played by hand drums and mandolins, for a very Italian Middle-Age ambiance. It is reprised later, with a modified melody, by a chorus of children in another previously unreleased piece.The pieces called 'La voce del liuto' and 'Le voci del liuto' (the voice(s) of the lute - but no lute to be heard here) maintain the soft mood introduced by the 'Ballata trovatorica'. Such is also the case of 'La vallata di Firenze', but in a more anxious mode this time. The 'Canto per liuto' (Chant for lute, but no chant here and no lute) mix the two main trends of the score: the guitar of the 'Ballata' and the confused woodwind instruments over a bassoon of 'Elegia' et al., whereas 'La piccola zampogna' (no zampogna again, not even a small one) and 'Arrivo al castello' can easily be skipped, as they sound more like everybody was having a drowsy day. More interesting, although not easy to listen to, is the other piece, previously unreleased, called 'Arrivo al castello', with high-pitched woodwinds, reminiscent of 'I Mongoli' from 'Marco Polo', and a bassoon, for an upsetting conclusion of the album.Such a discreet score would have suffered a lot from a casual CD pressing, as it deserves some uplifting in order to reveal its true value. Luckily on this CD, all the tracks have been controlled second by second and completely remastered, achieving a quite remarkable result. This release is explicitly targeted at collectors, and as such fully fits its purpose. It still uses the cover of the LP, not related to the movie itself because of the lack of material back in 1979, but the booklet contains pictures from the movie. Thanks to the people at Cometa, who seem to have realized the importance of the music which lies in their vaults, a cult soundtrack from the Maestro is now available on a good-quality CD for us to enjoy. Not to be missed by any true Morricone fan.Didier ThunusBrussels, June 2010Read more: Tre Nel Mille (Tre Nel 1000) | Ennio Morricone | Cometa Edizioni Musicali - CEM | CD Soundtrack