Carlo Rustichelli L'Armata Brancaleone

Carlo Rustichelli (Carpi, December 24, 1916 - Rome, November 13, 2004) was the author of hundreds of film soundtracks and will go down in history for his famous friendship with director Pietro Germi and for the “Brancaleone March,” a true iconic hymn like the “James Bond” theme” by Monty Norman or “the Raiders March” by John Williams from “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. This unforgettable choir motif is introduced by “Branca Branca Branca Leon Leon Leon” and a whistle and is the heart of the background music, which the author reprises with orchestral versions that are sometimes comical and sometimes dramatic- all under the direction of Bruno Nicolai. Two of the other supporting scores are “Pirulè” the psalm theme of the pilgrims, and “Cuccuruccù” sung by a female voice accompanied by the mandola. For our CD (total running time 70:43 minutes) we were able to access the mono master tapes from the original recording session. We’ve included the audio editing on the first fifteen tracks which we personally prepared with Maestro Rustichelli for the CD’s first release in 1995, followed by film versions, alternate takes and the singles released in 1966 on the single Parade PRC 5002. The CD ends with the rare take of the march introduced by the voice of Vittorio Gassman. Winner of three Silver Ribbons, the film was presented in competition at the 19th Cannes Film Festival.