Yeah, it's a great Morricone composition although still probably not in my top 10 of his. The song is part of the score to one of the best spaghetti westerns ever made, Il Mercenario.

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The song together with the arena scene can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PykHgkq8-Q

Also great news for any SW fans, an English language quality release of the movie has just been released and is available from Amazon Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0000755WR/

T H E ✠ S U R F I T E S

Thats one film i have never seen.. but i love that arena scene.. i like how palance has a look of joy/relief that hes going to get to kill soon as the last bell tolls..

I wanna play just like him when i grow up...

I wikipedia'd Morricone and I came across this information.

"With the score of A Fistful of Dollars (1964), Morricone started his 10-year collaboration with his childhood friend Alessandro Alessandroni and his Cantori Moderni. Alessandroni provided the whistling and the twanging guitar on the film scores, while his Cantori Moderni were a flexible troupe of modern singers. Morricone specifically exploited the solo soprano of the group, Edda Dell'Orso, at the height of her powers—"an extraordinary voice at my disposal"."

And...
http://www.alessandroni.com/

I can see why he moved away from Spaghetti Westerns. Doing as many scores as he did it had to get old at some point. Especially for someone with as much compositional talent as he has. It lacks a sophistication he can get with an orchestra. He has rearranged his Spaghetti Western stuff for Yo-Yo Ma and I imagine he still likes a good portion of the songs at heart, but I'm sure there is some stuff that is throw away. He has done some incredible scores since his Spaghetti Western days, The Mission is an amazing score.

Yep, that's a great one Jake!
Ipecac Records put out a pretty incredible 2 disc sampling of Moricone's late 60s to mid 70s work a few years back called Crime and Dissonance. Liner notes by John Zorn and all the tunes were hand picked by Allan Bishop (Sun City Girls). Highly recommended! Here's the track list:

Disc 1
1. Giorno Di Notte Conducted by Bruno Nicolai. (From the film Una Lucertola Con La Pelle Di Donna) 1971
2. Astratto 3 (From the film Veruschka ) 1971
3. Corsa Sui Tetti Conducted by Bruno Nicolai. (From the film L’Uccello Con Le Piume Di Cristallo) 1969
4. Ric Happening Conducted by Bruno Nicolai. (From the film Metti Una, Sera A Cena) 1969
5. Memento (From the film L’Istruttoria E’ Chiusa: Dimentichi) 1971
6. Ricreazione Divertita Conducted by Bruno Nicolai (From the film Cuore Di Mamma) 1969
7. Studio Di Colore Conducted by Bruno Nicolai (From the film L’Assoluto Naturale) 1970
8. Forza G (Quella Donna) Conducted by Bruno Nicolai (From the film Forza G) 1972
9. Placcaggio Conducted by Bruno Nicolai (From the film Il Gatto A Nove Code) 1971
10. Seguita Performed by Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza. (From the film Gli Occhi Freddi Della Paura) 1971
11. Postludio Alla Terza Moglie Conducted by Franco Tamponi (From the film Barbablu’) 1972
12. L’Uccello Con Le Piume Di Cristallo (Titoli) Conducted by Bruno Nicolai. (From the film L’Uccello Con Le Piume Di Cristallo) 1969
13. Il Buio Conducted by Bruno Nicolai. (From the film L’Anticristo) 1974
14. Rapimento In Campo Aperto Conducted by Bruno Nicolai. (From the film La Moglie Piu’ Bella) 1970
15. Le Fotografie (From the film Veruschka ) 1971
16. Spiriti Conducted by Bruno Nicolai. (From the film Una Lucertola, Con La Pelle Di Donna) 1971
17. Ninna Nanna Per Adulteri Conducted by Bruno Nicolai. (From the film Cuore Di Mamma) 1969
18. Astrazione Con Ritmo (From the film Il Serpente) 1973

Disc 2
1. Trafelato (From the film Giornata Nera Per L’Ariete) 1971
2. Sensi (From the film Un Bellissimo Novembre) 1969
3. Gli Intoccabili (Titoli) Conducted by Bruno Nicolai. (From the film Gli Intoccabili) 1968
4. Fondate Paure Conducted by Bruno Nicolai. (From the film Una Lucertola Con La Pelle Di Donna) 1971
5. L’Attentato (alternate version 1) Conducted by Nicola Samale. (From the film L’Attentato) 1972
6. Fumeria D’Oppio Conducted by Franco Tamponi (From the film La Storia Vera Della Signora Dalle Camelie) 1981
7. 1970 Conducted by Bruno Nicolai. (From the film Il Gatto A Nove Code) 1971
8. Esplicitamente Sospeso (From the film Il Serpente) 1973
9. Sequenza 10 (From the film Sesso In Confessionale) 1974
10. Paura E Aggressione (short version) (From the film Giornata Nera Per L’Ariete) 1971
11. Folle Folle Performed by Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza. (From the film Gli Occhi Freddi Della Paura) 1971
12. Un Uomo Da Rispettare (Titoli) Conducted by Nicola Samale. (From the film Un Uomo Da Rispettare) 1973

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Ryan
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