Nino Rota- The Godfather

The Godfather is probably my favorite movie, and I hate that. I mean, can you get any more cliché? I might as well say Citizen Kane, be one of those people. Aside from my dislike for how common my opinion is, there is a genuine love of the movie. It’s about family and tradition, the acting is great, the cinematography is atmospheric and the score only adds the sense of weight in every scene.

I think that comes from the sense I get that every note in this score is deliberately and thoughtfully placed. There is not a single note wasted. Scores like that of There Will Be Blood can take an ambient approach to setting a mood, something that plays in the background and influences the mind subconsciously. I even get that sense with some symphonies I manage to pay attention to. Here, there is minimalism. Every note counts.

It’s interesting how that minimalism and mood suffuses the entire album, despite there being some variety in the genre of music. That’s because a large part of the feeling of this album comes from the idea of “tradition,” in this case, a tradition of Sicilian music. Whether or not the Sicilian music is accurate doesn’t matter. What matters is that it makes you think of Sicily. That call back to traditional, old Italy is on every track of this album, from the mandolins on “Sicilian Pastorale” to the Italian lyrics on “I Have But One Heart.”

4/5 This might be the best soundtrack I’ve listened to so far. It doesn’t particularly work well as an album, but it is still a better album than the other scores. It sits in between being a great album, but not a great score, and being a great score but not a great album. Which, in my book, makes it a very good album and a very good score.  Put it on in the background, or listen to it on its own and you won’t be disappointed.