Western Film Themes (Compilation)

I must admit that I was worried that this might be another of those crap albums consisting of poor quality synthesized versions of classic film scores. But for £3, I couldn’t really resist, and luckily it wasn’t.

I’ve always enjoyed recordings by the City of Prague Philharmonic, and this is certainly no exception. It features some wonderful recordings of some of the most famous western themes in the history of cinema, including ‘The Big Country’, ‘The Magnificent Seven’ (although I must say the tempo was a bit slow with that one…), and ‘How the West Was Won’, and then Ennio Morricone’s wonderful western scores such as ‘The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly’, ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’, and ‘For a Few Dollars More’, which feature the Crouch End Festival Chorus. I was slightly disappointed that Dimitri Tiomkin’s score to ‘High Noon’ wasn’t included, but that was all.

Nothing beats the original recordings, but this is without doubt an excellent album, and one I would recommend to anyone who loves western film music.

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Track Listing

Disc 1

1 – ‘The Big Country’ (Main Title) Composed by Jerome Moross

2 – ‘The Magnificent Seven’ (Main Title) Composed by Elmer Bernstein

3 – ‘The Cowboys’ (Main Theme) Composed by John Williams

4 – ‘The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly’ (Main Title) Composed by Ennio Morricone

5 – ‘A Fistful of Dollars’ (Main Title) Composed by Ennio Morricone

6 – ‘She Wore a Yellow Ribbon’ (Main Theme) Composed by Richard Hageman

7 – ‘Monte Walsh’ (Main Theme) Composed by John Barry

8 – ‘The Alamo’ (Overture) Composed by Dimitri Tiomkin

9 – ‘How the West Was Won’ (Prelude) Composed by Alfred Newman

10 – ‘The Hallelujah Trail’ (Overture) Composed by Elmer Bernstein

11 – ‘Dances with Wolves’ (The John Dunbar Theme) Composed by John Barry

12 – ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ (Man With The Harmonica) Composed by Ennio Morricone

13 – ‘Lonesome Dove’ (Main Theme) Composed by Basil Poledouris

14 – ‘The Outlaw Josey Wales’ (The War is Over) Composed by Jerry Fielding

15 – ‘The Proud Rebel’ (Pastoral) Composed by Jerome Moross

16 – ‘Silverato’ (Main Theme) Composed by Bruce Broughton

17 – ‘The Sons of Katie Elder’ (Main Theme) Composed by Elmer Bernstein

18 – ‘Stagecoach’ (Opening and Closing Titles) Composed by Richard Hageman

19 – ‘Two Mules For Sister Sara’ (Main Theme) Composed by Ennio Morricone

20 – ‘High Plains Drifter’ (Main Theme) Composed by Dee Barton

Disc 2

1 – ‘The High Chaparral’ (Main Theme) Composed by David Rose

2 – ‘Bonanza’ (TV Theme) Composed by David Rose, Harry Sukman, and Walter Scharf

3 – ‘The Lone Ranger’ (William Tell Overture: Finale) Composed by Gioachino Rossini

4 – ‘Wagon Train’ (Main Theme) Composed by Jerome Moross

5 – ‘For a Few Dollars More’ (Main Title) Composed by Ennio Morricone

6 – ‘A Fistful of Dynamite’ (Duck, You Sucker: Main Title) Composed by Ennio Morricone

7 – ‘Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid’ (Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head)

8 – ‘The Comancheros’ (Main Title) Composed by Elmer Bernstein

9 – ‘One Eyed Jacks’ (Main Title) Composed by Hugo Friedhofer

10 – ‘The Unforgiven’ (The Need For Love) Composed by Dimitri Tiomkin

11 – ‘Villa Rides’ (Main Theme) Composed by Maurice Jarre

12 – ‘Wyatt Harp’ (Prelude) Composed by James Newton Howard

13 – ‘Once Upon A Time In The West (Main Title) Composed by Ennio Morricone

14 – ‘The Big Valley’ (TV Theme)

15 – ‘Hang ‘Em High’ (Main Theme) Composed by Dominic Frontiere

16 – ‘The Quick And The Dead’ (End Title) Composed by Alan Silvestri

17 – ‘Rio Bravo’ (Rio Bravo / De Guella) Composed by Dimitri Tiomkin

18 – The Scalphunters (Main Title) Composed by Elmer Bernstein

19 – The Shootist (Main Title) Composed by Elmer Bernstein

20 – The Wild Wild West (TV Theme)

Credits

Performed by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra & The Crouch End Festival Chorus

Conducted by Tony Bremmer, Nic Raine, Derek Wadsworth & Paul Bateman

Insert Notes

Contains various information about the tracks on the album, as well as information about the Western genre of film music.

All artwork and images are Copyright © Union Square Music Ltd.