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•	1998 Italian Album

•	1999 American Album

The title theme is a very typical Morricone powerhouse, which is a positive in the sense that it serves The Legend of 1900 well, but it also lacks originality in its tone and structure. Morricone does attempt to give the theme a twist, often adding wild Gershwin-style piano ramblings as counterpoint. But as heard in the latter moments of "1900's Theme," Morricone doesn't handle the combination well, with the piano never complimenting the orchestra with enough synchrony to function. His attempts flourish in parts of "The Legend of the Pianist," however, with the cue's second and third minutes offering attractive woodwind and brass counterpoint mixed at an eerie distance. But later in that cue, more impromptu performances by the same elements offer a spirit far too energetic for the dying orchestral statements of theme. The awkward balance of jazz and drama extends to the two "Crisis" cues, the first of which effectively forces the striking of two adjoining piano keys to produce a slightly dissonant effect that is, on album, quite annoying. The thematic extensions in the two "Playing Love" cues are a highlight, with the first of the two rotating performances of the theme beautifully between instruments that, if not for the eventual trumpet solo, betray the Italian sensibility of the composer. Another theme is introduced in "Child," which better accomplishes the merging of the two music genres, though a brass flub at 0:45 into the cue is distracting (unless it's a poor attempt to once again intentionally slur high notes). Despite their impressive performances, the many solo piano cues in the latter half of the album releases for The Legend of 1900 are somewhat mundane, as are the final two score tracks (which end the experience on a distinctly sour note, literally). Former Pink Floyd singer Roger Waters offers a soothing vocal performance of Morricone's theme in "Lost Boys Calling," a song that only adds to the character crisis that the composer has already caused in his orchestral and piano material. Two source cues (pieces by Jelly Roll Morton and Scott Joplin) round out the album. A lengthier version of the soundtrack was initially available in Europe; the running time of the later, American album was cut to coincide with the shorter version of the film in that country. Despite its singular orchestral highlights and Golden Globe win, The Legend of 1900 is surprisingly average, disjointed, and unengaging.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Ennio Morricone reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.11 (in 9 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.28 (in 8,960 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.