Nino Rota – The Godfather (Original Soundtrack) – CD

When director Francis Ford Coppola made Mario Puzo’s book The Godfather one of the greatest events in the history of modern American cinema in 1972, one of his most refined decisions was to transfer the task of film music to the great Italian film music composer Nino Rota. Rota, who built up an excellent reputation alongside Fellini and had already contributed the music for three dozen films in the previous 20 years, provided this story of corruption and betrayal, which is as American as Gnocchi, with Neapolitan jazz elements and a Sicilian, melodic sensibility (which is perfectly characerized by the mourning solo trumpet of the main theme). If you hear this masterful work, you can’t help but wonder what Rota, who died in 1979, would have achieved if he could have worked a decade earlier with the means of Hollywood.

1 Main Title (The Godfather Waltz)
2 I Have But One Heart (Johnny Farrow – Marty Symes) – Al Martino, Carlo Savina
3 The Pickup
4 Connie’s Wedding (Carmine Coppola)
5 The Halls Of Fear
6 Sicilian Pastorale
7 Love Theme From The Godfather
8 The Godfather Waltz
9 Apollonia
10 The New Godfather
11 The Baptism
12 The Godfather Finale