Giallo

Music by Marco Werba

 

 

 

 

 

Dario Argento was an innovator in thrillers narrative. A stylist. In Giallo Argento tried a return to the tradition of police thrillers. How could he make to reference the classic past of the genre and remain faithful to the oddities that have been characterizing his work for more than thirty years? Well, let the music do it… And the music did!

The soundtrack was one of the most outstanding works of the Spanish Marco Werba. Composed for orchestra, the score is driven by strings and takes the tradition in his huge presence, almost epic as in the ascending melody of the main theme. The suspenseful passages resemble something of Bernard Herrmann (as mentioned by the composer himself), but Werba takes what would be commonplace (in suspense and in Herrmann´s writing) with resourcefulness, referencing the gothicand the tradition of music in films but writing in his own territory. From explicit (KIller's Death) to the subtle (Flashback), the composer keeps attention on the difficult task between the traditional and the contemporary. Avolvi's Theme adds a touch of nostalgy in the solo violin, and vocal whispers of Killer resembles experimental moments of Argento movies. The result is unexpectedly new, dynamic, inventive and exemplary of a soundtrack function to characterize the film.