The Bird with the Crystal Plumage [L'uccello dalle Piume di Cristallo] (1970) - Soundtrack

There was a healthy stretch of Christmas mornings wherein I was gifted with a plethora of horror, science fiction, and fantasy stuff. One such item was the soundtrack album for The Bird with the Crystal Plumage released by Cerberus Records in 1981. I still have that album, in fact.

But today's subject will be this expanded release from Cinevox, which presents the complete score in stereo, for the very first time.

The liner notes for the Cerberus album describe Morricone's score as "innovative and effective," to which I agree. The notes also point out how the score "is more modern in contrast to what was the more conventional 'gothic' style [of the time]" and "laced with ominous sighs and the constricted breaths of fear."

About that latter example. Both albums feature a one minute and twenty-or-so second(s) long track titled The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, which features a woman's 'constricted' gasps of fear and desperation, underplayed by a thumping percussion that starts off slow, but gradually quickens.

While I can understand what Morricone was attempting to achieve, that does not prevent me from thinking the track sounds less like a woman in duress and more like a woman, um, working herself up to a rather satisfying la petite mort.

If you know I what I mean, and I think you do.