Once Upon a Time in America

Special Edition of 1984 soundtrack, composed, arranged, and conducted by Ennio Morricone (directed by Sergio Leone). Whether sounding upbeat or stark, Morricone informs it all with the dry and windswept vacancy of the West. Beautiful and stunning. Includes 4 special edition tracks, previously unreleased, 'Suite from Once Upon A Time In America' (includes Amaploa), 'Poverty' (temp. version), 'Unused Theme' & 'Unused Theme' (version 2).

Once Upon a Time in America is a 1984 Italian/American epic crime film directed and co-written by Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. The story chronicles the lives of Jewish ghetto youths who rise to prominence in New York City's world of organized crime. The film explores themes of childhood friendships, love, lust, greed, betrayal, loss, broken relationships, and the rise of mobsters in American society.

Once Upon a Time in America is a 1984 epic crime drama film co-written and directed by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. The musical score was composed by Leone's long-time collaborator Ennio Morricone. The film's long production resulted in Morricone finishing the composition of most of the soundtrack before many scenes had been filmed. Some of Morricone's pieces were played on set as filming took place, a technique that Leone had used for Once Upon a Time in the West. "Deborah's Theme" was written for another film in the 1970s but rejected; Morricone presented the piece to Leone, who was initially reluctant to include it, considering it too similar to Morricone's main title music for Once Upon a Time in the West. The score is also notable for Morricone’s incorporation of the music of Gheorghe Zamfir, who plays a pan flute.

The original soundtrack was presented in two different versions, the initial one being restricted to 15 tracks and 50 minutes because of the limitations of the vinyl format. A so-called special edition saw the light on CD in 1998, adding 25 minutes to the program. It included a long suite which was actually a collage partly repeating previously released music. Combining the album tracks with additional music heard in the movie and removing the duplications, a program of more than 78 minutes was prepared and recorded by the excellent I Solisti e Orchestre del Cinema Italiano, including three previously unreleased pieces. It is presented here in the chronological order of their appearance in the international cut – the individual tracks from the suite having been isolated and disseminated where they belonged – even though sometimes the closest album variation is used instead of the specific film version, so permitting the complete program to fit on one CD. It includes a 24 page booklet with critical notes & listener’s guide.

The original soundtrack was presented in two different versions, the initial one being restricted to 15 tracks and 50 minutes because of the limitations of the vinyl format. A so-called special edition saw the light on CD in 1998, adding 25 minutes to the program. It included a long suite which was actually a collage partly repeating previously released music. Combining the album tracks with additional music heard in the movie and removing the duplications, a program of more than 78 minutes was prepared and recorded by the excellent I Solisti e Orchestre del Cinema Italiano, including three previously unreleased pieces. It is presented here in the chronological order of their appearance in the international cut – the individual tracks from the suite having been isolated and disseminated where they belonged – even though sometimes the closest album variation is used instead of the specific film version, so permitting the complete program to fit on one CD. It includes a 24 page booklet with critical notes & listener’s guide.

Once Upon a Time in America was initially released in the US as a 2 1/4-hour, brutally studio-edited version of Sergio Leone's 3 3/4-hour masterpiece. The attempt to organize Leone's epic chronologically was devastating, losing the functions of memory and history that were key to the original film's epic structure. The film ranges from nostalgic to tragic, with healthy amounts of comedy, drama, and romance. Spanning five decades in the lives of two men, played by Robert De Niro and James Woods, the sprawling story, which moves fluidly among 1922, 1933, and 1968 on New York City's gangster-ruled Lower East Side, is memorably conveyed through flashbacks, flash-forwards, dreams, and fantasies.

The story is divided among three distinct time periods: the early 1920s, the early 1930s and the year 1968. The story is also jumps back and forth between these times and is summarized chronologically.