[Thor Joachim Haga]

So I’ve reached Donaggio in my collection walkthrough, some 12-13 albums, I think.

I’ve had a connection to him since the 90s, with bits and bobs entering (and sometimes even leaving) my collection. But I only set out to explore his work after I met him in Ghent in 2012. And when I did, I was struck by his extreme sense of versatility. Such an eclectic approach, and often within the same score itself – from synth to pop to lush orchestral to jazz to everything inbetween.

My favourite probably remains CARRIE, but I have several less-known recommendations as well, some of which I’ll revisit in the “erotica” thread.

What are your favourites?

[Malte Müller]

Not a real expert bu CARRIE is great as are other De Palma scores. I also like:

– DePalma scores in general
– DON’T LOOK NOW
– HERCULES
– THE HOWLING
– TOURIST TRAP
– PIRANHA
– THE BARBARIANS (even or because it is a bit 80s cheesy ;-))

[Nicolai P. Zwar]

I liked Pino Donaggio from the first time I ever noticed his name or music, that was way back in the 1980s when I saw DON’T LOOK NOW for the first time. Incidentally, that was also Donaggio’s first film score. And it’s a favorite to this day. To mention my “top 5” Donaggio scores:

DON’T LOOK NOW
That childlike piano theme alone, in a purposely “child-practice” like performance played by Donaggio himself, is just pure gold.

BODY DOUBLE
I really love both the score and the movie; like Thor said, the score is highly eclectic, from lush romantic strings to suspense and synths. The “famous” cue “Telescope” is just like mystery-sleaze turned into music (in the best sense).

HERCULES
Pino Donaggio in full blown orchestral fantasy mode… you don’t get to hear that often. The movie is a hoot, with Erector-set monsters, goofy plot, and Donaggio’s music just fully embraces the swashbuckling and adventure.

ZELLY AND ME
Haven’t seen the movie (though it is one of the few with David Lynch as an actor), but the music is like a summer afternoon, soft and breezy, with a touch of melancholy. It’s got one of those Donaggio themes that lingers and stays in my head long after I stopped playing the album.

DRESSED TO KILL
Of course, all the De Palma collaborations are great and interesting… so at first, I even thought to just lump them all together and say “Donaggio/De Palma”, but if I had to pick one more out of this great collaboration (after BODY DOUBLE), it might as well be DRESSED TO KILL. This might be the quintessential Donaggio/De Palma score.

[Jon Aanensen]

That theme from PASSION (Perversions & Diversions) is wonderful. BODY DOUBLE and BARBARIANS are great too.

[Thor Joachim Haga]

That theme from PASSION (Perversions & Diversions) is wonderful.

Sure is. In fact, I love Donaggio’s synth stuff just as much as the orchestral.

There are many to choose from (and there is quite a bit in the three erotica scores that I will share later, in that thread), but here’s another one – the track “Giú dal cielo” from DON CAMILLO (1984). It sounds like a take on TOP GUN, but was actually composed two years earlier:

[Jon Aanensen]

PASSION is not pure synth though. It’s the sax and trumpet solos that make that track so great.

[Nicolai P. Zwar]

I like Donaggio’s PASSION a lot too, just like I enjoy all the Donaggio/De Palma collaborations. PASSION is of course heavily influenced by lots of works, most notably Ravel’s Pavane Pavane pour une infante défunte, but also Jon Brion’s MAGNOLIA and Morricone’s THE THING among other things. But Donaggio fuses it all together into one highly listenable album.

[Thor Joachim Haga]

Did I just read that Pino Donaggio has stepped in for Cliff Martinez to score Nicolas Winding Refn’s upcoming film HER PRIVATE HELL?

Yes, I did!

Consider my mind blown!

I mean, the Martinez/Refn collaboration is one of my favourite composer/director pairings at the moment, and I hold Martinez in greater esteem than I do Donaggio, so there’s definitely a sense of loss here. But if he was going to be replaced by someone, Donaggio was a wonderful, out-of-left-field choice. I know that Refn is a big De Palma fan, so maybe that explains it.

[KMCG]

Yes. It’s ace to see Donaggio still working and being tapped up by newer filmmakers, even if I’m no great fan of Refn, who’s movies I’ve never jibed with.
Pino Donaggio is my favourite Italian film composer and always has been, ever since I discovered his music via CARRIE, DON’T LOOK NOW and those wonderful early DePalma/Dante collabs (and stuff like TOURIST TRAP and DON CAMILLO) while still in my teens.

[Malte Müller]

I know some Donaggio but surely someone to explore more. Just recently discovered his score Corruzione al palazzo di giustizia via my public library’s streaming service. I think its from thte 70s. I like it it’s very rhythmic string chamber orchestra like.

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