Song of the Week: "Gabriel's Oboe"

My song of the week is "Gabriel's Oboe" from Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone. You can click the MP3 player below to listen to a sample.

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I was flying from Seattle to Toronto earlier this year and the album was featured on the in-flight entertainment system. I'm a fan of Yo-Yo Ma so it caught my attention. "Gabriel's Oboe" is the first song on the album. I wasn't listening for very long before I was overcome with an emotional mixture of haunt and joy. I couldn't explain it until I figured out where the song came from.

The music was composed by Ennio Morricone for the 1986 film The Mission. I first came across it in 1991 when I was 17 or 18. I must have rented the VHS tape from the video store. I was overwhelmed. The film and music are beautiful. It won the Oscar for best cinematography and was nominated for best original score. But it was the story that did me in. It was the first time I realized how emotionally powerful film can be.

You can download the song or album from Amazon. There is a good description of the movie on Wikipedia. You can view the trailer on YouTube.

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