Broxton Comment-MB-003-36

COME IMPARAI AD AMARE LE DONNE [HOW I LEARNED TO LOVE WOMEN] (1966)

Come Imparai ad Amare le Donne – also known as How I Learned To Love Women – is an Italian romantic comedy directed by Luciano Salce, one of Morricone’s most frequent early collaborators. The film stars Michèle Mercier, Nadja Tiller, Elsa Martinelli, Anita Ekberg and Sandra Milo as five different women who encounter the young and enthusiastic Roberto (Robert Hoffmann) and teach him the ways of the world in terms of love, romance, and lots and lots of sex.

Morricone’s scores for sex comedies are so different from anything else he wrote; they were rooted into that 1960s Euro-pop sound, which blended sultry vibrato-heavy strings with languid electric guitar licks, brushed jazzy percussion ideas, moody woodwinds, Hammond organs, and faraway vocals, some of which mimic breathy orgasm noises. Much of the score’s melodic content is based on variations around the melody of the opening song, “Pioggia Sul Tuo Viso,” which is dream-like and ethereal and blends electric guitars and what sounds like sampled--whale song. Several subsequent cues – notably “La Diva” and “La Donna Gattina,” plus the various alternate versions of the main theme – follow this same trend, encompassing a series of lounge pop and jazz instrumentals.

One or two cues does stand out for their originality and uniqueness. “La Donna Romantica,” as the name suggests, is much more straightforwardly romantic, and is a lovely, slow duet for piano and strings that can stand with some of his best love themes from the period. “Pizzicato” is, as the name suggests, a somewhat abstract piece for pizzicato strings accompanied by harpsichords and fluttering woodwinds. Meanwhile, several mid-album cues – “Alta Moda,” “Alla Corte di Luigi XVI,” and “La Duchessa” –embrace a highly classical 17th century sound, offering Bach-like arrangements of strings, woodwinds, and brass.

Morricone’s comedy writing is an acquired taste; it was so idiosyncratic, you could never predict what sort of approach he was going to take from movie to movie, and if often varied wildly in tone, even within the same score. Come Imparai ad Amare le Donne is a score like that – but if you’re in the mood of something completely off the beaten path, this might fit the bill. The score for Come Imparai ad Amare le Donne has been released several times over the years, both on vinyl and CD, but my personal recommendation for the best presentation of the music is the one released by GDM Music in 2016, which offers the clearest sound quality.

Track Listing: 1. Pioggia Sul Tuo Viso (2:30), 2. La Diva (2:51), 3. La Donna Gattina (1:41), 4. La Donna Romantica (6:12), 5. Pizzicato (1:32), 6. Pioggia Sul Tuo Viso (#2) (3:03), 7. Alta Moda (7:46), 8. Alla Corte Di Luigi XVI (2:49), 9. La Duchessa (1:39), 10. Pioggia Sul Tuo Viso (#3 – Titoli Di Testa) (2:30), 11. La Diva (#2) (2:45), 12. La Donna Gattina (#2) (2:50), 13. Pioggia Sul Tuo Viso (#4) (2:02), 14. Pizzicato (#2) (1:48), 15. La Diva (#3) (4:32), 16. La Donna Romantica (#2) (2:07), 17. La Duchessa (#2) (1:59), 18. Pioggia Sul Tuo Viso (#5 – Finale) (3:02), 19. Pioggia Sul Tuo Viso (#6 – Mix Stereo) (Bonus Track) (2:29). GDM Music GDM-4406, 54 minutes 53 seconds.

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