''The Mission'' is the soundtrack from the film of the same name (directed by

Roland Joffé Roland Joffé (born 17 November 1945) is a British director and producer of film and television, known for the Academy Award-winning films ''The Killing Fields'' and '' The Mission''. He began his career in television, his early credits includ ...

), composed, orchestrated, conducted and produced by

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classica ...

. The work combines liturgical chorales, native drumming, and Spanish-influenced guitars, often in the same track, in an attempt to capture the varying cultures depicted in the film. The main theme, "Falls", remains one of Morricone's most memorable pieces, and has been used in numerous commercials since its original release. The Italian song "

Nella Fantasia "" ("In My Fantasy") is a song sung in Italian based on the theme "Gabriel's Oboe" from the film '' The Mission'' (1986). With music by composer Ennio Morricone and lyrics by Chiara Ferraù, "" is popular among classical crossover singers, and was ...

" ("In My Fantasy") is based on the theme "

Gabriel's Oboe "Gabriel's Oboe" is the main theme for the 1986 film '' The Mission'', with Robert de Niro, Jeremy Irons, Liam Neeson and directed by Roland Joffé. The theme was written by Italian composer Ennio Morricone, and has since been arranged and perfor ...

" and has been recorded by multiple artists including,

Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano singer, actress and dancer. Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, ...

Amici Forever Amici Forever is a band of four classically trained singers who mix opera with pop music (operatic pop). The band's first album, '' The Opera Band'' ( 2004), reached number one on the Australian classical charts, number two on the United States ( ...

Il Divo Il Divo (; ) are a multi-national classical crossover vocal group. The male quartet, which originated in the United Kingdom in December 2003, consists of tenors Urs Bühler, David Miller, and Sébastien Izambard. It also included baritone ...

Russell Watson Russell Watson is an English tenor who has released singles and albums of both operatic-style and pop songs. He began singing as a child, and became known after performing at a working men's club. He came to attention in 1999 when he sang "God ...

Hayley Westenra Hayley Dee Westenra (born 10 April 1987) is a New Zealand classical crossover singer and songwriter. Her first internationally released album, ''Pure'', reached number one on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million c ...

Jackie Evancho Jacqueline Marie Evancho ( ; born April 9, 2000) is an American crossover music#Classical crossover, classical crossover singer who gained wide recognition at an early age. Since 2009, she has issued a platinum-selling extended play, EP and nine ...

Katherine Jenkins Katherine Maria Jenkins (born 29 June 1980) is a Welsh singer. She is a mezzo-soprano and performs operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre, and hymns.Amira Willighagen Amira Willighagen (born 27 March 2004) is a Dutch soprano singer who won the sixth season of '' Holland's Got Talent'' in 2013, at the age of nine. Early life Amira Willighagen speaks both Dutch and Afrikaans because she was born to a Dutch ...

and Yasuto Tanaka. The soundtrack was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

and won the

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score is a Golden Globe Award presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), an organization of journalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications o ...

and the BAFTA Award for Best Music. It was selected as the 23rd best film score in American Cinema in the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

's 100 Years of Film Scores. The music was also used during the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Track listing

All songs by

. # "On Earth as It Is in Heaven" – 3:50 # "Falls" – 1:55 # "

" – 2:14 # "Ave Maria Guaraní" – 2:51 # "Brothers" – 1:32 # "Carlotta" – 1:21 # "Vita Nostra" – 1:54 # "Climb" – 1:37 # "Remorse" – 2:46 # "Penance" – 4:03 # "The Mission" – 2:49 # "River" – 1:59 # "Gabriel's Oboe" – 2:40 # "Te Deum Guaraní" – 0:48 # "Refusal" – 3:30 # "Asunción" – 1:27 # "Alone" – 4:25 # "Guaraní" – 3:56 # "The Sword" – 2:00 # "Miserere" – 1:00

Charts

Certifications and sales

Personnel

: Conductor, arranger. *

David Bedford David Vickerman Bedford (4 August 1937 – 1 October 2011) was an English composer and musician. He wrote and played both popular and classical music. He was the brother of the conductor Steuart Bedford, the grandson of the composer, painter ...

: Conductor. *

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

. *

Joan Whiting Joan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Joan (given name), including a list of women, men and fictional characters *:Joan of Arc, a French military heroine *Joan (surname) Weather events *Tropical Storm Joan (disambiguation), multiple ...

: Oboist * Barnet Schools Choir.

Academy Awards

Morricone's score for ''The Mission'' did not win the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

for Best Original Score, losing to Herbie Hancock's '' Round Midnight''. The award is considered one of the most controversial in that category, because it beat out

James Horner James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American composer. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements, and for his frequent use of motifs associated with Celtic music. Horner's first film score was i ...

's score for ''

Aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...

'',

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the Rambo (franchise) ...

's score for '' Hoosiers'' and that of

for '' The Mission''. In his review of the score to '' Hoosiers'', Christian Clemmensen of

Filmtracks.com Filmtracks.com is a modern film score review website created and maintained by its sole reviewer, Christian Clemmensen. Since the launch of Filmtracks in 1996, the website has reviewed nearly two-thousand soundtracks dating as far back as 1954, t ...

stated: 'The awarding of the Original Score Oscar for 1986 to Herbie Hancock for ''Round Midnight'' is considered one of the greatest of the many injustices that have befallen nominees for that category. Ennio Morricone and, to a lesser extent, James Horner were worthy of recognition that year, though Goldsmith's ''Hoosiers'' stands in a class of its own because of its immense impact on the picture.' Morricone, who did not win a competitive Oscar until 2015 (for Quentin Tarantino's ''The Hateful Eight''), said in an interview: 'I definitely felt that I should have won for ''The Mission'', especially when you consider that the Oscar-winner that year was ''Round Midnight'', which was not an original score. It had a very good arrangement by Herbie Hancock, but it used existing pieces. So there could be no comparison with ''The Mission''. There was a theft!'.

References