Excellent Music Score by Mario Nascimbene
One aspect of this film which contributes to its eternal classic status is the fantastic, excellent music score by Italian film composer Mario Nascimbene. Mr. Nascimbene was no stranger to epics or Biblical films, having done many fine works in the 1950s such as ALEXANDER THE GREAT (UA,1956) and SOLOMON AND SHEBA (UA,1959).
I first saw BARABBAS in the theater when it was first released in the USA in the spring of 1962, and as a 15-year-old teenager, it made a profound impression on me, the profound acting, and both the visuals and the music. Anthony Quinn was outstanding as the man who was released when Christ was crucified in his place. He deserved an Academy Award for this performance.
I was already a fan of soundtrack music since I was 10 years old in 1957 and purchased my first soundtrack album, David Rose's "Music From Motion Pictures" (MGM, 1957).
Thus, I rushed out to the record store when I heard that a soundtrack album had been released for this movie, and rushed home to play it on my new Columbia Masterworks Stereo system I had earned with a part-time job.
The Columbia Pictures-Colpix Records Stereo LP release of the soundtrack was truly magnificent, like those of MGM's BEN-HUR and KING OF KINGS, a double-gatefold glossy golden cover with beautiful graphics, and the Stereo soundtrack music not only sublime, but very memorable.
The music, like Miklos Rozsa's superlative music scores to the two MGM pictures just mentioned, is superb, and fits the visuals onscreen perfectly.
Also, it was a very unique and innovative score for its time, because it was one of the first to incorporate new studio recording techniques and electronic musical instruments, and there is a bonus track on the soundtrack album with an announcer telling the back story of how the recordings were made, with sound bytes of the score.
As far as I know, this soundtrack has never been reissued on CD here in America. I had my Colpix LP digitally transferred to a professional-quality CD master, I love it so much!
Dejael