Elsio Mancuso, Berto Pisano - Decameron nº 2 - Le altre novelle del Boccaccio (Colonna Sonora Originale Del Film) (2025) [Hi-Res]

Four Flies is pleased to present the first ever release of Decameron n°2 - Le altre novelle del Boccaccio, the soundtrack written by Elsio Mancuso and Berto Pisano for Mino Guerrini’s 1972 anthology comedy film of the same name (known in English as Decameron II). One of the first Italian directors to capitalize on the success of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s The Decameron, Guerrini saw the great potential that Pasolini’s adaptation of Boccaccio’s bawdy tales opened up for Italian B-movies and, with his own films, contributed to the establishment of the so-called “decamerotico”, a subgenre of erotic comedy set in 14th-century Italy.
Rich in orchestral tones and original textures, this soundtrack has an active, vital role in shaping the moods and atmospheres of Guerrini’s film. Mancuso and Pisano masterfully combine drama, humor, and tension, creating music that can seamlessly move from the grotesque to the romantic, and vice versa.

“Novelle d'amore,” the theme used for the film’s opening and closing credits, has an elegiac quality that emerges also in tracks like “Alibech” and “Servo e padrona”, albeit with even greater melancholic and intimate nuances. “Tema di Anichino” and “Zeppa di Mino”, on the other hand, take us to the cheerful and the playful (these little marches are slightly reminiscent of Morricone’s approach to such compositions), while “Sepolto vivo” and “Tensione notturna” are darker and more suspenseful. If “Estasi Divina” and “Penitenza” dive into the religious, “Mistico erotico” stands out as a track full of mystery, somehow prefiguring the gothic tones of Pisano’s soundtrack for Aristide Massaccesi’s horror La morte ha sorriso all'assassino (1973).

The Decameron II soundtrack was recorded by Gianni Fornari at Dirmaphone Studios in Rome on 8 February 1972. This release is the first step in a wider restoration project that will resurrect many gems from the vast but still largely hidden or forgotten repertoire of soundtracks co-written by Pisano and Mancuso.

Tracklist:
1-1 Elsio Mancuso - Novelle d'Amore [3:19]
1-2 Elsio Mancuso - Tema di Anichino [2:14]
1-3 Elsio Mancuso - Zeppa di Mino [1:37]
1-4 Elsio Mancuso - Messer Puccio [1:29]
1-5 Elsio Mancuso - Alibech [2:29]
1-6 Elsio Mancuso - Verso Terre Lontane [2:16]
1-7 Elsio Mancuso - Servo e Padrona [1:52]
1-8 Elsio Mancuso - Mistico Erotico [2:41]
1-9 Elsio Mancuso - Sepolto Vivo [1:43]
1-10 Elsio Mancuso - Ferondo [1:49]
1-11 Elsio Mancuso - Alibech (Version 2) [1:43]
1-12 Elsio Mancuso - Servo e Padrona (Version 2) [1:25]
1-13 Elsio Mancuso - Estasi Divina [0:58]
1-14 Elsio Mancuso - Visione Ascetica [0:49]
1-15 Elsio Mancuso - Tensione Notturna [1:03]
1-16 Elsio Mancuso - Alibech (Version 3) [1:35]
1-17 Elsio Mancuso - Servo e Padrona (Harpsichord) [1:16]
1-18 Elsio Mancuso - Penitenza [4:05]
1-19 Elsio Mancuso - Donne Leggiadre [1:13]
1-20 Elsio Mancuso - Ferondo (Version 2) [1:22]
1-21 Elsio Mancuso - Zeppa di Mino (Instrumental) [1:36]
1-22 Elsio Mancuso - Tema di Anichino (Instrumental) [1:14]
1-23 Elsio Mancuso - Servo e Padrona (Guitar and organ) [0:55]
1-24 Elsio Mancuso - Zeppa di Mino (Alt. Mix) [1:36]
1-25 Elsio Mancuso - Tema di Anichino (Instrumental alt. Mix) [1:05]
1-26 Elsio Mancuso - Alibech (Version 4) [1:10]
1-27 Elsio Mancuso - Servo e Padrona (Guitar and organ version 2) [0:45]
1-28 Elsio Mancuso - Sepolto Vivo (Version 2) [1:08]
1-29 Elsio Mancuso - Novelle d'Amore (End titles) [1:41]