Sam Peckinpah’s revisionist western, The Wild Bunch (1969) stands as one of the great films—a rare piece of Hollywood genre filmmaking in which a singular vision fuses all the technical and creative components into genuine art. The film’s powerful, Oscar-nominated score is arguably the greatest accomplishment of its composer, Jerry Fielding.

 

From the outset, Peckinpah wanted a score departing from Hollywood tradition. Fielding delivered in spades, with colorful, effective music that, to some extent, counterbalances the stark violence of the film and directly exposes the heart of Peckinpah’s characters. He evokes the Mexican setting by integrating popular folk tunes of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries into his score, while passages of action and suspense are shot through with lopsided, asymmetrical meters. Complex and edgy, Fielding’s score pays homage to his models while creating a brave new sound world for a new kind of western.

 

Film Score Monthly’s deluxe 3CD presentation of The Wild Bunch includes the complete score, sourced from studio masters; a re-mastering of the 1969 soundtrack album; plus extensive alternates, demo recordings and additional music. The 20-page booklet (designed by FSM’s art director Joe Sikoryak) includes informative liner notes by Lukas Kendall and John Takis. Additional notes (including a track-by-track commentary by Takis) are available online.