Casino Movie Music
For the more spiritually aware among you, today is Maundy Thursday, four days before we get chocolate eggs, the day the Queen gives out money, and the day on which Christians celebrate the Last Supper. But we’re film fans here, so how best to combine the two? Why, by choosing a piece of music from one of Scorsese’s most foul-mouthed, violent pictures of course!
Like most soundtracks produced by Martin Scorsese, the track to the film Casino is incomplete, missing, among others, Ginger Baker's drum jam 'Toad' from Wheels of Fire.And, like most good film scores, it helps the listener recreate the film in his or her head while listening. A casino is a facility that accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Some casinos are doing live entertainment events too. Listen to the sounds of slot machines, playing cards and roulette. Complete song listing of The Casinos on OLDIES.com. To place an order or for customer service, call toll-free 1-800-336-4627 or outside the United States, call 1-610-649-7565. Johnny Chan (Rounders) Two-time World Series of Poker Main Event champion Chan had a cameo.
Casino (1995) is often unfairly called “the poor-man’s Goodfellas (1990)”. There is much to recommend it and, despite the same pair of lead actors, director and writer as Goodfellas, Casino is very much its own beast. Martin Scorsese, like Quentin Tarantino, has always had a way with musical choices. Scorsese, unlike Tarantino, chooses pieces of music from a wider base. At one point Scorsese nearly joined the Catholic priesthood, and the choice to use the closing movement of JS Bach’s phenomenal work, the St Matthew Passion is perhaps more logical in light of this knowledge.
“Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder” is the final movement of the Passion – the work which tells the story of Christ’s betrayal and crucifixion – and is full of severity, longing, and tragedy. The piece’s defining sound is that long unresolved end-of-phrase chord: the sound grates against one’s ear until finally, wonderfully, it resolves into a proper tonic chord. Listen out for it at the very end, but also at key points during the movement too.
Over Saul Bass’ title sequence, the Bach creates a depth of tone to the story, turning it from historical curiosity to the stuff of legend. As with Scorsese’s masterpiece Raging Bull (1980), where his use of the “Intermezzo” from Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana created the heartache over the opening credits, here again Scorsese’s musical choice sets the tone for the rest of the film.
Casino Opening Song
Here, then, is the full finale from JS Bach’s St Matthew Passion, as heard over the opening credits of Martin Scorsese’s Casino.