Once Upon a Time in the West is a soundtrack composed by Ennio Morricone, from the 1968 western film of the same name directed by Sergio Leone, released in 1972. The film score sold about 10 million copies worldwide. The soundtrack features leitmotifs that relate to each of the main characters of the film, as well as to the spirit of the American West. The theme music for the Claudia Cardinale character has wordless vocals by Italian singer Edda Dell'Orso. It was Leone's desire to have the music available and played during filming. Leone had Morricone compose the score before shooting started and would play the music in the background for the actors on set. In 2018, for the 50th anniversary of the film, the Italian records company "Beat Records" released a limited 500 copies edition.
Canadian disco band Black Light Orchestra released disco versions of "Once Upon a Time in the West" and "Man with a Harmonica" in 1977.
"Once Upon a Time in the West" was the theme music of 1992 filmVizconde Massacre: God Help Us! and its 1994 sequel, The Untold Story: Vizconde Massacre II May The Lord Be With Us.
"As A Judgment" was used in the Bruce Lee film Way of the Dragon as the theme for professional fighter Colt.
"Man with a Harmonica" appeared in the film The 'Burbs.
Sections from "Man with a Harmonica" were used in a bonus track, titled "Red Mist", from the soundtrack of the 2015 The Man From U.N.C.L.E. film.
Samples of "Man with a Harmonica" were often used in early 1990sdance music singles, notably The Orb's "Little Fluffy Clouds" and Beats International's "Dub Be Good to Me".
English rock bandMuse often played "Man with a Harmonica" when performing live, as an intro to "Knights of Cydonia".
The repeated harmonica riff is used by Bruce Springsteen in "Outlaw Pete", the opening track to 2009 album Working on a Dream.
English electronic music groupApollo 440 released a remix of "Man with a Harmonica", which played in the series The Sopranos over the end credits of the episode "Whoever Did This".
Indie rock band Hard-Fi use the theme as the entrance music for their concerts.
"Man with a Harmonica" was re-orchestrated by Hans Zimmer under the track titled "Parlay" and can be heard in ' and its sequel '.
Two different remixes of the theme were used in the series ' and its spinoffs: first in the episode "Recipe for Murder", second in the ' episode "All In |All In".
The first few seconds of "Jill" from the expanded score was used in the beginning of the Phantom Thread trailer, a 2017 film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson which featured Daniel Day-Lewis in his final performance before his retirement.