The Big Country Theme

The theme for William Wyler's "The Big Country" (1958).

[@timwilliams1238]

As an Englishman this is the most american piece of music ever ....pure genius full of hope.generosity.decency and vision....superb.

[@user-iv7pl2uo7q]

Have felt the same since I first saw the film in 1960. Impossibly rich, fully representative of the visual expansiveness of the film & the genre. Every track is flawless & unforgettable.

[@cma8789]

Yet, very much like "Tintagel", by the English composer Arnold Bax.

[@user-iv7pl2uo7q]

@@cma8789 I know Bax's music, but not that composition. Will listen.

[@bryanhead2670]

As a Scotsman I couldn't agree more !!!

[@warpigeonofdoom]

America could do with a bit more of the Manifest Destiny enshrined by this music.

[@stephaniemazzella5985]

My dad was a big fan of Western movies and tv . Im 74 and grateful 😂

[@wandaguz8541]

My dad too .

[@Jean-rg4sp]

All my uncles loved a good western when I was a small boy. I am 76 in twelve days. I miss them all.

[@loydapenafielcolom8597]

My dad too 😊

[@Gianniutah]

Likewise but I’m a tad younger 😂

[@andrewarmitage9491]

I have my Dad's funeral in a few days. This is going to play him out. I never forgot in my teens I would say to him why are you watching another western. He just said 'there is no such thing as a bad western'. This was his all time favourite.

[@MA_808]

sorry for your loss RIP to your Dad

[@gsbealer]

Memories of my Dad, who was a huge movie fan, having worked in London for MGM and having met a slew of movie stars as a result. He met Gregory Peck at his home, when returning his son from a mutual friend’s house. Dad imparted his love of movies to me. Thanks Dad.

[@jewellclarke6512]

My Dad was such a fan of Westerns. This brings back so many memories that I had forgotten. Love and miss you Dad 😘❤️

[@eldoncollins7254]

How true.

[@user-ye3ol2ku4l]

My uncle, who died this year, also loved westerns and had a tape with this song in the background music of his car. Every time I listen to this song, I remember when his uncle was fine.

[@peterlewis6820]

Chin up Jewell,he would be proud of you

[@MysticZet]

my dad died 2 months ago, and that song was his favourite western song... fucking corona ;((((((

[@VinylPanda-NaturallyClean]

I wanted to write exactly the same about my father. He was a big fan of Western and WWII movies. Unfortunately lost him more than 20 years ago.

[@nicksflicks9592]

One of the best epic film scores ever. Full of hope, action, energy, motivation and yearning. A musical tribute to American pioneering, courage, conflict and justice.

[@stroonZe1]

These are the same kinds of feelings I get. Sadly, our country is a bit off kilter These days. ✌

[@tompease8810]

I'd love to see this on tv again and I love the theme song

[@scottmiller6495]

Jerome Moross should have gotten the academy award for the film score of this terrific movie along with 4 other awards, mainly Best Picture of 1958! Thank God Burl Ives got his supporting actor award because he stole the picture in every way !!!!!

[@scottmiller6495]

@@tompease8810 You're right but unfortunately the young people of this changed world would not appreciate it nor would they like it much either!

[@k.j.mcelrath3627]

@@scottmiller6495 Moross actually composed this as part of an orchestral suite that didn't get performed or something. When the producer approached him on scoring this film, he pulled this out of his drawer (composers do that a lot 😆)

[@ILoveBANFF1974]

Definitely one of the greatest westerns of all time ! Beautiful movie score , absolutely breathtaking! What a magnificent cast !! Wow !!

[@Celluloidwatcher]

Jerome Moross goes down in entertainment history as being one of the most underrated composers of Hollywood movie and television scores, mainly for Westerns. You can't overlook the majestic tone of Moross' music. So full of life and vigor with the need to expand one's horizons. It makes for great admiration for an exceptional talent. Thank you for presenting the theme from The Big Country (1958).

[@randompalmtopgaming7541]

Wonderful comment

[@maryannesteinberger7652]

You got that right. This should have won the Oscar. Politics…

[@sfmpr29]

Amazing score. The best!

[@milkdrumk]

I remember when I was a kid, we went on a trip to Arizona, and I made my dad play this over and over as we drove through the mountains. :3

[@terinasargeant138]

That is living the dream when you play your iconic head music on vacation yes. I do stuff like that.

[@scottmiller6495]

Very suitable for a trip anywhere in the mountains and out west as well!

[@cynthiahusband106]

One of my most favorite music score’s made for a western -yes there are others that beautiful but this one is so full of joy, hope, powerful score , still brilliant after so many years , the movie is just as great , wonderful cast chuck conners I remember was just great in it so was Charleston Heston , carol baker Gregory peck great great movie love tombstone unforgiven Wyatt Earp but I also love the big country!

[@yordanagarciagarcia6283]

I remember when was a boy, I listened this theme from a radio hystoty un 1962 inMaracai, Venezuela. It's a beautiful.theme.

[@martinpugh1008]

I bet that was a sight and the scenery must have been fantastic and something to behold I am from South Wales UK and I'd would certainly like to experience a trip like that 👍😃🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@janegarcia5783]

This is one of the most exhilarating movie themes ever. In fact, as stupendous as the opening is, the reprise at 1:52 is even more goosebumpy.

[@maryannesteinberger7652]

Vince DeRosa’s horn solo is stupendous. Naturally.

[@stunned.6707]

This music brings visions of mesas and western mountains Truly music fits the scene.

[@markmoore4237]

I travel, at least once a year, to Red River, New Mexico. As you travel over Bobcat Pass and head downhill into the valley, you take several hair pin turns, all the while waiting for the last one where you can see the entire town from above. I cue up this song on my phone, and hit play the moment I see the town. It fits. And I shed a tear. Every time. Good music to celebrate a great place to be.

[@andrewjohnstone963]

@@markmoore4237 wow 👌 👏 😍 👍

[@pubkrocknroll]

This is such a heartwarming piece of music. Truly beautiful.

[@andrewjohnstone963]

My parent's brought home this wonderful soundtrack in their 60s i was only a child spellbound doesn't cover it Dad passed away in March and i sat with the headphones and toasted his life Wonderful and wondrous peice of music thanx dad❤ mums still with us thanx mum ❤

[@debbachebachir]

RIP. your father

[@jamespearson5928]

Pure class from an era gone by we need more of this

[@johnnyblade4351]

Dad Passed last month .......... 91 he was a western man ... This is an iconic peace of Miusic 4 Him

[@rogerscollier7424]

One of the grandest and greatest scenes to open a movie ever. Must’ve been a absolutely thrilling experience in the days of the grand movie houses. A student of Aaron Copland and his influence on Moross is obvious.

[@tinabazor8529]

I get chills every time this song plays. The best western and theme song ever. Brings back my childhood.

[@slyslaughter5115]

How I came to wear a cowboy hat and write songs. This theme is celestial.

[@FCSchaefer]

My personal favorites are The Wild Bunch, Once Upon a Time in the West, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and High Noon; but the music from the The Big County is awesome and the film is an exceptional example of the great Technicolor epics that came out in the 1950's with a once in a lifetime cast headed by Gregory Peck at his finest. Sadly, I think this movie has been forgotten today except by die hard western fans.

[@Beagle3561]

I'm just so sad that music will NEVER be written like this again. Thank you, Jerome Moross.

[@oscarjimenezgarrido7591]

It will come back eventually. The public is starving for emotions right now, they just aren't aware of it. The fact that comment sections for crap like the Man of Steel soundtrack - a _richly textured_ (as some say, sigh) -crescendo- huge heap of nothingness that leads *absolutely nowhere,* - for example, are full of praise for the perceived magnificence of the music and the emotions it allegedly elates, when in reality it's just a badly concocted frankenstein of library loops and samples that tells absolutely nothing either in aural or emotive terms. Zimmer, of whose work I used to be a devout aficionado back in the 90s when he was actually good and composed real, wonderful music - like Prince of Egypt - has devolved into a complete hack whose pool of melodies ran completely dry around the 2000 year mark and, after realizing he couldn't sustain his career exclusively through badly disguised rehashes of his own old music sheets for much longer - as his "collaborative" work in Pirates of the Caribbean revealed to anyone with a working ear - reinvented his laureated self into an experimental slash commercial composer whose work, allegedly, is not about hooks, but moods and emotions. Yeah, right. See, there's more emotion contained in the sound of a road maintenance worker whistling some heartfelt tune while paving some street under the scorching summer sun than in the entirety of Zimmer's body of work over the last 20 years, including Sherlock Holmes - the only occasion where he actually seemed to care enough to provide some actual, kind of memorable melody work to accompany the rythm, harmony and textures -. The worst part of it is how his schlockness has infected the whole world of big budget moviemaking like a virus, to the point where producers and directors get to hire actually good composers, like Elfman or Giacchino, only to end up instructing and imposing them to suppress their natural artistic tendencies and end up delivering a post-2000-zimmeresque dud way below their true and tested talents, of which the recent disappointment that was the music soundtrack for The Batman - a wildly overrated effort in every other cinematic sense, on the other hand, so no surprises here - serves as a perfect, paradigmatic example. If you're still reading, know that not everything is lost yet, as good composers and good music haven't been entirely vanished; they're just pushed to the gutter and harder to spot, that's all. Just try to give a listen to the wonderful soundtrack that Austin Wintory, one of the most promising younger composers I've come across in a long time, created a few years ago for the Assassin's Creed: Syndicate video game - skip the standard album order and go for "Danza Alla Daggers" first for a proper hook that will accompany you through the whole listening experience -. There's still quality, talent and an artistic penchant for true greatness to be found out there, it's just that it's no longer sitting in the front row at plain sight as it used to be, which is the tragic part. Fortunately, we got the Great Library of Alexandria that is the Internet to make up for that - if only it was smarter in terms of always understanding exactly what you're looking for all of the time, but, hey, I guess you can't have it all.

[@nickbrodziak611]

It is Truly beautiful ans touching. The best years this country ever had

[@dutamulia]

@@oscarjimenezgarrido7591 Thank you

[@tonyslome9792]

I had the pleasure of playing this with the Blackpool Symphony Orchestra in 2019

[@ericwilliams295]

Had not seen this movie in decades. I played it back one day on a DVD recording a friend had lent me. SMACK!!! Right upside my head. It all came RUSHING BACK, like an avalanche. Sitting at the Radio City Music Hall cinema with both of my parents as a six year old boy. How I felt so safe, and secure, and yet engulfed with the BIG SCREEN and BIG SOUND of a 'downtown' REAL movie theatre. The thunder of the hoofs of the horses pulling that stage coach. Everything in that movie was big. My dad telling me that there were Black Cowboys back in the day who were Freemen, as well. But, that image of a big screen vista of the so-called 'Old West' so ensconced in the consciousness of American folk of all stripes. The first ten minutes of this movie brought it all back. Thanks to whoever placed this soundtrack here. This is truly awesome.

[@robertredmond8359]

The Big Country and Lawrence of Arabia are the two cinematic masterpieces which, if you are lucky enough to experience in a theatre, have the ability to completely remove you from the world and transport you to a different time and place. All the 'low tech" stuff that allows the true artistry to show through.

[@richardolexsak96]

great movies have to be seen in theaters. you're right. no distractions in a theatre.

[@d.e.b.b5788]

Home theater is now availabe to the masses. In 2004, I purchased a svga projector for $1500. Just mounted it on the ceiling, and projected it onto a white wall (after I took a picture down). Hooked the dvd player to my stereo, stuck in a reverb gadget from Radio Shack, and viola! Instant theater. Once you have a good movie playing, you won't even notice that it's not HD. I promise. Those old projectors are available now for less than $400. Stop putting off buying one just because you can't afford HD. A ten foot screen on any white wall will make you feel like your in one of the old big movie theaters.

[@scribe56]

Saw it on regular network TV station about six months ago. Wow. Music, location, and the actors -- Peck, Jean Simmons, etc. Good story. I get a thrill hearing the music.

[@nicholasdavies6264]

Eric Williams Su bloody perb piece of music and the movie was a classic!

[@Grogster2007]

Fantastic....... Reminds me of being a youngster watching these westerns with by dad and bothers....you can almost smell the prairie

[@lancechamplain]

Indeed

[@MsSoundguy]

Grogster2007 And the popcorn.

[@Milesco]

+Grogster2007 : Hope your dad didn't "bother" you too much! ;-)

[@janschacher3874]

Grogster2007 und

[@dianechavez3394]

I sat endlessly and enjoyed all the TV westerns with my wonderful Grandfather Manuel from Santa Rita New Mexico! I was in love with the Westerns! The Rifleman was one of them and that theme song was out of this world! Tombstone lives up to the old westerns!

[@765kvline]

The Greatest, most effectively lyrically landscaped western movie music ever written!

[@davidweber1320]

The quintessential western music theme. As exciting and rugged as the old west combined with great acting and the sprawling panorama of the frontier. A riveting and haunting score.

[@Milesco]

+david weber : You said it, Dave!

[@TheCrackerMan21]

Walt, it you weren't a guy, I'd kiss you. You've nailed this soundtrack perfectly. The composer, Jerome Morross was snubbed by the Oscars and lost out to Dimitri Tiomkin's forgettable score for 'The Old Man and the Sea'. Mr. Morooss seemed to suffer from this loss (I did a paper on him for college), and it's a crying shame this work isn't appreciated more for what it is: it defines a genre with such impact that words cannot describe it. I swear if it were possible, it could wake the dead!

[@scottmiller6495]

I can't agree with you more! It killed him and he needs to recognized even now for this Superb Score and his composing Wagon Train as Well Period!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@deacondavis5098]

I agree 100%. This score was sinfully snubbed. It without doubt deserves recognition!!!!

[@williambrandt9254]

Oh that’s interesting about Jerome. As far as the quality of his music people are still listening to this 60 years later. Stephen Bogart for a while used to have a wonderful Internet series called the icons radio. He interviewed many classic movie stars or their family members. He interviewed Catherine Wyler, William Wyler‘s daughter, and a Director and producer in her own right. She was of the opinion that the music score in this movie was a bit overpowering and I think she is probably right. It’s supposed to complement the scenes and not draw attention away from them. That being said he wrote beautiful music. The fact that people still listen to this today and not the music score from the old man and the sea tells you something about the stupid Oscars and why I haven’t watch them for years

[@scottmiller6495]

@@williambrandt9254 I don't agree with that lady's interpretation of Jerome Moross,s score of Big Country! It is very overpowering but it draws your interest into the picture not take you away from it! That's an untrue statement and the three reasons this film was Superb were: The Acting, the Scenery and the Music PERIOD!!!!!

[@williambrandt9254]

@@scottmiller6495 I'm just telling you what Katherin Wyler, daughter of the director William Wyler, thought. YMMV

[@TheRepty818]

One if the greatest forgotten western themes. it's so amazing. Thank God Disney still uses it at Frontier land.

[@Milesco]

+TheRepty818 : Forgotten, indeed! Funny you should mention Frontierland. Back in 1990 I saw the Wild West Stunt Show at Knott’s Berry Farm, and they played this tune before the show while the audience was filtering in. I really liked it - it sounded “quintessentially western”, as david weber [elsewhere in this comment section] said. It sounded vaguely familiar, although I couldn’t recall having heard it before. I wonder if that’s where I previously heard it - Frontierland at Disneyland? (I had gone there a couple times in the ’70s as a kid.) Anyway, this “mystery tune” stayed with me for years after that. I didn’t know the name of it, and it never got played on the radio, so I gave up hope of ever being able to hear it again. For all I knew, it wasn't even a real track that a person could buy - it may have been just some nameless, stock “western-sounding” background music for commercial purposes. Eventually, over time, I even forgot how the melody went, which _really_ destroyed my chances of ever finding it again. :-( Then one day, several years later, and about 18-20 years after I first heard it at Knott’s Berry Farm, the melody unexpectedly popped back into my head while I was taking a shower. At that point, I couldn't even be sure if this was the tune I had been looking for for years, or if it was just a new melody that my brain created out of pure imagination. Then in 2011, I attended a 4th of July concert. The orchestra started playing the rousing fanfare intro, which I didn’t recognize, but it sure sounded Western. That got me thinking again about that long-lost melody from over two decades earlier, that I was sure I’d never hear again. Imagine my amazement when the fanfare ended and the main melody of this composition started playing. Oh my God! This is it!!! And it sounded EXACTLY as I remembered it! My recovered memory turned out to be right on target, note for note. Best of all, I had the concert program, so after 21 years, I finally knew the name of the composition. From then on, I could play it any time I wanted. That was an incredible evening.

[@snidely261]

This is the best Western theme song ever ,you can feel the music and I love it ..

[@angel1962ize]

jerome moross, try the valley of gwangi

[@keithcloyd6097]

Certainly one of my favorite western scores alone with High Noon, & Magnificent 7.

[@phillipwalker6517]

Magnificent seven was pretty good too.

[@scottmiller6495]

Yes it was. Certainly worthy of an Academy award which it unfortunately never got!!!!!

[@SOTONTEE]

Gregory Peck was a great actor and this was a good western.Thanks.

[@empressjudi5736]

Memories of you Dad & watching some long long western films with you. Miss you dearly Dad 💜🙏🏾🕯💫

[@ratkojovanovic2272]

Yes amen i to remember those precious moments watching TV with my loving dad now in heaven

[@brit1066]

This is one of two movies that qualify for the best movies ever made. The story is classic, the setting is marvelous, the acting is superb from a superb cast and the music is, well words fail me. No the music is thrilling and fits the time and the whole tenor of the movie. I remember seeing this movie when it first came out with my best friend, we went to see it primarily because we were both in love with Jean Simmons. But we were both enthralled and captivated by the whole experience. On the way out of the ice a we met one of our school masters on his way in, he was a young man and he told us he also came to see Jean Simmons

[@nessieg23]

+Keith Grove with you there, amazing film, Peck brilliant and the fight scene with him and Heston done in complete silence - wonderful.

[@Milesco]

+Keith Grove : Jean Simmons was also excellent as the bass player for KISS. ;-)

[@skat1140]

+Keith Grove It's definitely a _great_ movie. (And, it's amazing Heston took on a role that is auxiliary and unflattering; kudos to him.) Not sure it's the "best." Not sure it can knock The Good, The Bad, The Ugly off its almost insurmountably high pedestal. Peck's insistence that _no one_ see him try out the horse nor know he's tried out the horse, that he not get in a fight (when he's actually a great fighter), borders on autistic. By being so self-abnegating, he's not following a greater moral code, he's merely following his own neurotic code that calls all the more attention to himself just as he's supposedly trying to deflect attention. Also, the ending is a little too pat and unrealistic (for me); the two heads of rival families duel it out rather than let there minions take the risks for them. C'mon. That only happened in King Arthur's time, because King Arthur is fictional. But, not gonna get in an argument with you. I can tell you've had a few drinks. (No, wait, that's me.)

[@harryoconnor3550]

What's the other film?

[@brit1066]

+Hazza O The Lion in Winter, O'Toole was beyond genius in the part of Henry II, he goes from affable clown to psychotic lunacy in a heart beat and back again, truly a chilling performance. Katherine Hepburn out Lady Macbethed, Lady Macbeth and the two together were!!!!! well words are not enough. Anthony Hopkins as Richard I, wow you can see the beginings of Hannibal Lecter there. The music in my humble opinion is even better than the Big Country, it was written by John Barry who you will remember wrote the great James Bond music. Yes a fantastic movie, a movie of shock and awe but in the 12th century.

[@tonibarber6404]

Listening to this fantastical theme gives my goose bumps more goose bumps.

[@lbroderick783]

A beautiful movie with a great soundtrack! I loved watching Jean Simmons and Gregory Peck together. Burl Ives was awesome in this movie, too.

[@marcoperez6952]

Totally consumate actors on this film. What a great Western masterpiece. But the camera work and this theme made the movie what it was.

[@scottmiller6495]

@@marcoperez6952 It should have won Best Picture of 1958 along with atleast 3 other oscars, it was much better than that awful overrated Gigi by a mile!!!!!

[@kew4612]

Even as a kid and today when I watch this film I love the way that the character of Gregory Peck (Jim) bucks the trend of the rough tough cowboy and does not have to prove himself to any one because he knows his own strengths and weakness. Peck was perfect for this role. Burl Ives - I told you I'd kill yer boy. love it !!!

[@flashman7612]

Brilliant film and great cast, especially Burl Ives.....

[@kennethmarshall306]

Flashman His despicable son was also brilliantly played

[@redskindan78]

Spectacular music, a perfect fit for one of the greatest westerns. This theme is repeated in so many disguises, so many variations, so many combinations of instrument.

[@kennybunkport4429]

One of the best fight scenes in cinema history between Gregory Peck and Charlton Heston. What a great movie!

[@thefurrybastard1964]

+Kenny Bunkport The duel between Gregory Peck's character and Chuck Connors' character was excelently written and played out too.

[@tuckyuk]

real actors :-)

[@craiggerrard5117]

It's a great film and the music complements it perfectly.

[@edchapman5801]

60 years ago - remember my dormitory at Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas back in the early '60's - one guy down the hall played this (the main theme) and then the next one, "the welcoming," over and over really loud but nobody complained - we all loved it - really goose bump music, especially in Texas.

[@halcyon289]

My grandfathers favourite movie . The music stirred him like nothing else .

[@mizar970]

What a great song!!! I remember when the group YES combined this song with a Richie Havens song, "NO OPPORTUNITY NECESSARY, NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED". Give it listen some time on KZbin.

[@dannymacgyver]

I can here because I am a yes fan was waiting to see someone comment about this

[@MrAlamo1957]

OH for a return to those days Great theme music, Great films and the stars who graced our screens.

[@andreasashes]

Loved this film, still do, loved the theme tune and loved the actors.

[@davkatjenn]

I can feel the buckboard while I'm listening to this masterpiece. It's gorgeous!

[@leslieseabaugh6914]

watching those horses running, the stagecoach wheels, the country, beautiful scenery fantastic music

[@Starz723]

One of the greatest film scores ever. Awesome.. I remember hearing this since I was a kid and never tire of it. It is one of the best, if not the best.

[@caroldavis6928]

Watching the movie again for the umpteenth time as I write this and the score gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. Absolute perfection - the canyon scene is magnificent.

[@brainsareus]

Gregory Peck...one of the most decent humans to have walked the planet,let alone Hollywood. what a piece of music...!!

[@KeldorDAntrell]

Decent in terms of on-screen persona. He seemed born to play men of integrity. How decent he was off-screen, I can't say.

[@alanplant2262]

Fantastic man great actor. Missed. Loved the yearling when I was a kid.

[@roddyteague6246]

Yes he was apparently. Robert Mitchum became good friends with him during the filming of Cape Fear & called the drinking trio of Peck, Mitchum & (Telly) Savalas the Good, the Bad & the Ugly!

[@ricardovelasco3976]

Maybe so, but he was also a Pacifist who refused to fight in World War 2. That damages his reputation.

[@roddyteague6246]

@@ricardovelasco3976 Not so. He crocked his back (during dancing lessons?!) & was declared unfit for military service. Typically the Studio tried to make out it was due to a rowing injury but Peck would have none of it.

[@theiceman6941]

This is truly one of the greatest movies ever. Great theme too of course.

[@kim22ratte]

Jerome Moross is one of the great film composers of all time. Also his score to “The Cardinal” shows his great ability and versatility as a composer!

[@TheGreenbison07]

Sensational music that never ceases to bring back memories of watching it with family at xmas as a kid

[@answerman1949]

The BEST western theme ever written.

[@Milesco]

Indeed it is.

[@mfpageprb]

Ditto.

[@quaker57]

Totally agree, it shows how good it is because there are some great Western movie tracks out there and this tops them all for me.

[@standingwave73]

Yes it was although "How The West Was Won" comes close.

[@scatcom6]

Definitely a top 5 for me.

[@kaywinfield8508]

Remember playing this with the school orchestra back in the 70s. The music teacher, Mr Sage introduced it to the long suffering parents as quite a risk to play something that people knew rather than something obscure. ... I can only be thankful that no one had camera phones back in the day... I doubt it sounded much like this. But it brings back wonderful memories... especially as parents no longer with alive. They of course thought it was great .. or at least they said so at the time. :)

[@kaywinfield8508]

Apologies for typo/ grammar re parents no longer with us / alive.

[@kaywinfield8508]

That teacher had to have made an impact ... remembering his name after 40 odd years... Ken Sage you were a legend

[@susantreece7176]

Loved this since I was a child. So emotional!

[@user-ye3ol2ku4l]

It's been a year since my uncle died, and every time I listen to this music, I remember my uncle's half-life. My uncle has been involved in tunnel construction related to railways, but every time I think that the route has become convenient thanks to his uncle, it is very difficult to do daily work under the "pioneering spirit". I'm proud of you.

[@matthewleblanc6024]

Charlton Heston was a star at this time, but took a lower billing just so he could work with the direction William Wyler. Wyler remembered Heston did this, and cast him as the lead in small movie later on: "Ben-Hur."

[@scottmiller6495]

Small Movie! Ben Hur was One of the greatest Films of all time 😁 Winning 11 Academy awards and Deserved it as Well Period!!!!!

[@aileenlightbody91]

@@scottmiller6495 lol I think Matthew was being tongue in cheek here!

[@michaeldj5]

Would love to listen to this driving from Dallas to my old home of Tucson, a road trip I love very dearly, through the great, wide open expanses of west Texas, the beautiful deserts of southern New Mexico, and finally into the most beautiful desert in the world, the incomparable Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona.

[@bikebrian]

How perfect!

[@Charles_Young]

This New England’s is jealous.

[@deborahives6318]

This is one fantastic piece of music and a very nostalgic feeling it brings with it too.... Just love it... x

[@shrimpy8188]

Incredible. I've had the good fortune to visit your great country 20 years ago and loved every square inch of what I saw. Would love the chance to go back. God bless America.

[@svebska]

Great sweeping majestic film and score

[@avalongha]

one of the best western movie themes.

[@alanawilkins9453]

One of my favourite films, Gregory Peck soooo handsome and Charlton Heston soooo rugged. The music soooo exhilarating. What more can I say😉

[@kingforaday8725]

I only had late Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons to enjoy watching westerns with my dad. He was working the rest of the time. What I would give to do it just one more time.

[@waybear7]

I was at a very impressionable age when I first heard this music...I was 9 years old! This haunting melody has stayed within my subconscience for 52 years, (lmao). So glad KZbin has it...I'm enjoying this composition once aagain, THANKS

[@wagbelt]

great piece of music from an epic film.!

[@dfaircloth30]

One of the best westerns and western songs ever

[@mr.richardl.visnickersr.5150]

I was fortunate to see this film when I was 14 years old and an impression that it made on me about the West with will never die and I'm 75 now

[@joeymakowski6340]

I’m 31 years old and I absolutely love westerns movies. Just watch this one for the first time. It’s a great movie.

[@DXNewington]

Legendary and wonderful theme.

[@Samjs3822]

This is a stinkin' awesome theme song for a western. Brings back all kinds of great memories.

[@johnfellows2867]

This was always one of the most popular requests on BBC'S Childrens Favourites radio programme in the late 50's / early 60's

[@nicolasfumarola8175]

fantastic music and film a classic of its time. could not believe it when i saw it when i was a kid. stayed with me through all the years. i now own it in dvd form and still find it as engaging as ever, brilliant.

[@TheRepty818]

This was one of the greatest forgotten westerns. This and unforgiven should be up there as some of the great revisionist westerns. It really takes the genre and turns it on it's head showing what truly makes a "real man".

[@solangedesantis5515]

I'd put up there "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance."

[@mrlaw711]

This is consdiered one of the 25 greatest films period...regardless of western or not. I agree about what you said. As much as I love the John Wayne films, and all the rest...this is my favorite because Peck's part as McCay is so cool.

[@mrlaw711]

That, too.@@solangedesantis5515

[@joewmail]

Never forgotten.

[@CaptainCritical]

If I had to encapsulate America in a piece of music, I'd choose this piece.

[@AqeousHumor]

I heard this magnificent piece on the radio eons ago, and only recently was able to identify it. I agree with you 100%

[@robertmartin9344]

So would I mate.

[@lukeleighton3872]

God bless America form GB.

[@wellnita12]

You are so right; it captures the Great American West perfectly.

[@stevebrennan1309]

I hear a lot of Aaron Copeland in it. I was 9 when I 1st heard it. I had an LP of great movie themes with this on it but lost it somewhere along the way. Thanks for putting it up.

[@tlcorrenti]

Wow one of my favorite movies and theme songs! These movies were so classy! I miss all these fine actors!

[@Paul-lm5gv]

*One of the greatest movie themes of all time but it's so much more poweful when we hear/see it in the opening minutes of 'The Big Country!'*

[@therealjoebloggs]

I remember having read once where this music was voted the best opening-title music of any Western. This music is one of the best opening-title pieces full stop.

[@emmaxkennedy]

so powerful, love how music can portray such majesty!

[@pdm2201]

My father who was born in 1901, was British, and preferred reading over films which he did not like much. However I recall he made it a point to go out and see this and I can only guess he read a review somewhere. My father loved this movie.

[@TheLadybug778]

One of the songs my Dad loved & I heard this in the 70's for the 1st time.

[@Kelvin130552]

The British Prog Band Yes used this tune on the opening track on their 1970 album ‘Time and a Word’.

[@warbird1786]

WOW!!! My dad had this on vinyl... I remember listening to this... Back when music denoted the movie... It was part of the movie... When movies were crafted, not thrown together

[@johnc2438]

...and you had real movie stars in the roles, each of whom was his or her own person, not politically correct, cookie-cutter drones.

[@juancarlosl4133]

No I can't believe it, Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, William Wyler...I really admire those three! and together, I did not know this movie...and what a theme! Thank you so much.

[@fossie32]

Yes! Thank you for the Opportunity to listen to this :)

[@skye1212]

I really like Jean Simmons. She seems very underrated to me. And Peck is great as always.

[@josephcope7637]

S Clark I agree with you wholeheartedly. I always thought Jean Simmons should've been awarded an Oscar for her work in ELMER GANTRY rather than Shirley Jones. She was superb in SPARTACUS, THE ROBE and FOOTSTEPS IN THE FOG also. I enjoyed her guest appearance as a magazine reporter in the original HAWAII FIVE-O series too.

[@Dabhach1]

That smile she gave Gregory Peck at the end of the movie....

[@catinhotlanta]

In my opinion, Jean Simmons was one of the great beauties of that era. FAbulous smile, beautiful eyes and on hell of a figure. Yes, she should have won for Spartacus and Elmer Gantry

[@aarongranda7825]

Classy beautiful girl.

[@antonytaylorgutierrez4676]

Joseph Cope100 % agree with you Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry is amazing, what a talented actor and Jean Simmons as well. Haven't seen footsteps in the fog though

[@snipper1ie]

I look at the IMDb birthday list each day. Today Sunday 14 June it listed the birthday of Burl Ives and lo and behold BBC2 had the Big Country on in the afternoon, No gardening was done today, as I sat and enjoyed this brilliant film for the umpteenth time.

[@scottmiller6495]

The Greatest Western Motion Picture of All Time Period!!!!!

[@johnbarnes7274]

I a, with your dad love this western and sound track god bless. Xxxx

[@CowboyMusicArt-pb8qu]

I am a nurse and i just got off working two weeks night shifts and trying to switch my sleeping schedule and sleep at night listening to this at 4 AM I feel less moody and more calm this is soothing like a hug thank you ❤

[@markswitzer2204]

This is certainly a Masterpiece !!!! I wish todays music sounded this good ! It is an ELITE PIECE that's enjoyed by many . Mark Switzer

[@Autostade67]

Though Jerome Moross is not a particularly well known composer outside of his time, he here offers what I consider to be the only contender to seriously go up against Elmer Bernstein's 'The Magnificent Seven' as the most iconic Western theme ever. Though I think Bernstein still easily takes it, this theme is a real jewel, and the entire soundtrack a classic that more people should hear. Check out the suite posted to get a taste!

[@McCherrill]

Totally agree.

[@maryannesteinberger7652]

@@McCherrill As do I.

[@retteech]

I will never forget the opening scene of The Big Country. This wonderful theme came on and I sat mesmerized throughout the entire film. This is one of the great music themes which endures to this day.

[@jerry3136]

This music still give me goose bumps after all these years, such great orchestration and dynamic energy, just a great great piece.

[@Gianniutah]

When a America was becoming great!! A bold soundtrack for bold people and country

[@williambrandt9254]

There’s lots of stories about the making of this movie. Gregory Peck, who was the producer, would not speak with Director William Wyler for 20 years over a fight with the opening scene. I was surprised to learn, watching an old series of wagon train on MeTV, that Jerome Moross, who wrote the movie score for this, I also wrote the theme for wagon train

[@scottmiller6495]

Yep Jerome Moross was a superb composer!!!!!

[@celestinolunasco8623]

Grandes y maravillosas película que hicieron historia en el mundo y más aún la música...una melodía para recordarlo siempre.

[@stewartclifton3068]

WOW! Memories come flooding back, thanks.

[@jamestregellas803]

These old theme tunes are simply timeless & fantastic to listen to again.

[@ronetteloverz]

Makes me want to go out and buy land....lots of it.

[@beckerqueiroz]

It's a... _big country!_ :)

[@johnprovince5304]

They ain't making it any more said Will Rogers

[@tabletalk33]

Ain't it the truth? :--)

[@Emotion22]

how can you not love this!!!! I'll tell ya..If yr a stranger…from outta town ;)

[@edenmoon8275]

My Dad loved Western movies (UK) we played this at his funeral

[@patrickaturner9579]

One of the best westerns every made. Saw it at age 9 in 1959 in Omaha. The music theme is maybe the best I have ever heard: inspirational for sure. All the actors did an excellent job. It had so many elements in any movie that are important: humor, danger, conflict, romance, you name it: it had it all. I play it every couple of years. My wife and daughter don't see what I see in it, though but that's why some people love this and others don't.

[@brit1066]

P A Turner Just one other ELEMENT, Betrayal. Sorry your folks don't like it, recently my son and his girlfriend were visiting and we all sat and watched it. We cheered AND cried at the end.