Once Upon a Time in the West

The leitmotifs used in Once Upon a Time aren't something that easily leave your memory.  Having already seen this film several years ago, and not since, I still knew exactly which theme was for which character and particularly the blending of them as in the duel scene at the end of the film.  Morricone seems to do this with several films he creates sound for, even without knowing who he is, people would, it seems, know his music.  (Good Bad and the Ugly).  Two scenes within the film catch my attention and they are almost opposite in their sound.  The opening scene creates a tension with the use of no music rather, as the Morricone reading states "exaggerated sounds - a buzzing fly, knuckles cracking, and so on - of the pre-title sequence form an intriguing musique concrete. Although it doesn't do it in a continuous rhythm. Instead we get snippets here and there, they only connect through the use of silence.  Empty space acts as the ties for stitching the sounds together.  In a sense, the three characters in the beginning now have their own leitmotifs like the characters post-title sequence.  One has the water drops, one the fly and the other cracking knuckles.  Not only can a viewer distinguish the characters by their physical attributes, but also the sounds surrounding them, which is continued throughout the film.
This stitching together of silence and sound occurs as well when the McBain family is shot, the story only progressing forward after moments of complete silence and then crescendos as the theme of Frank is introduced but as soon as it dies down, that is when an action occurs "the music decrescendos, ending on a funeral chime immediately followed by a gunshot" (230).
Another scene that sends chills down my spine due to the music is the duel between Harmonica and Frank. Throughout the film, we see the themes played for each character separately . However in this scene there is a blending of the two themes for the two characters that is incredible. As they circle each other you hear each theme blend together and one will overpower and then recede.  It is a direct representation of their battle for power, their battle to win the duel.  What is even more powerful is that the music reflects the outcome of the duel, Harmonicas theme takes prominence and as Frank lays dying, the harmonica is transferred to his mouth which signifies a complete transition.  It's easy to imagine it as a white wash sort of, as Frank dies, Harmonica's theme washes away Franks and encompasses him fully.