Originally released in 1969 on RCA Original Cast / General Music
Sonor Music Editions proudly presents the definitive reissue of Piero Piccioni’s often unheralded soundtrack to the 1969 bittersweet Italian comedy classic Amore Mio Aiutami (Help Me, My Love), starring two giants of Italian cinema, Monica Vitti and Alberto Sordi.
This soundtrack is a prime example of Piccioni’s immense talent as a composer of timeless, lushly orchestrated lounge music — a masterpiece of its era that rightfully deserves its place alongside his most cherished works from the same period, such as Colpo Rovente, Camille 2000, Appassionata, Il Dio Sotto La Pelle, and Travolti Da Un Insolito Destino Nell’Azzurro Mare D’Agosto (Swept Away). In recent years, it has found new life in the age of streaming, being extensively rediscovered and sampled within the hip-hop and lo-fi communities.
Maestro Piero Piccioni remains one of the brightest shining stars among Italian composers from the golden age of cinema, soundtracks, and library music. With a prolific career that includes more than 300 film scores, Piccioni began his journey in the world of cinema in Rome during the 1950s. At the time, he was practicing law but soon began composing for film, developing a particularly close working relationship with directors Francesco Rosi and Alberto Sordi.
Among his vast body of work—especially his collaborations with Sordi—Amore Mio Aiutami stands at the pinnacle of Piccioni’s oeuvre, showcasing his style of composition and production. The score moves seamlessly from sophisticated bossa and lounge pieces like “Amanda Strain,” “North Pole Penguin,” and the versions of “Bossa Per Alberto” (the latter not included on the original 1969 RCA Records KOLS 1007 release)—performed with a smaller jazz combo—to dreamy vocal pieces by Nora Orlandi and her choir, including “Miss Luna Special,” “Luna Amore E.… No,” and “Luna Non Sei Nessuna,” featuring British actress and dancer Gloria Paul. The highlight, however, perhaps remains the pastoral main theme, where romantic strings intertwine with Piccioni’s unmistakable sound and bittersweet melodies — forever linked to Italian Commedia all’italiana films, of which Amore Mio Aiutami is a prime example.
This revitalized reissue of Piero Piccioni’s Amore Mio Aiutami soundtrack has been carefully remastered by Jonathan Dakers, lacquer-cut by Jukka Sarapää at Timmion Cutting, and packaged in a thick cardboard tip-on sleeve with fully restored artwork. It also includes two versions of “Bossa Per Alberto” as bonus tracks.
