An extraordinary song for a true masterpiece of western cinema

It is one of the most beautiful songs in the history of cinema: composed 58 years ago by this legendary artist, it has moved millions of viewers 

ESPINOFF

By Mikel Zorrilla

June 3, 2026

Western cinema has left us a multitude of anthological films over the years, but there are a number of titles that make masterful use of it to transport the viewer fully to the Wild West. We already talked about an extraordinary song from 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' ('Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo') and today it's time to talk about the music that accompanies the arrival of Claudia Cardinale's character to the town where 'Until His Time Came' ('C'era una volta il West') takes place.

Jill's arrival in an American town is done without much fanfare, since no one is waiting for her and the only thing we see is a woman walking nervously on the platform while looking worriedly at a large clock. Then, the character of Cardinale enters the town and Sergio Leone decides to raise the camera to the sky while a sensational melody by Ennio Morricone plays that we will never forget.

The combination of Leone's mise-en-scène work with Morricone's magnificent music to serve as a representation of Jill's character is one of the many great moments of what we at Espinof consider the best western film of all time.

It has been 58 years since the premiere of the film and Jill's theme continues to maintain an unparalleled beauty that stands as one of the most beautiful pieces of music of all time. It is true that in 'Hasta que llegó su hora' itself has tremendous competition with the Harmonica theme, but the two songs play with totally different things.

"Music is indispensable for me"

Leone himself acknowledged that "music is indispensable to me," noting the following about the close bond that united him almost all his life with Morricone:

Ennio has been my friend since school and knows what I want, although sometimes I mistreat him a bit in the process. Music is indispensable because my films could practically be silent, the dialogues count relatively little, so the music emphasizes the actions and feelings more than the dialogues. In my last films, I have asked him to compose the music before the shooting, as if it were part of the script itself.

Although we all think of Morricone's music when we think of spaghetti westerns and that he has composed a huge number of mythical soundtracks over the years, the truth is that the Italian genius only won the Oscar once. And he had to wait until shortly before his death to get it, since it was given to him for his work in 'The Hateful Eight'.

Now I would have liked to tell you where you have 'Hasta que llegó su hora' available in streaming if you wanted to recover it, but it is currently not in the catalog of any platform in Spain. Another reason to keep in mind that the physical format is still indispensable for any lover of the seventh art.

Jill’s Theme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNujKHx6vOI