Originally written by Ennio Morricone in 1971, “Chi Mai” was reused in The Life and Times of David Lloyd George, a television series produced by BBC Wales in 1981. The song became a surprise hit, reaching number 2 in the UK single charts. This album by BBC Records contains “Chi Mai” and other music by Morricone. [More info on Discogs]
The typography uses Desdemona, an early Art Nouveau typeface that originated around 1886 at the Dickinson Type Foundery in Boston as Quaint Open and got a new lease of life in the 1960s under the name used by Karl Brendler’s foundry before 1906. It’s paired with Tom Carnase’s ITC Busorama (1970), a much younger design that blends in as a lighter, monolinear companion, echoing some of Desdemona’s eccentric shapes like the asymmetrical A, or the narrow M with the high center.
Morricone died today at the age of 91. R.I.P.