Ennio Morricone, one of the greatest composers of all time.
Paying our respects to a legendary film composer…
It was sad news this week with the death of Ennio Morricone and is rightly considered one of the world’s greatest film composers, a legend whose work has reached far beyond the scorched desert-scapes of Almeria (A Few Dollars More) and the tumultuous waters of Iguazu Falls (The Mission).
Much sought after by filmmakers the world over for his matchless versatility and productivity, Morricone’s innovative Soundworks and truly exhaustive range of musical styles have complemented practically every conceivable movie genre there is.
However, he has not solely restricted himself to the silver screen, having created some remarkable signature pieces for radio and theatre, together with extensive forays into both absolute and applied music.
Fondly referred to as il maestro by his peers, Morricone is just that: a master of his craft, a true virtuoso, effortlessly interweaving contrasting styles to produce some of the most sublime music of our day.
Ennio Morricone was born in Rome on 10 November 1928.
His long artistic career includes a wide range of composition genres, from absolute concert music to applied music, working as orchestrator, conductor and composer for theatre, radio and cinema.
In 1946, Ennio received his trumpet diploma and in 1954 he received his diploma in Composition at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia under the guidance of Goffredo Petrassi.
He wrote his first concert works at the end of the 1950s, then worked as an arranger for RAI (the Italian broadcasting company) and RCA-Italy.
He started his career as a film music composer in 1961 with the film Il Federale directed by Luciano Salce.
World fame followed through the Sergio Leone westerns:
A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966), Once Upon a Time in The West (1968) and A Fistful of Dynamite (1971).
In 1965, Morricone joined the improvisation group Nuova Consonanza. Since 1960, Morricone has scored over 450 films working with many Italian and international directors including;
Sergio Leone, Gillo Pontecorvo, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Bernardo Bertolucci, Giuliano Montaldo, Lina Wertmuller, Giuseppe Tornatore, Brian De Palma, Roman Polanski, Warren Beatty, Adrian Lyne, Oliver Stone, Margarethe Von Trotta, Henry Verneuil, Pedro Almodovar and Roland Joffè.
His most famous films (other than the Italian westerns) include The Battle of Algiers; Sacco and Vanzetti; Cinema Paradiso; The Legend of 1900, Malena; The Untouchables; Once Upon a Time in America; The Mission and U-Turn.
His absolute music production includes over 100 pieces composed from 1946 to the present day.
Titles include Concerto per Orchestra n.1 (1957); Frammenti di Eros (1985); Cantata per L’Europa (1988); UT, per tromba, archi e percussioni (1991); Ombra di lontana presenza (1997); Voci dal silenzio (2002); Sicilo ed altri frammenti (2007); Vuoto d’anima piena (2008).
In 2001, Ennio Morricone began a period of intense concert activity, conducting his film music and concert works for symphony orchestra and polyphonic choir in more than 100 concerts across Europe, Asia, the USA, Central and South America.
In the recording field, Morricone has received 27 gold discs, seven platinum discs, three Golden Plates and the Critica discografica award for the music of the film Il Prato.
The soundtrack from the film The Good, The Bad and The Ugly was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2009 while Morricone himself was awarded the prestigious Polar Music prize the following year.
His more recent works include scores for the television series Karol and The End of a Mystery, 72 Meters and Fateless.
In the 21st century, Morricone’s music has been reused countless times for television and in movies including Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill (2003), Death Proof (2007), Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Django Unchained (2012).
In 2007, Morricone received the Academy Honorary Award “for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music”.
By Pete Moore
