Manuel De Sica was born on February 24, 1949 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. The
son of director Vittorio De Sica [1901-1974]. While attending grammar school at
the Institute of Nazareth in Rome, Manuel De Sica attended courses in theory at
the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia, where he studied with Bruno Maderna. With
some of his friends he formed the musical group ‘The Ancients’ which made a few
TV appearances and recorded two 45s .His first chamber compositions were published by Ricordi with the involvement of Renzo Rossellini, artistic director of the Symphony Orchestra of Monte Carlo. In 1968 he made his first soundtrack for the film “Amanti”, directed by his father Vittorio. Immediately afterwards he composed the musical score for the Ugo Tognazzi television series ‘FBI - Francesco Bertolazzi investigatore’.
At the same time he devoted himself to composing symphonic music and chamber music with harp sonatas for clarinet and other solo instruments.
In 1974 he directed a television movie, ‘Io e Dio’, which sees his father among the performers. His activity as a soundtrack composer continues with films directed by Dino Risi and his son Marco, Carlo Verdone, Enrico Oldoini, Charles Vanzinas and many others, including his brother Christian. In 1989 Manuel De Sica was awarded the Golden Globe Foreign Press for the soundtrack of “Ladri di saponette” directed by Maurizio Nichetti. In 1992 he won the Silver Ribbon for “Al lupo al lupo’ by Carlo Verdone, followed in 1996 by the David di Donatello Award for the soundtrack of ‘Celluloide’ by Carlo Lizzani.
His music has been performed by artists such as Salvatore Accardo, Enrico Dindo , Danilo Rossi, Floraleda Sacchi , Ensemble Wien Berlin , his songs have been interpreted by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald , Tony Bennett , Dee Dee Bridgewater.
De Sica scored two Euro-westerns: “They Call Him Veritas” (1972) with Mark Damon and the 2011 TV series ‘Undead Men’.
Today we celebrate Manuel De Sica’s 65th birthday.
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