By Richie Unterberger
Ennio Morricone is probably the most famous film composer of the 20th century. He is also one of the most prolific composers working in any medium. No exact figure is available, but he's scored over 500 films over several decades, plus many dozens of classical works. While his film scores have been in almost every imaginable musical style (and for almost every imaginable kind of movie), he is most identified with the "spaghetti Western" style of soundtracks, which he pioneered when providing the musical backdrop for the films of director Sergio Leone. Morricone's palette is extraordinarily diverse, drawing from classical, jazz, pop, rock, electronic, avant-garde, and Italian music, among other styles. Esteemed by such important figures in modern music as John Zorn (not to mention contemporary directors like Martin Scorsese), he is increasingly placed among not just the finest soundtrack composers, but the most important contemporary composers of any sort.
Morricone began studying music at Rome's Conservatory of Santa Cecilia at the
age of 12. Urged to concentrate on composition by his instructors, he supported
himself by playing trumpet in jazz bands, and then worked for Italy's national radio network
after graduating from the conservatory. He didn't begin scoring films until the
early '60s, and didn't begin attracting international notice until he began
collaborating with Leone, starting with A Fistful of Dollars in the mid-'60s. (Morricone
had previously worked on other Italian Westerns with other directors.) The
spaghetti Westerns only comprised a phase of Morricone's career, but for many
his work in this field remains his best and most innovative. Morricone
amplified the film's plots and drama through ingenious use of diverse
arrangements and instrumentation. Jew's harps, dissonant harmonicas, dancing
piccolos, bombastic church organs, eerie whistling, thundering trumpets, oddly
sung gunfighter ballads, and ghostly vocal choruses -- all became trademarks of
the Morricone-Leone productions, then of the spaghetti Western genre as a
whole. The influence of rock & roll was felt in the low, ominous twanging
guitars, which reflected (intentionally or unintentionally) the sound of
contemporary recordings by the Ventures, Duane Eddy, the Shadows, and John
Barry. Morricone's most famous composition, the theme to The Good, The Bad and
The Ugly, made number two in the U.S. when it was covered by Hugo Montenegro.
Even while he was busy with collaborations with Leone, Morricone
found time for various other film projects, such as the agitprop classic Battle
of Algiers and Burn! By the '70s, Morricone was winding down his involvement
with both Leone and the spaghetti Western, working with numerous other directors
all over the world. Grand orchestration and memorable motifs were commonplace
in Morricone's work; Warren Beatty, for instance, once told the Los Angeles
Times that "there's nobody better than Ennio to create a haunting
theme." His scores also began to utilize more contemporary electronic
influences, with mixed results.
Age has not slowed Morricone in the least. In fact, the
1980s, '90s, and 2000s saw his commercial success and widespread recognition at
an all-time peak. He garnered Academy Award nominations for The Mission, The
Untouchables, Bugsy, and Malèna, and worked for such top directors as Pedro
Almodovar, Brian DePalma, Roman Polanski, Mike Nichols, Oliver Stone, and Barry
Levinson. Cinema Paradiso is probably the most renowned of his scores from that
period. In his late eighties, he made waves with his work on the 2015 Quentin
Tarantino western The Hateful Eight, which won him a Golden Globe and his first
Academy Award for Best Original Score. In all he’s won two Oscars, received
three Grammy Awards, three ‘Golden Globes’, six BAFTAs, ten ‘David di
Donatello’, eleven ‘Nastro d'Argento’, three ‘European Film Awards’, and one
‘American Film Institute Award’ to name a few.
With such an abundance of recordings, collecting Morricone
remains a daunting proposition. It's doubtful that anyone will collect all of
his soundtracks under one roof; after all, the composer himself doesn't even
remember how many films he's worked on. RCA's The Legendary Italian Westerns,
Virgin's two Film Music volumes, and Rhino's Anthology are useful collections,
and the DRG label.
MORRICONE, Ennio
(aka Emil Morik Leo Nichols Dan Savio)
[11/10/1928, Rome, Lazio, Italy - ] –
composer, conductor, orchestrator, arran ger, songwriter, musician (trumpet),
singer, married to Maria Travia (1956-
) father of Marco Morricone [1957-
], Alessandra
Morricone [1961- ], composer Andrea
Morricone [1964- ], producer,
director, assistant director, writer, actor Giovanni Morricone [1966- ].
Gunfight at Red Sands* - 1963 [as Dan/Leon Savio]
Song: “A Gringo
Like Me” sung by Dicky Jones
Song:
"Gringo" sung by Mikaela (Micaela Cuesta)
Bullets Don’t Argue* - 1964 [as Dan Savio/Emil Morik]
Song: “Lonesome
Billy” sung by Peter Tevis
Fistful of Dollars* – 1964 [as Dan Savio]
For a Few Dollars More* - 1965
A Pistol for Ringo* -1965
Song: “Angel
Eyes” sung by Maurizio Graf (Maurizio Attanasio)
The Return of Ringo* - 1965
Song: “Il ritorno
di Ringo”, “La mia gente” sung by Maurizio Graf (Maurizio Attanasio)
Song: “Il
silenzio” sung by ?
Song: “Mariachi
1”, “Mariachi 2” sung by ?
7 Guns for the Mac Gregors* - 1965
Song: “March of
the MacGregors” sung by I Cantori Moderni
The Big Gundown* - 1966
Song:
“Somewhere” sung by Cristy (Maria Brancucci)
Song: “Run, Man,
Run” sung by Cristy (Maria Brancucci) & I Cantori Moderni
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly* - 1966
Song: “The Story
of a Soldier” sung by I Cantori Moderni
The Hellbenders* - 1966 [as Leo Nichols]
The Hills Run Red* – 1966
Song: “Un fiume
di dollari” sung by Gianni Spangulo
Song: “Home To My
Love” sung by Gino (Gianni Spiachetti)
Fort
Yuma Gold* - 1966 (co)
Song: “Don’t Cry
Cowboy” sung by ?
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly* - 1966
Song: “Story of a
Soldier” sung by I Cantori Moderni
The Hellbenders – 1966 [as Leo Nichols]
The Hills Run Red* - 1966 [as Leo Nichols]
Song: “Un fiume
di dollari” sung by Gianni Spagnulo
Song: “Home to My
Love” sung by Gino (Gianni Spiachetti)
Navajo Joe – 1966 [as Leo Nichols]
Song: “Navajo
Joe” sung by Gianni Spagnolo and I Cantori Moderni
Up the MacGregors! - 1966
Face to Face* - 1967
The Great Silence* - 1967
Guns for San
Sebastian* - 1967
And for a Roof a Sky Full of Stars* – 1968
Blood and Guns* – 1968
Song “Al Messico
che vorrei” sung by Cristy (Maria Brancucci)
Death Rides a Horse* – 1968
Song: “Death
Rides a Horse” sung by Raoul
The Mercenary* – 1968 (co)
Songs: “Bamba
vivace”, “Estasi”, “Il Mercenario”, “Fiesta”, “Liberta”, “Paco”, “Canto a mia
terra”, “Notte di Nozze”, “Riccioli” sung by I Cantori Moderni
Once Upon a Time in the West* - 1968
The 5-Man Army* – 1969
Companeros!* - 1970
Song: “Vamos a
matar companeros” sung by I Cantori Moderni
Drummer of Vengeance – 1971 (co) [as General Music of Rome archive music]
Duck You Sucker* - 1971
Long Live Your Death – 1971
Song: “Don’t Turn
the Other Cheek” sung by Lynn Redgrave
What Am I Doing in the Middle of the Revolution?* – 1971
My Name is Nobody* - 1972
The Return of Clint the Stranger – 1972 [archived score]
Sonny & Jed* 1972
Songs: “Sonny”,
“Sweet Susan” sung by I Cantori Moderni
They Call Me Providence*
- 1972
Another Try, Eh Providence?*
– 1973 (co)
Song “Ci risiamo,
vero Providenza?” sung by I Cantori
Moderni
The Genius* – 1975
Song: “Glory,
Glory, Glory” sung by Catherine Howe
Buddy Goes West – 1981*
Song: “Vaohanana
manitu” sung by Ferruccio Amendola
Ennio Morricone: Music for the Eyes – 1990
Colt (TV) – 1994
[TV series was never made]
Le facce di face a faccia – 20?? [archive music]
Dreams are My Focus - 2001
Breathless: The Story of the Trumpeter of a Fistful of
Dollars – 2007 (co) [archive music]
A History of Dollars – 2008 [archive music]
They Called Him Ringo – 2008 [archive music]
A Greek Western Tragedy – 2009 [archive music]
An Indian Named Joe – 2009 [archive music]
On Behalf of American Indians – 2009 [archive music]
Vengeance Rides a Horse – 2009 [archive music]
Giuliano Gemma ein mann der tat – 2012 [archive music]
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