Ennio Morricone has died

A true legend has left us. Composer Ennio Morricone has died at the age of 91 at a clinic in Rome, apparently, after he had a fall, but this has not yet been confirmed at the time of writing.

He was a composer, orchestrator, conductor, and former trumpet player. Morricone composed over 400 scores for cinema (over 70 award-winning films included in that)and television, as well as over 100 classical works.

His score to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) is considered one of the most influential soundtracks in history and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Morricone was born on November 10, 1928, in Rome, Italy. He was a musical prodigy, learning instruments and to read music as a young child, before enrolling in a conservatory aged 12. Morricone completed a four-year course in just six months, an went on to complete further diplomas by the time he was 18.

His beginnings in film composition were as early as 1954, when he worked as a ghostwriter, before he made his film writing debut in 1961 with Luciano Salce’s Il Federale (The Fascist).

From 1966 to 1980, he was a main member of Il Gruppo, one of the first experimental composers collectives, and in 1969 he co-founded Forum Music Village, a prestigious recording studio. From the 1970s, Morricone excelled in Hollywood, composing for prolific American directors such as Don Siegel, Mike Nichols, Brian De Palma, Barry Levinson, Oliver Stone, Warren Beatty, John Carpenter and Quentin Tarantino. In 1977, he composed the official theme for the 1978 FIFA World Cup.

His filmography includes over 70 award-winning films, including all Sergio Leone films (since A Fistful of Dollars), all Giuseppe Tornatore films (since Cinema Paradiso), The Battle of Algiers, Dario Argento’s Animal Trilogy, 1900, Exorcist II, Days of Heaven, several major films in French cinema, in particular the comedy trilogy La Cage aux Folles I, II, III and Le Professionnel, as well as The Thing, The Mission, The Untouchables, Mission to Mars, Bugsy, Disclosure, In the Line of Fire, Bulworth, Ripley’s Game and The Hateful Eight.

In 1971, he received a “Targa d’Oro” for worldwide sales of 22 million, and by 2016 Morricone had sold over 70 million records worldwide. In 2007, he received the Academy Honorary Award “for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music.” He has been nominated for a further six Oscars. In 2016, Morricone received his first competitive Academy Award for his score to Quentin Tarantino’s film The Hateful Eight, at the time becoming the oldest person ever to win a competitive Oscar. His other achievements include three Grammy Awards, three Golden Globes, six BAFTAs, ten David di Donatello, eleven Nastro d’Argento, two European Film Awards, the Golden Lion Honorary Award and the Polar Music Prize in 2010.

What is your favourite film score by Morricone?