Ennio Morricone

Film composer

Songs for a “Man with No Name”

“The Musical Sounds of Life”

Musical Solutions

Selected scores

Selected discography

Sources

Ennio Morricone is one of the most eclectic and prolific film composers of the twentieth century. He began composing scores for Italian westerns (often called “spaghetti westerns”) in the 1960s and over the course of his career, has created soundtracks for over 350 films and television productions released in English, Italian, and French. In addition to westerns, he has composed highly melodic scores for mystery thrillers, romantic dramas, comedies, and epics, including The Untouchables, La Cage aux Folles, The Mission, and Disclosure.

In an interview with Fred Karlin, author of Listening to Movies, Morricone discussed his humble beginnings, stating, “My first films were light comedies or costume movies that required simple musical scores that were easily created, a genre that I never completely abandoned even when I went on to much more important films with major directors.”

Songs for a “Man with No Name”

Yet these “simple musical scores” were inherently ingenious, immediately setting Morricone apart from his contemporaries. The compositions were marked by a blend of rock, jazz, folk, blues, and classical music and “found” sounds—birdcalls, gunshots, footsteps, the lash of a whip, rolling baby carriages, animal noises, and most notably, the human whistle. Writing for The Village Voice in 1986, Peter Watrous remarked, “[Morricone] has an acute sense for sound, and if it means using lower-class instruments—electric guitars, cheezo keyboards—to gain a specific effect, he’ll do it.” Morricone’s work with director Sergio Leone on the classic 1960s “man with no name” trilogy vaulted both Morricone and actor Clint Eastwood to instant cult stardom. In scores for A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Morricone mirrored the violence, irony, and campy humor pervading the classic Eastwood western.

Though westerns established Morricone as a “name” in the film-score business, his work with major directors such as Franco Zefferelli, Federico Fellini, Roman Polanski, and Roland Joffe put him on par with composers like John Williams, the man who dominated film music in the 1980s with memorable themes to Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Star Wars.

In the 1990s, roughly a quarter-century after he first attained prominence, moviegoers would be moved by Morricone’s dramatic swells in big-screen epics such as City of Joy and startled by his jagged strings in thrillers like Wolf. “Morricone, in short, is a postmodernist,” wrote Harlan Kennedy in a 1991 interview in American Film.

For the Record …

Born November 10, 1928, in Rome Italy. Education: Diplomas in trombone, orchestra direction, and composition, Santa Cecilia Conservatory; studied with Goffredo Petrassi.

Composed first film score, for The Fascist, 1961; scored “spaghetti westerns” of Sergio Leone, beginning mid-1960s; has composed more than 350 scores for music and television. Also composer of classical works, chamber music, a ballet, and music for theater, radio, and television. Contributor to periodicals, including Soundtrack!, Positif, Cinefantastique, and Cinema Papers.

Awards: Nominated for five Academy awards for best score; British Academy awards for Days of Heaven, 1979, Once upon a Time in America, 1984, The Mission, 1986, and The Untouchables, 1987; Golden Globe Award, 1986, for The Mission; Top Box Office Film Award from American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers for Wolf, 1995.

Addresses: Record company —Rhino Records, 10635 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025–4900.

“Every acoustic gewgaw is grist for his mill; every period of musical history may be ransacked for inspiration. No wonder that in the 1990s, at the peak of his form, he’s become the musical general in the Italian invasion of American cinema.” Still, Morricone is loath to define himself in any category of film composers. He said in American Film, “I can’t classify myself. Others must do it. Others, if they wish, can analyze my works.”

“The Musical Sounds of Life”

Born in Rome in 1928, Morricone started writing music at the age of six. He holds diplomas in composition, trombone, and orchestra direction from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, and he still plays trombone with a local music group called Nuova Consonaza. Along with his classical compositions, he has composed a ballet (Requiem for Destiny) but little other non-film music. His first full-length film composition was for Luciano Salce’s II federate (The Fascist) in 1961, though his fame was not established until Leone’s mid-1960s trilogy and 1968’s Once upon a Time in the West, perhaps Morricone’s best-known score.

Morricone has often described his music as being about the pain inside a character. He told American Film contributor Kennedy that the screams, whistles, bells, and whips used in the “man with no name” trilogy were essential because they underlined the quirks of the character played by Eastwood. “I do only what I think is correct,” he said. “A composer has the obligation to ’invent and capture’ noises, the musical sounds of life.”

Perhaps Morricone’s most famous single “invention” is the theme song for The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, which topped the American charts after it was borrowed and slightly altered by Hugo Montenegro—a slight that still irritates the composer. And though he writes almost exclusively for events onscreen, Morricone’s soundtracks have endured on their own when released separately, often topping album charts.

Musical Solutions

Director Leone once told Kennedy that in the beginning of their collaboration, he would invite Morricone to his house and have him work on a piano that was out of tune because “if a score is good, it must rise above a bad instrument.” For the most part, Morricone begins his work on a film score by consulting the director about problem spots in the film and suggesting musical solutions. Only after this collaboration takes place does Morricone begin his work with an orchestra. The Village Voice ’s Watrous explained of his signature style, “Where Morricone comments on the action, it’s wildly imaginative kitsch…. Even without the visuals, the soundtracks are perfectly formed, if small, bits of music reeking sleaze.” This down-and-dirty aspect of his work has attracted a devoted following among other musicians, including experimentalist John Zorn, who made his own “cover” versions of some of Morricone’s work in the 1980s.

Despite the suggestion that Morricone’s music needs no visual accompaniment, the composer told Listening to Movies author Karlin, “Actually, people are little concerned with the musical element if they are watching a film, except when the music is… particularly emphasized.” In fact, Morricone is usually brought in only after a film is completed. Because at this point it is effectively too late to alter the look of the film, some directors rely on the score to smooth over any weak points in the drama. Many films depend heavily on music to establish suspense, for example. Ultimately, the composer is confronted with having his score cut to fit precise moments of the film. (To counter this, Morricone has become active in the release of his works as they were initially conceived, the composer personally overseeing selection and arrangements.)

Musically enhanced cinematic moments, nonetheless, can carry a film. In a 1992 review of the movie Bugsy, an Entertainment Weekly reviewer stated, “Morricone achieves something here that [very few] even try: music that’s as integral to the movie’s very conception as the dialogue, camera work, and performances.” In American Film, Morricone supports this statement by insisting that music in a film add depth to the story and characters; it must “say all that the dialogue, images, effects, etc., cannot say.”

If Morricone has a weakness, it is his incredible productivity, which inevitably leads to the occasionally listless score; this was the critical consensus about his work on the generally forgettable films So Fine, Butterfly, and The Thing. Writing for Melody Maker, Frank Owen found the soundtrack to The Mission “just plain dull,” calling it a “post-dinner aid to digestion. The sonic equivalent of a… mint.”

Rising at five every morning, Morricone locks himself in his room to keep from becoming distracted by the hubbub of his Italian household. Alluding to his massive body of work, Kennedy asked the composer, who often publishes music under the pseudonym Loe Nichols or Nicola Piovanti, if he ever grows weary of scoring film after film. To this Morricone responded, “I’m not tired of writing music. It’s the only thing that I know how to do.”

Selected scores

Italian titles translated into English

The Fascist, 1961.

Crazy Desire, 1962.

The Little Nuns, 1963.

A Fistful of Dollars, 1964.

Before the Revolution, 1964.

Nightmare Castle, 1965.

Fist in his Pocket, 1965.

For a Few Dollars More, 1965.

The Hawks and the Sparrows, 1966.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, 1966.

The Battle of Algiers, 1966.

The Hills Run Red, 1966.

Navajo Joe, 1966.

Wake Up and Die, 1966.

The Witches, 1967.

The Girl and the General, 1967.

Death Rides a Horse, 1967.

The Big Gundown, 1967.

Dirty Heroes, 1968.

Come Play with Me, 1968.

A Fine Pair, 1968.

Once upon a Time in the West, 1968.

The Mercenary, 1968.

Dirty Angels, 1968.

Brief Season, 1969.

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, 1969.

Hornet’s Nest, 1970.

Two Mules for Sister Sara, 1970.

Lulu the Tool, 1971.

The Burglars, 1971.

Devil in the Brain, 1972.

Duck You Sucker, 1971.

Far West Story, 1972.

Hearts and Minds, 1973.

Revolver, 1973.

The Devil Is a Woman, 1974.

Night Caller, 1974.

A Thousand and One Nights, 1974.

Space 1999, 1974.

The End of the Game, 1975.

Salo—the 120 Days of Sodom, 1975.

The Sunday Woman, 1975.

1900, 1976.

The Inheritance, 1976.

Down the Ancient Stairs, 1976.

Exorcist II, 1977.

The Heretic, 1977.

Orca—Killer Whale, 1977.

La Cage aux Folles, 1978.

Days of Heaven, 1978.

Bloodline, 1979.

The Meadow, 1979.

The Thief, 1979.

Windows, 1979.

So Fine, 1980.

The Island, 1980.

So Fine, 1980.

The True Story of Camille, 1980.

The Professional, 1981.

The Thing, 1982.

Butterfly, 1983.

The Scarlet and the Black, 1983.

Order of Death (Cop Killer), 1983.

A Time to Die, 1983.

Once upon a Time in America, 1984.

The Seven, 1984.

The Trap, 1985.

Red Sonja, 1985.

Fred and Ginger, 1986.

Good Morning Babylon, 1986.

The Untouchables, 1987.

Frantic, 1987.

Cinema Paradiso, 1988.

Casualties of War, 1989.

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, 1989.

State of Grace, 1990.

Hamlet, 1990.

Voices of the Moon, 1990.

Money, 1991.

Bugsy, 1991.

City of Joy, 1992.

In the Line of Fire, 1993.

Wolf, 1994.

Disclosure, 1994.

A Pure Formality, 1995.

Selected discography

The Good, toe Bad, and the Ugly, EMI, 1966.

Once upon a Time in the West, RCA, 1968.

Sacco and Vanzetti, Omega, 1971.

Sahara, Intrada, 1983.

The Untouchables, A&M, 1987.

Hamlet, Virgin, 1990.

State of Grace, MCA, 1990.

Bugsy, Epic, 1991.

City of Joy, Epic, 1992.

In the Line of Fire, Epic, 1993.

Movie Music, Sony Music Italy, 1993.

Wolf, Sony, 1994.

Disclosure, Virgin, 1995.

A Fistful of Film Music: The Ennio Morricone Anthology, Rhino, 1995.

Film Music, Vol. 1, Virgin.

Film Music Vol. 2, Virgin.

Ennio Morricone: His Greatest Themes, Accord.

Legendary Italian Westerns, RCA.

Sources

Books

Karlin, Fred, Listening to Music, Schirmer, 1994.

Periodicals

American Film, February 1994.

Billboard, April 4, 1993.

Entertainment Weekly, February 7, 1992; July 21, 1995.

Film Review, September 1976.

Melody Maker, November 8, 1986.

Newsweek, July 2, 1993.

Village Voice, November 18, 1986.

—Sarah Messer