The most popular compositions of ennio morricone. Ennio Morricone - best soundtracks

Ennio Morricone is an Italian composer, arranger and conductor, best known as a composer of music for film and television. Morricone has won numerous awards, including a Golden Globe, a Grammy and two Academy Awards, for his contribution to film music and, in particular, the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight.

Ennio Morricone was born in 1928 in Italy into a large family. His father, a professional trumpeter, became the first music teacher. At the age of 12, Ennio entered the State Roman Conservatory of Santa Cecilia, and studied there until 1954, receiving 3 diplomas in trumpet, instrumentation and composition classes. In parallel with his studies, the young genius played in the orchestra and wrote classical music.

In 1953, Morricone tried his hand at arranging in a modern style for radio, and then became the author of pop arrangements for the Italian public broadcaster. In the late 1950s, the composer began to write music for films, but he mainly works on orders from more popular colleagues, and his name most often does not fall into the credits. Everything changes when Morricone starts collaborating with his classmate, the author of the Spaghetti Western genre, the famous director Sergio Leone. Due to the limited budget during the filming of the "Dollar Trilogy", the maestro had to show imagination and use the sounds of shots and a whip, whistling, voices, a jew's harp and an electric guitar in the recording. This has become Morricone's trademark - a classic orchestra combined with an innovative approach to a variety of instruments.

After the success and high box office receipts of the Dollar Trilogy, other Italian directors began to collaborate with Morricone - Bernardo Bertolucci, Tinto Brass, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and the release of the trilogy in the American box office became the starting point of his career in Hollywood.

Morricone has developed a fruitful collaboration with the masters of cinema - he wrote music for Brian de Palma, Oliver Stone, Barry Levinson. Quentin Tarantino used Morricone's early work in almost every film he made, and the soundtrack written by the maestro especially for The Hateful Eight brought him a long-awaited Oscar. Morricone also wrote for Roman Polanski (the famous soundtrack to the film Frantic, stylized as soundtracks to Hitchcock's tapes), became the author of music for the scandalous "Lolita" by Adrian Lyne.

In addition to his work in cinema, Morricone wrote chamber music for the orchestra, and traveled all over the world as a conductor.

Since 1984, Metallica has been performing with a cover version of Ennio Morricone's "Ecstasy Of Gold" for the film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which was released in the US in 1966.

Ennio Morricone was born on November 10, 1928 in the family of professional jazz trumpeter Mario Morricone and housewife Libera Ridolfi, he was the eldest of 5 children. When Ennio was 9 years old, he entered the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome, where he studied for a total of 11 years, receiving 3 diplomas: in the class of trumpet in 1946, in the class of orchestra (fanfare) in 1952 and in the class of composition in 1953.

When Ennio was 16 years old, he took the place of the second trumpet in the Alberto Flamini ensemble, in which his father had previously played. Together with the ensemble, Ennio worked part-time by playing in nightclubs and hotels in Rome. A year later, Morricone got a job in the theater, where he worked for 1 year as a musician, and then for 3 years as a composer. In 1950, he began arranging songs by popular composers for radio. He worked on processing music for radio and concerts until 1960, and in 1960 Morricone began arranging music for television shows.

Ennio Morricone began composing film scores only in 1961, when he was already over 30. He began with Italian westerns, a genre with which his name is now strongly associated. Widespread fame came to him after working on the films of his former classmate, director Sergio Leone. The creative union of director and composer Leone/Morricone is often even compared to such famous duets as Eisenstein/Prokofiev, Hitchcock/Herrmann and Fellini/Rota. Later, Bernardo Bertolucci, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Dario Argento and many others wished to order the music of Morricone for their films.

Since 1964, Morricone has worked at the RCA record company, where he arranged hundreds of songs for celebrities such as Gianni Morandi, Mario Lanza, Miranda Martino and others.

The musical taste of Ennio Morricone is very difficult to accurately describe. His arrangements have always been very diverse, you can hear classical, jazz, Italian folklore, avant-garde, and even rock and roll in them. Morricone loves to use different instruments, from harmonicas and horns to electric guitars, but his signature style is the use of a female voice as an instrument, set off by rich orchestration.

Contrary to popular belief, Morricone created not only soundtracks, he also wrote chamber instrumental music, with which he even made a tour of Europe in 1985, personally conducting the orchestra at concerts.

Twice during his career, Ennio Morricone himself starred in films for which he wrote music, and in 1995 a whole documentary was shot about the maestro. Ennio Morricone is married with four children and lives in Rome. His son Andrea Morricone also writes music for films.
Biography Ennio Morricone (Ennio Morricone)

Ennio Morricone was born November 10, 1928 in Rome, Italy to a trumpeter. In 1938, he began studying trumpet at the St. Cecilia Conservatory, and in 1944, after attending a harmony course, he began studying composition.

In October 1946, Ennio Morricone graduated as a trumpeter. Soon, while continuing his studies at the conservatory, he began composing musical works, making arrangements for folk songs, and began writing music for radio, television and theater.

Since the mid-1950s, Morricone began composing and arranging music for films, although the credits indicated the names of more famous composers. Then he worked for Gianni Morandi, and a little later he arranged for Paul Anka.

In 1961, the film "Il Federale" was released, which is considered the first film on which the composer Ennio Morricone participated. In just three years from 1961 to 1964 he wrote music for 24 films! Truly, Morricone personifies an entire musical era in the United States.

In 1964, his collaboration with film directors Sergio Leone and Bernardo Bertolucci began. The huge success of A Fistful of Dollars directed by his classmate Leone was also a springboard for Ennio Morricone (although the composer went under the pseudonym Leo Nichols and later under the pseudonym Dan Savio). The famous director of famous westerns Sergio Leone (Sergio Leone), undoubtedly made the right choice of composer for his films. Ennio became no less famous than Clint Eastwood, who starred in the lead roles.

When creating the sound design of the film, he used unusual instruments - electric guitars, bells, pan's flute. It is not surprising that many famous directors soon began to invite the composer - for many years of his work he worked with Gillo Pontecorvo, Mauro Bolognini, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Mike Nichols, Roman Polansky, Brian De Palma, Pedro Almodovar. Ennio Morricone did not ignore such masters of directing as Lucio Fulci (Lucio Fulci) and Dario Argento (Dario Argento) - the best directors of horror films and thrillers!

In total, Ennio Morricone wrote music for almost 400 films. Among them, one can especially note such paintings as “The Good, the Bad, the Evil”, “Once Upon a Time in the Wild West”, “Once Upon a Time in America”, “Mission”, “The Untouchables”, “Birds Big and Small”, “Bugsy”, “ Allonzafan", "Professional", "New cinema 'Paradiso'", "Wolf", "Octopus". In 1995, the composer was awarded the Golden Lion of the Venice Festival for outstanding creative achievements.

He also composed a lot of chamber music. However, it was the film scores that made Morricone famous. Ennio Morricone never won an Oscar, but he came very close to it. It was nominated for Best Motion Picture Music in such films as The Untouchables (1987), Days of Heaven (1978) and Bugsy (1991). In 2000 he received the Golden Globe for the film Legend of the Pianist (LEGEND OF 1900), and in 2001 he received it again for the film Malena. And in 2001 he finally receives his well-deserved Oscar for the film Malena ".

Jean-Paul Belmondo played the role of a professional killer in the French thriller, whose main task of his life is the assassination of the president of one of the African republics. The picture fell just at the heyday of the era of French cinema, it seems that the boys of all countries looked at it to holes. After all, in addition to the most real exciting adventures (in the course of completing the task, the hero ends up in African penal servitude and, having escaped from there, decides to take revenge on the offenders), a love, lyrical motive runs through the entire film with a thin thread. "Professional" is a kind of French version of the legendary Bond. True, unlike the famous scout, the hero Belmondo, in addition to super abilities, still has quite human qualities. Such, for example, as love and some weaknesses, which will certainly make themselves felt at the climax of the story.

"Once Upon a Time in America", 1984

This is a story about a real American mafia, which originates in Sicily, because it was from there that the most desperate mafiosi moved one after another to the USA. And if after the release of The Godfather, all other films about the life of bandits and gangsters faded somewhat, then the film Once Upon a Time in America is quite capable of competing for leadership, not to mention the fact that one of the main roles was played by the inimitable Robert de Niro, who is especially good at playing the roles of hot Italians. There will be no chronological order here, moreover, an unprepared viewer can even get confused in time and the events accompanying it, but in reality everything is simple. Past and present are in close contact here: friends, who now look much more like vagabonds than notorious villains, once swore to give their lives for each other, and now, many years after their stormy youth, such an opportunity will finally be presented to them.

"The Untouchables", 1987

Robert De Niro, Kevin Costner, Sean Connery - three names that can speak for themselves. And again, in the center of events are American gangsters, led by Al Capone, whose role was played by Robert de Niro, the legend of the gangster world, which the brave policemen are fighting against. And if the film itself, perhaps, does not reach the title of a masterpiece, then the creators of the picture were quite able to attract the attention of the viewer by the fact that the basis of The Untouchables is a very real story. The fact is that Al Capone was famous in America not only for his cruelty, but also for his resourcefulness, because in the end, the famous gangster was imprisoned only as a tax evader.

"Legend of the pianist", 1998

A few years ago, somewhere in Europe, on the seashore, a man was found with a piano, who, indifferently examining the raging waves, performed some unusual melody. However, when clarifying the circumstances, it turned out that the mysterious musician is terminally ill, which is why he is not able to remember anything but musical works. This story could be a worthy continuation of Giuseppe Tornatore's film about a boy who spent his whole life on a giant liner, entertaining the audience by playing the piano. Danny Boodman T. D. Lemon 1900 never once went ashore, becoming a beautiful legend during his lifetime.

"Inglourious Basterds", 2009

Tarantino's films, before they even hit the screen, become classics. The same thing happened with his painting "Inglourious Bastards", which tells about the period of World War II in France. Despite the fact that the film won only one of the eight Oscars for which it was nominated, today it is recognized as one of the best works of cinema of the early twenty-first century. The Nazis with indescribable cruelty destroy the French of Jewish origin, and those, in turn, having formed an underground detachment, destroy the Nazis with no less sophistication. The invisible side of the war, as it is, a sea of ​​​​blood and philosophy understandable to everyone.

"Django Unchained", 2012

And Tarantino again. As the basis of his film, the American director took another picture that was released much earlier, this is the Italian western Django. The film promised to conquer millions even before its official release. This time, Tarantino deviated somewhat from his main trajectory, the blood in this picture is much less than in all the previous ones, but the unexpected turns are more than enough. In short, a classic of adventure cinema: miraculously escaping from cruel masters, the black slave Django falls into the hands of a German dentist who promises to free him, but for a certain favor...

Ennio Morricone is a famous composer, famous director and arranger from Italy. Most know him as the author of music tracks for films and television programs. The long-term, fruitful work of the musician was awarded the "Ordine al merito della Repubblica Italiana" award. Nine times he was nominated for the national film award "Ente David di Donatello" for musical compositions for films. Nominated three times by the Hollywood Press Association for the Golden Globe Award. He has many other awards and prizes.

The head of the family, Mario Morricone, was a jazz trumpeter, and Libera Ridolfi's mother was a housewife.

Ennio is the first-born in the family, later the parents decided to give birth to four more children.

Education

The profession of the father influenced the choice of occupation of the eldest son and at the age of 12 the boy enters the State Roman Conservatory of Santa Cecilia (Conservatorio statale di musica "Santa Cecilia"), where he is trained by the teacher Goffredo Petrassi. Studying there for eleven years, the young man completes three departments.

He receives diplomas in trumpet, orchestra and composition.

First works

At the age of 16, during the year, the young man plays in the musical group of Alberto Flamini (Alberto Flamini), replacing his father, who worked there before him. Musicians earn money by performing in Roman casinos, restaurants and other public places.

At the age of 17, a young man begins to work as a musician in one of them, a year later he becomes a theater composer there.

While studying at the conservatory since the 1950s. Ennio is trying to write his own musical works, and work is also beginning to adapt folk songs and songs of fashionable composers for radio and television shows. True, at first his name was not mentioned in the credits, where it was preferable to indicate more recognized composers.

At 33, Morricone began writing compositions for Italian westerns. The first motion picture in which Ennio was a full-fledged composer was The Fascist Leader (Il Federale, 1961). Within 3 years, 24 films were created together with Morricone.

Springboard to world fame

One day a man came to the composer's house and asked Ennio to select the music for his future picture. The appearance of the director seemed familiar to the owner of the house and he asked what school he studied at. It turned out that the guest had once attended elementary school with Ennio and his name was Sergio Leone.

Leone's films subsequently glorified the talented musician all over the world. His western “A Fistful of Dollars” (“Per un pugno di dollari”), starring Clint Eastwood, reached $3.5 million at the box office. The film featured then-unusual electric guitars, street bells and Pan's flute.

But in this film, Morricone's name was not in the credits, he took the pseudonym Leo Nichols (Leo Nichols), and later changed it to Dan Savio (Dan Savio).

Celebrity work

Throughout the rich creative career of the composer, the music of Ennio Morricone sounded not only in European, but also in Hollywood films. He has worked with directors:

1. Bernardo Bertolucci (Bernardo Bertolucci) in the film "Twentieth Century" ("Novecento", 1976);
2. Paolo Pasolini in Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodoma (1975);
3. Roman Polanski (Roman Polanski) in the film "Indomitable" ("Frantic", 1987);
4. Oliver Stone in U Turn (1997);
5. Damiano Damiani (Damiano Damiani) in the series "Octopus" ("La Piovra", 1984);
6. Quentin Tarantino in The Hateful Eight (2015) and others.

Since 1964, Ennio Morricone signed a contract to work with the RCA recording studio, where he worked with (Gianni Morandi), Mario Lanza (Mario Lanza), Miranda Martino (Miranda Martino) and other performers.

The best films with music by Morricone

• The list is rightfully headed by Sergio Leone's film A Fistful of Dollars, already mentioned above. This picture glorified Ennio as a composer all over the world. The film marked the beginning of a long-term collaboration between two former classmates.
• In 1966, Leone-Morricone's The Good, the Bad, the Ugly (Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo) was included in IMDb's list of the top five films.
• One of the most beautiful compositions of Morricone sounds in the film by Sergio Leone and Tonio Valerii (Tonino Valerii) “My name is Nobody” (“Il mio nome e Nessuno”, 1973)
• The chilling melody of Ennio Morricone made John Boorman's The Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) a box office hit in 1977.

• Musical accompaniment by Ennio Morricone from the film "Professionnel" (Le Professionnel, 1981) directed by Georges Lautner (Georges Lautner) brought fame and fame to the composer among the Soviet audience. For this film with the participation of Jean-Paul Belmondo (Jean-Paul Belmondo) Morricone was awarded the national film award César (César).
• In 1983, Leone's final film "Once Upon a Time in America" ​​(Once Upon a Time in America, 1984) features another Morricone track, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. But the composer got only the "Silver Ribbon" ("Nastro d'argento").
• The music of Ennio Morricone from the series "Octopus" became popular not only in the homeland of the Italian, but also in the Soviet Union. The confrontation between the Sicilian mafia and the Italian police has long held the attention of many fans of the series.

• In 2000, the composer was awarded an Oscar for his composition for Giuseppe Tornatore's painting The Legend of the Pianist (La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano, 1998).
• In 2001, Morricone was awarded an Oscar for the film Tornatore "Malena" ("Malena", 2000).

• In 2016, the composer received an Oscar for the musical accompaniment to Quentin Tarantino's film The Hateful Eight.

A family

In 1957, the musician married his wife Maria Travia (Maria Travia), to whom he did not tire of devoting music all his subsequent life.

The closest relatives of the musician are his wife and children. Senior Andrea (Andrea) continued the musical dynasty and composes music for films. The second son Marco (Marco) is in the organization for the protection of the rights of authors. Daughter Alessandra (Alessandra) studied at the medical university as a surgeon. The younger Giovanni works as a director at Universal.

• The master does not know the number of compositions he has written, he says that their number is approaching 500, and the number of films with his music has exceeded four hundred.
• In 1985, the composer went on tour in Europe as a conductor with a chamber instrumental music concert of his own composition.
• One of Morricone's old hobbies is chess. He had tournaments with Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov.
• The talented Italian writes not only music, but also books. In 1996, his work "Our Rome" ("RomaNostra"), published jointly with Augusto de Luca (AugustoDe Luca), was awarded the "City of Rome" award.

• A huge number of written compositions provokes some unscrupulous musicians to outright plagiarism. So, Alexey Shelygin used the motif from "Once Upon a Time in the Wild West" ("C'era una volta il West", 1968) in the cult series "Brigada" (2002), and in the series "Gangster Petersburg" (2000- 2007) captures the similarity of the musical theme from Georges Lautner's film "The Professional" ("Le Professionnel", 1981) with the works of Ennio Morricone.
• In November 2016, the composer will turn 88, but he looks great and feels great. Follows the daily routine and eats right. He gets up at 4 in the morning, does his exercises and starts work at 8 o'clock. He spends a lot of time outdoors and does not drink alcohol at all.
• The musician is very superstitious, afraid of the 17th, Fridays and purple. Once he refused an interview to a journalist dressed in a jacket of a color he did not like.
• The musical tastes of the composer are very diverse. He writes jazz music, sometimes avant-garde. Sometimes Ennio Morricone sees the best in rock and roll or in avant-garde music. He also has many classics.

• In 2004, a military drama film directed by Vladimir Khotinenko "72 meters" was released on Russian screens, telling about the death of a submarine. The music for the film was invited to write Morricone and he did not refuse. Prior to this, the composer wrote the music for Mikhail Kalatozov's film The Red Tent.

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On November 10, the legendary Italian composer celebrated his 86th birthday, having donated his music to more than 400 films! From the 1960s to the present day, Ennio has remained a true professional who has managed to conquer the whole world. Starting with uncomplicated musical themes for the westerns of his classmate Sergio Leone, now Morricone is the winner of the Oscar for outstanding achievements in cinema, 9-time winner of the Italian national film award David di Donatello for best film score, two-time winner of the Golden Globe Award ", 5-time BAFTA winner. "The Good, the Bad, the Ugly" (1966) dir. Sergio Leone
Spaghetti Western by Sergio Leone starring Clint Eastwood. The story follows three lost Confederate gold hunters during the American Civil War. The picture is included in the lists of the best westerns and the best films of all time. The film's theme song, stylized as a jackal's howl, is considered one of the most recognizable melodies in film history. The composer skillfully mixes acoustic (flute, trumpet, acoustic guitar), electronic instruments (electric guitar, organ) and vocals used as an instrument. "Days of Harvest" (1978) dir. Terrence Malick
The film is still called a visual masterpiece to this day. At the end of work on the tape, Malik retired from directing for 20 years. The picture tells about two lovers Bill and Abby, who came to the fertile lands of Texas in search of a better life. They pretend to be brother and sister, but when the farmer falls in love with Abby, the lovers decide to play a risky game with him. As you know, cooperation with the scrupulous Malik was a test for Morricone. Malik wanted the "Aquarium" from the "Carnival of the Animals" suite to serve as the starting point for the musical sequence. This is the song that plays in the opening credits. "Once Upon a Time in America" ​​(1984) dir. Sergio Leone
Italian Leone's successful experience in Hollywood turned into one of the best gangster films in the history of cinema - "Once Upon a Time in America" ​​with Robert De Niro in the title role. The story of the friendship and betrayal of several gangsters and bootleggers, who met in the early twentieth century in the Jewish quarter of New York and became rich during Prohibition in the United States, is shown through a whimsical interweaving of memories, dreams and opium dreams of the protagonist. The epicness of the picture was created by the sound series under the direction of Morricone himself. "The Untouchables" (1987) dir. Brian De Palma
Continuing to improve the crime drama genre with music, Morricone set to work on a film about the confrontation between a group of FBI special agents and the underground empire of gangster Al Capone in the 1930s in the United States. The film was created based on real events. "The Untouchables" is an exemplary gangster movie, for the soundtrack to which Morricone received his first British Academy Film Award. “New cinema “Paradiso”” (1988) dir. Giuseppe Tornatore
The film was the beginning of Morricone's long collaboration with the young and original Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore. This is a story about the happy days when Italian cinema did not yet know what the "crisis of Italian cinema" was. In the center of the picture divided as if into three parts is the Sicilian boy Salvatore. The picture was a real triumph for the director and composer, snatching an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA award, a Cesar, as well as a Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. "Malena" (2000) dir. Giuseppe Tornatore
Tornatore's new film about the difficult life of the girl Malena in a small Italian town was once again dubbed by Ennio Morricone. Malena is a beautiful widow, the obsession of men and the envy of women. Wives spread dirty gossip about her. Husbands follow her on the heels and dream about her. The main role here was played by Monica Bellucci and the aspiring Italian actor Giuseppe Sulfaro (who was 16 years old at the time of filming). The director took the story of the same name by screenwriter Luciano Vincenzoli as the basis for the script. The film received an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Score. "Inglourious Basterds" (2009) dir. Quentin Tarantino
The action of the picture, which starred Brad Pitt, Mike Myers, Eli Roth and Christoph Waltz, takes place during the Second World War. In German-occupied France, a group of Jewish American soldiers instill fear in the Nazis by brutally killing and scalping soldiers. The soundtrack consists of different genres of music, ranging from compositions characteristic of spaghetti westerns to R&B. It was the classical component of the soundtrack with genre western music that Tarantino entrusted to Morricone. "Django Unchained" (2012) dir. Quentin Tarantino
To shoot a real colorful western was Tarantino's old dream. After working in Inglourious Basterds, Quentin invited the composer Ennio Morricone to the chair, as he is a big fan of his music for Sergio Leone films. Tarantino made a story about bounty hunters. The German "Dentist" (Christoph Waltz) and the black slave Django (Jamie Foxx) trade by shooting the most dangerous criminals. However, Django intends to return his wife Brumgilda and for this he is ready to kill her master - an influential and dangerous landowner. As with Inglourious Basterds, the soundtrack is a mix of genres, with Morricone responsible for the western ballads.