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  4. Farewell Ennio Morricone.

  • Farewell Ennio Morricone.

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    The last, and for me the greatest film-melodist, has passed. Sadly, he outlived the time when melodic - or great leitmotivic - writing was mandatory in the top echelon of the profession. Devoid of this ability, one could still serve coffee in the studio.

    This insignificant farewell, and gratitude for the numerous masterpieces he bequeathed us, I offer as a post scriptum to my previous thread regarding the septic noise that has expropriated such fine music for the last how many decades.

    Addio Maestro!
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    A great loss indeed. His music was so unique, although seeped in tradition. 

    I used to be obsessed with his film scores and melodies, and oddly, his music besides early Hollywood film scores was my first love of orchestral music that initiated my entry into classical music.

    I was surprised by a few things I read in his obituary in the NY times. He never learnt to speak English; the Dollars trilogy was in Italian dialogue; and he hated his score "Fistful of dollars" saying that it was the worst film Leone made and the worst score he did! 

    Anand
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    Morricone's music on the whole is better known to us, Europeans, and film enthusiasts who do not limit themselves to Hollywood productions. Many are ignorant of the staggering amount of great scores by this man, where budgets were penurious (compared to those in L.A.), but inspiration bountiful!

    Many are under the impression that the first Leone western -Fistful of Dollars- was scored the way it was due to aesthetic considerations, but that is only a fraction of the truth. In reality, the budget for music was so low, that Morricone had to make do with the whips and the wolf-calls (as opposed to some other economical solution, due to Leone's preference for an unrelated song arrangement by the composer). By the second and third movies, the surprisingly successful musical canvas had been set. 
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    @Errikos said:

    Many are under the impression that the first Leone western -Fistful of Dollars- was scored the way it was due to aesthetic considerations, but that is only a fraction of the truth. In reality, the budget for music was so low, that Morricone had to make do with the whips and the wolf-calls (as opposed to some other economical solution, due to Leone's preference for an unrelated song arrangement by the composer). By the second and third movies, the surprisingly successful musical canvas had been set. 

    And his music for that genre came to an apex with Once Upon a Time in the West.  Who would have thought that a simple harmonica could be so haunting.  Did you know that Leone wanted Charles Bronson to play in the Fistful... series but the studio insisted on Clint Eastwood.

    When it comes to innovation in film scoring people think no further than Herrmann but, as Errik pointed out, Morricone could also conjure some magic with shoestring budgets.

    I really enjoyed his score for The Untouchables which I think it has to be one of my favorites.

    RIP  
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    @jasensmith said:

    When it comes to innovation in film scoring people think no further than Herrmann but, as Errik pointed out, Morricone could also conjure some magic with shoestring budgets.

    True! It would behove film-music aspirers to spend a few months researching European cinema (of yesteryears preferably), and discover really inspired music that isn't an orchestra making the biggest noise it possibly can. Don't forget fanboys, when Hans was asked to name his favourite composers, the first one he named was Morricone, and he went from there. He certainly didn't name any of his cheap imitators.
  • MackerM
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    What hasn't already been said about the phenomenal Maestro Morricone? "Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential film composers of all time."

    Reflecting on watching Leone's Dollar trilogy back in the day I'm still staggered by how far Morricone exalted, indeed transcended, the sparse action on screen yet - arguably - without upstaging it. What a feat! Can you imagine today's oh-so-precious Hollywood producers and directors permitting such a thing?

    Riposa in pace, Maestro.
  • PaulP Paul moved this topic from Orchestration & Composition on