Composer Ennio Morricone was born today in Rome, Italy in 1928. He is one of the most widely acclaimed artists of the 20th century, having won an Oscar, multiple Grammys and dozens of international film and music awards. To American audiences he is most remembered for his work on Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood’s Spaghetti Western movies of the 1970s.
If Ennio Morricone were born 200 years earlier he probably would have competed with the Bachs and Mozarts of the day. His father was a musician and he taught Ennio to play the trumpet. By age six Ennio was writing his own music. At age 12 he entered a four-year program at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome. He completed the program in only six months.
Morricone would write over 100 classical pieces throughout his career while also being highly active in radio, television and film. His work in film crossed virtually every genre including horror, drama, comedy, crime and Western. Morricone’s music is etched in the minds of the millions that have watched “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”, “A Fistful of Dollars”, “For a Few Dollars More”, and “Once Upon a Time in the West”.
He was absolutely spectacular in two movies starring Robert De Niro, “Once Upon a Time in America” and the highly underrated “The Mission”. More recently, Morricone has been heard in the Quentin Tarantino movies “Kill Bill”, “Django Unchained” and the upcoming “The Hateful Eight”.
“The Ecstacy of Gold” from “The Good, the bad and the Ugly” 1967:
Metallica cover of “The Ecstacy of Gold” live in Copenhagen 2009:
“Sixty Seconds of What?” from “For a Few Dollars More” 1965:
“Death Rides a Horse Theme” from “Death Rides a Horse” 1967 and “Kill Bill” 2003:
“The Mission Main Theme” from “The Mission” 1986:
