Ennio Morricone

I remember a few years ago when I discovered Ennio Morricone on television, in films of the sixties, seventies or even eighties. Maybe it was a bland movie, but its melody drew my attention. Morricone has confessed that his music always begins as groping, stealthy, it is that sustained note with which each song usually begins. When that opening chord is vibrating on your skin or vibrating inside, then its delicious melody appears, masterpieces, emotional even beyond the heart and soul. I remember his initial notes, always unmistakable; My attention, then, was in the film, wishing that his music would sound again accompanied by sentimental images. Some of these films are masterpieces, but without the music of Ennio they would not be remembered as now ... The mission, inseparable from Morricone, Once upon a time in America, Cinema Paradiso ... Ennio Morricone has been and he is, one of the greatest or the greatest composer of soundtracks in history. His appearance in the credits of those films was a reason for enthusiasm, the illusion of seeing or hearing something ... wonderful and exciting.

Andrés Cabanillas

The Dream of Granada Art World

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I remember a few years ago when I discovered Ennio Morricone on television, in films of the sixties, seventies or even eighties. Maybe it was a bland movie, but its melody drew my attention. Morricone has confessed that his music always begins as groping, stealthy, it is that sustained note with which each song usually begins. When that opening chord is vibrating on your skin or vibrating inside, then its delicious melody appears, masterpieces, emotional even beyond the heart and soul. I remember his initial notes, always unmistakable; My attention, then, was in the film, wishing that his music would sound again accompanied by sentimental images. Some of these films are masterpieces, but without the music of Ennio they would not be remembered as now ... The mission, inseparable from Morricone, Once upon a time in America, Cinema Paradiso ... Ennio Morricone has been and he is, one of the greatest or the greatest composer of soundtracks in history. His appearance in the credits of those films was a reason for enthusiasm, the illusion of seeing or hearing something ... wonderful and exciting.

Andrés Cabanillas

The Dream of Granada Art World

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BIOGRAPHY. FIRST YEARS

Ennio Morricone was the son of a trumpeter and housewife, the eldest of five brothers from a settled middle-class family who lived without hardship but also without luxury in the Trastevere neighborhood . His father, a musician, was decisive in his musical dedication: " I have raised you, my family, with this instrument. You will do the same with yours."

Morricone studied trumpet at the Conservatory, and also studied harmony, when one of his teachers recommended it to him due to his evident gifts. His progress surprised his teachers again, who advised him to study composition. "I started out as a trumpet player, first accompanying musicians, and sometimes, replacing my father during World War II!" Ennio Morricone, after the war, played in hotels before the American troops; Little by little he became known as an arranger: "He placed the original melody, that of the song, always at the center, with the idea that the arrangement would retain its autonomy. In this sense, he did not think only of the" clothing "for line of the singer or section in question, but in something independent that was at the same time complementary and could be superimposed on the lyrics when there was "

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1959 to 1966. Collaborations with Miranda Martino. "In that collection I proposed avant-garde solutions that had much criticism at the time" In 1961 Voce'e notte », from the album Just Say I Love Him, "it occurred to me to accompany his voice with the arpeggio and partly with the harmony of Beethoven's Moonlight, starting precisely from the idea of Nocturne. In the Napoli collection (1963) I decided to introduce a canon between the first and the second part of "'O sole mio", making the superposition possible: while the voice sings the chorus, the melody of the stanza played by the strings is perceived as background, as if it were a memory still present in memory of."

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In 1961, coinciding with the birth of his daughter, he composed his first film soundtrack. It was about the music for the film Il Federale , by Luciano Salce, with Ugo Tognazzi and a very young Stefania Sandrelli; It is about the mission of transferring a prominent humanist who will be elected the new ruler when the war ends ...

In 1964, he began his collaborations with Bernardo Bertolucci and Sergio Leone, who made him famous: Ennio Morricone composed the catchy tune of Por un fistful of dollars, which He reported an immense popularity and many new commissions, among others, from the historical and very personal film director Pier Paolo Pasolini, who collaborated with him in his trilogy of life, The Decameron, the tales of Canterbury and The Thousand and One Nights , especially this, beautiful and outstanding music in each of the stories that are related, and also the film director Gillo Pontecorvo, who filmed Queimada with Marlon Brando as the protagonist.

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At the same time, it was part of the Gruppo Internazionale d'Improvvisazione. Morricone was a musician accustomed to improvisation, and of great intuition, who allowed “history to speak” and fled from author divisms. "The music of a score does not belong to the composer but to the film. What prevails is the need of the story."

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Ennio Morricone collaborated with Miranda Martino, Morandi, Vianello, Paoli ... but also Modugno and many more. ªI got several hits "Il barattolo", "Il pullover" or "Io lavoro" ... But, probably, the song that had the most acceptance was "Ogni volta". We presented it at the San Remo in 1964 played by Paul Anka. He did not win, but he sold over a million copies. I did not use the rhythm section enough, I have never been very interested, I have always thought that a good arrangement is defined by the inputs of the instruments and the orchestral treatments, but for «Ogni volta» I decided to heed the advice of the record company , I wrote a very catchy rhythm section, and that was the result. "

He had another success with Mina in 1966, "Se telefonando". I would never have thought that I would become a famous composer of soundtracks for the cinema, but obviously, now I am very proud of everything I have achieved. "

In 1971, he accepted an American commission, specifically from the great Edward Dmytryk, for whom he composed the music for The Human Factor, but his relationship with the United States was never positive: the American lifestyle did not appeal to him at all, he refused to settle in Los Angeles and even more to learn English. Even so, he was nominated five times for the Oscar, the first in 1979 for Días del cielo with the remembered photograph of Nestor Almendros, Oscar winner, and Richard Gere, leading actor .

In 1984 he composed what many consider his best score: Once Upon a Time in America , that splendid mural in the history of America, which portrays the violence, misery and sadness of several generations, Robert de Niro, Elizabeth McGovern and a very young Jennifer Connelly , in a film in which the music of Ennio Morricone immortalizes innumerable scenes of sadness, nostalgia, or even euphoria, all the emotions accompanied by music, but always, that need to understand or relive the past, which is the thread of this remembered film, the last of his childhood friend Sergio Leone.

In 1986 he was nominated for the soundtrack of The Mission , a missionary story in 13th-century America, also starring Robert de Niro, in one of his best performances, especially his sacrificed personal penance until he met the natives, who surprisingly They give you an unforgettable lesson in humanity. Anthological themes sound that have made Morricone one of the most important creators of soundtracks in history, Gabriel's obóe, or the choral symphonic theme that you have here in the player of his music. This music, surprisingly, also failed to win the Oscar, a decision by members of the Hollywood Academy that Morricone still finds incomprehensible, which he finally recognized with a statuette in the 2007 edition in recognition of his immense career. An award that came when Morricone no longer needed it, but which he recognized, "I will finally keep it."

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