In the annals of film score history, there will never be another like Ennio Morricone. Unless, of course, we’re looking at fellow Italian composers, like Nino Rota or Angelo Badalamenti (though he’s merely “of the descent”). In terms of creating a mood like no other, Morricone was one of the most prolific and inimitable. A true maestro of inextricably linking sound to visuals. His greatest example, of course, was contained within Sergio Leone’s 1966 spaghetti western, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly–among the most influential and innovative film scores ever created. Few pieces of music are so recognizable–whether the masses are aware of where it comes from or not. Case in point, a 1994 commercial for the Got Milk? campaign directed by Michael Bay in which “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” is cued in a showdown between a baby and her father as he deliberates on whether or not he should steal her milk for his cereal (because breast milk seemed to be all the rage in the mid-90s if we’re also going by that Friends episode).
The pervasive “Morricone effect” would reach all facets of Italian pop culture from Mina to Zucchero, in addition to hitting the ultimate “West” when Morricone eventually found his way to both Clint Eastwood for the Dollars Trilogy (foolishly, Eastwood would turn down the lead in Once Upon A Time in the West, featuring one of the best-selling film scores to date) and Quentin Tarantino starting in the 00s for Kill Bill, Django Unchained (though this was the film that caused at least some of the beef between the auteur and the composer) and The Hateful Eight (for which Morricone won an Oscar in 2016).
With formal training in classical composition and arrangement, Morricone started out playing the trumpet before eventually making his path in film by ghost writing compositions for already well-established musicians. Morricone’s natural gift was evident from his early youth, as he began composing at the age of six, at some point or other, in true Italian patriot form, basing one of his compositions off a poem by Leopardi. 1961 would mark the first movie that Morricone was officially credited to, aptly titled The Fascist.
To his early work, Morricone always remained openly indebted, commenting, “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.” Because an artist of the purest form can never truly forget their roots, forever returning to them. Later comedies such as Pedro Almodóvar’s Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (a better version of 365 Days, if you will) and Warren Beatty’s Bulworth maintained the sense of dramatic flair Morricone had become known for in the years leading up to his transition to increasingly intense fare, including Once Upon a Time in America, The Mission, The Untouchables, Time To Kill and Malèna (the oft memed, but not nearly watched enough film starring Monica Bellucci and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore).
A tried and true example of being born with a gift that could not be taught–of simply being touched by some form of divine talent–Morricone’s life in between composing was a simple one shared with his wife, Maria Travia, and four children (one of whom, Andrea Morricone, would become a composer in his own right). Despite the levels of fame he achieved, Morricone was, at his core, an Italian through and through, never considering leaving his homeland for the likes of Hollywood. Where, let’s be honest, the cibo ain’t shit. Just like Hans Zimmer ain’t in comparison to this colossus. Plus, Ennio would never stoop to teaching a MasterClass. Morricone’s death on July 6th at age ninety-one stemmed from injuries incurred during a fall (the kiss of death when one hits a certain demographic). That one can envision this entire scene happening to the soundtrack of something like “Chi Mai” speaks to the fact that every move he made was rife with the cinematic. It is, quite frankly, the nature of being an Italian, with all actions and conversations having the potential for high drama.
Beyond his reach in U.S. film, it was his origin country that Morricone affected the most. From Dario Argento to Pier Paolo Pasolini to Giuseppe Tornatore, there were few films in Italian cinema that the composer didn’t touch and/or help turn to gold. In this sense, Morricone is among the great titans that Italy’s film industry has lost. The likes of him not soon to be heard again. Save for in the legacy of his films.
