Armando Trovajoli | |
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| Trovajoli in 1960 | |
| Born | 2 September 1917 Rome, Italy |
| Died | 28 February 2013 (aged 95) Rome, Italy |
| Alma mater | Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia |
| Occupations | Film composer, pianist |
| Spouse | |
| Signature | |
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Armando Trovajoli (also Trovaioli, 2 September 1917 – 28 February 2013) [1] was an Italian film composer and pianist with over 300 credits as composer and/or conductor, many of them jazz scores for exploitation films of the Commedia all'italiana genre. [2] He collaborated with Vittorio De Sica on a number of projects, including one segment of Boccaccio '70 . Trovajoli was also the author of several Italian musicals: among them, Rugantino and Aggiungi un posto a tavola . [3]
Trovajoli was the husband of actress Pier Angeli. He died in Rome at the age of 95 on 28 February 2013. [4]
After graduating from the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome (1948), Trovajoli was entrusted by RAI with the direction of a pop music orchestra, set with 12 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 1 flute, 1 oboe, 1 clarinet, 1 horn, harp, vibraphone, electric guitar, bass, drums and the piano (played by Trovajoli himself). [3] In 1952–53 he collaborated with Piero Piccioni in Eclipse, a weekly musical broadcast in which the orchestra is directed alternately by the two composers, in a style extremely refined and sophisticated, very different from the music of radio orchestras at that time. [3]
Together with Goffredo Petrassi, Trovajoli composed the score of Giuseppe De Santis' Bitter Rice (1949). In 1951, Trovajoli was invited by Dino De Laurentiis to write music for Anna , a film directed by Alberto Lattuada, particularly the song El Negro Zumbón , which became an international success. Inspired by tropical rhythms, in the film it was lip synced and danced by Silvana Mangano, with the actual vocal performance by Flo Sandon's. [3]
After that, Trovajoli wrote soundtracks for directors such as Dino Risi, Vittorio De Sica, Ettore Scola. He composed a total of over 300 scores, with his most popular song being "L'amore Dice Ciao" from the 1968 film The Libertine . [5]