Ennio Morricone was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, trumpeter, and pianist who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classical works, Morricone is widely considered one of the most prolific and greatest film composers of all time. He has received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, three Grammy Awards, three Golden Globes, six BAFTAs, ten David di Donatello, eleven Nastro d'Argento, two European Film Awards, the Golden Lion Honorary Award, and the Polar Music Prize in 2010.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood as "the Good", Lee Van Cleef as "the Bad", and Eli Wallach as "the Ugly". Its screenplay was written by Age & Scarpelli, Luciano Vincenzoni, and Leone, based on a story by Vincenzoni and Leone. Director of photography Tonino Delli Colli was responsible for the film's sweeping widescreen cinematography, and Ennio Morricone composed the film's score, including its main theme. It was an Italian-led production with co-producers in Spain, West Germany, and the United States. Most of the filming took place in Spain.
Once Upon a Time in the West is a 1968 epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone, who co-wrote it with Sergio Donati based on a story by Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci and Leone. It stars Henry Fonda, cast against type as the villain, Charles Bronson as his nemesis, Jason Robards as a bandit and Claudia Cardinale as a newly widowed homesteader. The widescreen cinematography was by Tonino Delli Colli and the acclaimed film score was by Ennio Morricone.
For a Few Dollars More is a 1965 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone. It stars Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef as bounty hunters and Gian Maria Volonté as the primary villain. German actor Klaus Kinski plays a supporting role as a secondary villain. The film was an international co-production between Italy, West Germany, and Spain. The film was released in the United States in 1967, and is the second part of what is commonly known as the Dollars Trilogy.
Duck, You Sucker!, also known as A Fistful of Dynamite and Once Upon a Time ... the Revolution, is a 1971 epic Zapata Western film directed and co-written by Sergio Leone and starring Rod Steiger, James Coburn, and Romolo Valli.
Alessandro Alessandroni was an Italian musician and composer. He played multiple instruments, including the guitar, mandolin, mandolincello, sitar, accordion and piano, composed more than 40 film scores and countless library music, and was renowned for his whistling technique.
Hugo Mario Montenegro was an American orchestra leader and composer of film soundtracks. His best-known work is interpretations of the music from Spaghetti Westerns, especially his cover version of Ennio Morricone's main theme from the 1966 film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. He composed the score for the 1969 Western Charro!, which starred Elvis Presley.
Kill Bill Vol. 2 Original Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the second volume of the two-part Quentin Tarantino film, Kill Bill. First released on April 13, 2004, it reached #58 on the Billboard 200 and #2 on the Billboard soundtracks chart in the US. It also reached the ARIA Top 50 album charts in Australia. It was orchestrated by Tarantino's fellow filmmaker and personal friend Robert Rodriguez, as well as RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan.
Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone is a 2004 album of recordings from Morricone's various film scores by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Ennio Morricone. The album was recorded with the Roma Sinfonietta Orchestra and Gilda Buttà on piano. Morricone functioned as orchestrator, conductor, and producer. It was released as a standard compact disc on September 28, 2004 (093456), and a DualDisc using Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound on February 8, 2005 (093472). Ma also toured a suite of Morricone's music.
Once Upon a Time in the West: The Original Soundtrack Recording is a soundtrack composed by Ennio Morricone, from the 1968 western film of the same name directed by Sergio Leone, released in 1972. The film score sold about 10 million copies worldwide.
"Nella Fantasia" is a song sung in Italian based on the theme "Gabriel's Oboe" from the film The Mission (1986). With music by composer Ennio Morricone and lyrics by Chiara Ferraù, "Nella Fantasia" is popular among classical crossover singers, and was originally released in 1998 by Sarah Brightman. It has since been covered by many artists.
"The Ecstasy of Gold" is a musical composition by Ennio Morricone, part of his score for the 1966 Sergio Leone film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. It is played while Tuco is frantically searching a cemetery for the grave that holds $200,000 in gold coins. Sung by Edda Dell'Orso, it stands as one of the most well known of Morricone's themes and one of the most iconic pieces of cinematic score in history.
We All Love Ennio Morricone is a 2007 tribute album honoring noted film composer Ennio Morricone. It features a diverse lineup of artists including Andrea Bocelli, Metallica, Bruce Springsteen, Roger Waters, and Celine Dion. Also, industry giant Quincy Jones, an admirer of Morricone's work as a composer for many years, enlisted his longtime songwriting collaborators Alan and Marilyn Bergman to write the lyrics to "I Knew I Loved You", which Dion sang to Morricone's "Deborah's Theme" from Once Upon a Time in America. Bruce Springsteen won the Grammy Award Best Rock Instrumental Performance for his version of "Once Upon A Time In The West", beating out Metallica who was nominated for their cover of "The Ecstasy of Gold", also from this album. The album sold over 120,000 copies in Italy alone
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released in 1966 alongside the Western film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, directed by Sergio Leone. The score is composed by frequent Leone collaborator Ennio Morricone, whose distinctive original compositions, containing gunfire, whistling, and yodeling permeate the film. The main theme, resembling the howling of a coyote, is a two-note melody that is a frequent motif, and is used for the three main characters, with a different instrument used for each one: flute for Blondie, arghilofono (ocarina) for Angel Eyes, and human voices for Tuco.
Round Midnight is a soundtrack album by Herbie Hancock featuring music recorded for Bertrand Tavernier's film Round Midnight released in 1986 on Columbia Records. The album features performances by Hancock, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, bassist Ron Carter, drummer Tony Williams, vocalist Bobby McFerrin, tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon, bassist Pierre Michelot, drummer Billy Higgins, guitarist John McLaughlin, trumpeter/vocalist Chet Baker, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, vocalist Lonette McKee, and pianist Cedar Walton, most of whom appear in the film. It won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Score in 1986, beating Ennio Morricone's The Mission and Jerry Goldsmith's Hoosiers, among others. Additional music recorded during the making of the film was released under Dexter Gordon's name as The Other Side of Round Midnight (1986).
"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" is the theme to the 1966 film of the same name, which was directed by Sergio Leone. Included on the film soundtrack as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ", the instrumental piece was composed by Ennio Morricone, with Bruno Nicolai conducting the orchestra. A cover version by Hugo Montenegro in 1967 was a pop hit in both the US and the UK. It has since become one of the most iconic scores in film history.
Edda Dell'Orso is an Italian singer known for her collaboration with composer Ennio Morricone, for whom she provided wordless vocals to a large number of his film scores. Dell'Orso also provided vocals to scores of other Italian composers such as Bruno Nicolai, Piero Piccioni, Luis Bacalov and Roberto Pregadio. She was born in Genoa.
"Chi Mai" is a composition by Ennio Morricone written in 1971. It was first used in the film Maddalena (1971), later in the films Le Professionnel directed by Georges Lautner (1981), as well as in the television series An Englishman's Castle (1978). In 1981, it was used as the theme music for the BBC series The Life and Times of David Lloyd George and the BBC release of the theme reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart.
The Hateful Eight (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (stylized as Quentin Tarantino's The H8ful Eight) is the soundtrack album to Quentin Tarantino's motion picture The Hateful Eight. The soundtrack includes the first complete original score for a Tarantino film and is composed, orchestrated and conducted by Ennio Morricone. Morricone composed 50 minutes of original music for The Hateful Eight.
