Italian composer and conductor, considered one of the most influential composers in the 20th century. He has produced more than 100 classical works and has scored more than 500 films (comedies, historical dramas and thrillers), the most famous ones being "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", "A Fistful of Dollars", "Once Upon a Time in America", "The Mission", "The Untouchables", and "Cinema Paradiso".
Born in Rome, Morricone followed his father's footsteps, who was a jazz trumpeter, by learning the instrument as a child, also writing short compositions by the time he was 6. Later, he became passionate with composing classical pieces but in order to make a living, he began composing background music for radio drama and films.
In his early career, he composed music for "spaghetti" Westerns, directed by Sergio Leone, with whom they were old school classmates and friends. The work that won him most recognition at that time was the creative blend of music and innovative sound effects that he dared for the 1960s western movies: buzzing flies, sign creaking in the wind, or imposing lush strings. His creativity in all these movies was astonishing. With very little budget, Morricone used electric guitars and sound effects to punctuate the action on screen. According to director Edgar Wright, Morricone "could make an average movie into a must-see, a good movie into art, and a great movie into legend". "
"The Ecstasy of Gold" from the film "the Good, the Bad and the Ugly" was one of the composer's biggest hits and was later used in concert by the rock bands "Ramones" and "Metallica". Later in life, as western movies became less and less popular, he created some more emotional music. His score for the film "The Mission" was described as so emotional that rather than complementing the film, it overwhelmed it. "I am disturbed when people think about me as a specialist for Westerns," he once said. "They are only a relatively small percentage of the music I've written".
Morricone's work was also regarded as influential in the sense that he popularised classical compositions. In 2007, he was awarded an honorary Oscar. He died recently, but his compositions are still part of our lives.
