Ennio Morricone is a popular Italian composer, musician and conductor. He gained worldwide fame for writing movie soundtracks.
The works of Ennio Morricone have repeatedly accompanied cult American films. He was awarded prestigious awards. He was admired and inspired by millions of people around the planet.
Morricone's childhood and youth
Ennio Morricone was born on November 10, 1928 in sunny Rome. The mother of the future star was a housewife, and her father was a musician. The head of the family served as a jazz trumpeter. Music was often played in Morricone's house.
The boy was the fifth child in the family. The creative atmosphere contributed to the fact that Ennio could not imagine himself without music. His father motivated him to his first musical experiments.
At the age of 12, Ennio became a student at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome. Goffredo Petrassi himself was his mentor. He studied at the Morricone Conservatory for 11 years. He was educated in three areas. Ennio managed to combine his studies with a part-time job.
At 16, Morricone became part of the popular Alberto Flamini ensemble. Interestingly, his father was once in the ensemble. Together with Alberto Flamini, Ennio performed in casinos, bars and restaurants. At the age of 17, the guy showed himself as a theater actor. A year later, he applied his natural talent as a composer.
Ennio wrote musical compositions while still studying at the conservatory, composing arrangements of folk melodies for television and radio. Then Morricone was still a completely unknown composer, because his name was not indicated in the credits.
Creative way
In one of his interviews, Ennio said that the secret of a successful composition is to work with the melody, not the structure of the work. Morricone created music not at the instrument, but at the desk.
First, the composer thought about the concept, and then described it with notes. Ennio was inspired by calmness and silence. He paid considerable attention to work with an emerging idea. Almost always brought it to perfection.
Soon the creation of arrangements grew into the main brainchild of Morricone. In parallel with the creation of the first musical compositions, Ennio studied at the conservatory.
In the early 1960s, the young Morricone wrote soundtracks for Italian westerns. This allowed him to make useful acquaintances. Ennio gradually merged into the world of cinema and art.
He paid attention to cinema, realizing himself as an author. Morricone managed to work with Gianni Morandi. In addition, he composed songs for the films of Paul Anka.
His debut works: the film "Death of a Friend" (1959) and "Fascist Leader" (1961).
The success of Ennio Morricone
Morricone also gained genuine success in collaboration with former classmate Sergio Leone, who made the movie A Fistful of Dollars.
Ennio worked on the film's sound score. He paid considerable attention to the sound of non-trivial instruments. In the song that sounded in the movie, bells, an electric guitar and Pan's flute are clearly audible. In the credits of the movie, Morricone is listed under the creative pseudonym Leo Nichols.
After that, Ennio Morricone worked on historical films directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. He gained popularity as an author who creates soulful melodies. Then collaboration began with Dario Argento and other directors. The brightest representatives of cinematography drew attention to the composer.
In the mid-1960s, the composer began work at the RCA recording studio. Now Ennio was working on arranging songs for pop artists. Compositions by Morricone were performed by: Mario Lanza, Miranda Martino and Gianni Morandi.
Morricone's activity and genuine talent led to the fact that the doors of the Hollywood backstage were opened before him. It is interesting that the composer wrote more than 500 songs for various films during his creative activity.
At least once a month, a film was shown on TV, in which Morricone's music was sure to sound. Ennio during his long career has worked with Italian, American, French, Russian and German cinematographers.
Ennio Morricone has won the prestigious Academy Award five times as a film composer. In 1987, he was awarded the Grammy and Golden Globe awards for the soundtrack to the movie The Untouchables.
But Morricone was active not only in the cinema. The man did not forget about his attachment to chamber music. From the late 1950s, he took part in tours as an orchestra conductor.
Ennio also managed to try his hand as a writer. In 1996 he and photographer Augusto De Luca received the Cities of Rome award for their book Our Rome.
Interesting Facts
- Ennio used creative pseudonyms: Dan Savio and Leo Nichols.
- In 1977 he wrote the official theme for the FIFA World Cup, in 1978 in Argentina.
- His wife inspired him to compose compositions. Ennio dedicated more than one song to his wife.
- In 1985 he went on tour in Europe as a conductor with a chamber instrumental music concert of his own composition.
- In the late 1980s, Metallica opens all their concerts with The Ecstasy of Gold.
Ennio Morricone's personal life
Ennio is monogamous. For over 50 years he has been married to a woman named Maria Travia. The wife supported any undertakings Morricone. They were friendly. Four children were born in the familywho followed in their father's footsteps and chose art.
Being in old age, Morricone still continued to lead an active lifestyle. He followed the diet, eliminated bad habits and engaged in moderate physical activity. Ennio's favorite game was chess. His partners were grandmasters Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov.
Death of Ennio Morricone
On July 6, 2020, Ennio Morricone passed away. The cause of death of the famous composer was an injury received on the eve of his death - he fell and received a fracture. A close friend of Ennio said that he managed to say goodbye to his family. In the last days of his life, his wife and children did not leave him for a minute.
