Ennio Morricone Dies Aged 91 Movie Chat

[Son Of Jack]

Ennio Morricone, the Italian composer whose credits include the "spaghetti" Westerns that made Clint Eastwood a star, has died in Rome aged 91.

According to Italian news agency Ansa, he died in hospital having fractured his femur in a fall some days ago.

The prolific composer also wrote music for Once Upon a Time in America, The Untouchables and Cinema Paradiso.

Having received an honorary Oscar in 2007, he went on to win one in 2016.

A native and lifelong resident of the Eternal City whose first instrument was the trumpet, Morricone won his Oscar for his work on Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight (2015) and also was nominated for his original scores for Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven (1978), Roland Joffe's The Mission (1986), Brian De Palma's The Untouchables (1987), Barry Levinson's Bugsy (1991) and Giuseppe Tornatore's Malena (2000).

Known as "The Maestro," he also received an honorary Oscar in 2007 (presented by Clint Eastwood) for his "magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music," and he collected 11 David di Donatello Awards, Italy's highest film honors.

Morricone's ripe, pulsating sounds enriched Leone's low-budget shoot-'em-ups A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) — those three starred Eastwood — Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) and Duck, You Sucker (1971).

"The music is indispensable, because my films could practically be silent movies, the dialogue counts for relatively little, and so the music underlines actions and feelings more than the dialogue," Leone, who died in 1989, once said. "I've had him write the music before shooting, really as a part of the screenplay itself."

Where do you start, what a career so many amazing soundtracks and gigging till the end.

 

[Steve]

Absolute legend and an amazing legacy left behind.

 

[David76]

One of the best, if not the best, film composers ever. A true legend.

 

[Birdman]

What an incredible body of work. One of the greats. A sad loss but 91 is a good age.

 

[Franco Pinion]

That music from "Once Upon A Time In The West". Every time I hear it, it gives me goosebumps and makes the hairs on my neck stand, fantastic piece of music.