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Roma, Italy · 1946–2020

Ennio Morricone

What defines Ennio Morricone is not just his ability to write scores, but how those melodies became ingrained in the collective memory as if they had always been there. His sound doesn't follow rules: he mixes children's choirs with high-pitched whistles, distorted guitars with classical orchestrations, and rhythms that seem plucked from a dream. It's not background music; it's another character in every film. In the sixties, when the spaghetti western brought him fame, his themes didn't accompany scenes, they defined them. A whistle, a slightly out-of-tune trumpet, a choir repeating like an echo in the desert: that was the Italian west before the genre even existed.

He worked with Sergio Leone on titles like A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, where every note seems carved for the exact moment the revolver fires. But his genius didn't stop at the genre. Early on, in Rome, he shaped the sound of the sixties with pop songs like Sapore di sale or Il mondo, proving he could move from the recording studio to a film soundtrack without losing an iota of his essence.The turn that took him beyond Italy came when American cinema sought him out. In the seventies, his music crossed the Atlantic and found its way into films by Brian De Palma, Barry Levinson, and Quentin Tarantino.

Classical avant-garde cinematic classical Jazz modern classical 1920s

6 Albums

97 Songs

1,8M Listeners/mo

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Essential songs

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On Earth as It Is in Heaven

The Mission (Original Sound Track From the Film) · 1986

3:51 02

Falls

The Mission (Original Sound Track From the Film) · 1986

1:55 03

Gabriel's Oboe

The Mission (Original Sound Track From the Film) · 1986

2:14 04

Ave Maria Guarani

The Mission (Original Sound Track From the Film) · 1986

2:51 05

Brothers

The Mission (Original Sound Track From the Film) · 1986

1:33 06

Carlotta

The Mission (Original Sound Track From the Film) · 1986

1:22 07

Vita Nostra

The Mission (Original Sound Track From the Film) · 1986

1:55 08

Climb

The Mission (Original Sound Track From the Film) · 1986

1:38 09

Remorse

The Mission (Original Sound Track From the Film) · 1986

2:47 10

Penance

The Mission (Original Sound Track From the Film) · 1986

4:03

6 album|s · 1986 — 2011

Full discography

2011 ★ Essential

Paradiso

14 song|s · Clásica

2006 ★ Essential

Film Music Masterworks - Ennio Morricone

12 song|s · Clásica

2004 ★ Essential

Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone

22 song|s · Clásica

1988 ★ Essential

Ennio Morricone Lounge Music Session Vol. 2 (Original Film Scores)

17 song|s · Clásica

1988 ★ Essential

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso

15 song|s · Clásica

1986 ★ Essential

The Mission (Original Sound Track From the Film)

17 song|s · Clásica

Details, awards, members and more

More about Ennio Morricone

Biography

It wasn't a change of style, but a confirmation: his language served any story. In The Untouchables or The Mission, his themes don't sound European; they sound universal. But recognition was slow to arrive. Although he was nominated for an Oscar five times between 1979 and 2001, he never won until he received an honorary award in 2007. By then, he had already spent decades demonstrating that film music could be art without needing awards. When in 2016 he won the Oscar again for The Hateful Eight, he did so with the same naturalness with which he had composed decades earlier: as if it had always been part of the system.Morricone didn't just compose for films; he created universes.

In Cinema Paradiso, for example, the music doesn't narrate, it evokes: cinema, childhood, nostalgia. In Days of Heaven, his soft, choral chords convey a melancholy that the script doesn't express in words. And in The Untouchables, that theme with cornets and strings isn't a background; it's the heartbeat of the city in the thirties. His versatility wasn't a trick: it was the consequence of understanding that music doesn't have to fit into a mold. He studied at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory, where he trained as a trumpeter and composer, but he never allowed himself to be limited by academia. Even when he won awards—three Grammys, four Golden Globes, six BAFTAs—he used them as tools, not as goals.

The star on the Walk of Fame in 2016 or the title of Cavaliere di Gran Croce in 2017 were late recognitions for someone who had already redefined what a soundtrack could be. He died in 2020, but his melodies continue to play in every western, in every tense scene, in every moment when cinema needs music not just to accompany, but to exist.

Details

Born: 10 Nov 1928
Country: 🇮🇹 Italy
Genre: Classical

Awards and honors

Grammy

Links

Spotify Official site Instagram Twitter Wikipedia

The full catalog on DoReSol

All songs

The Mission

The Mission (Original Sound Track From the Film) · 1986

2:49 12

River

The Mission (Original Sound Track From the Film) · 1986

1:59 13

Te Deum Guarani

The Mission (Original Sound Track From the Film) · 1986

0:48 14

Refusal

The Mission (Original Sound Track From the Film) · 1986

3:30 15

Alone

The Mission (Original Sound Track From the Film) · 1986

4:26 16

Guarani

The Mission (Original Sound Track From the Film) · 1986

3:57 17

The Sword

The Mission (Original Sound Track From the Film) · 1986

2:01 18

Chi Mai

Ennio Morricone Lounge Music Session Vol. 2 (Original Film Scores)

Love Theme

Ennio Morricone Lounge Music Session Vol. 2 (Original Film Scores)

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Ennio Morricone Lounge Music Session Vol. 2 (Original Film Scores)

Love Theme for Nata (From “Cinema Paradiso”)

Ennio Morricone Lounge Music Session Vol. 2 (Original Film Scores) · 1988

4:09 22

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso · 1988

2:57 23

The Strong (From “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly”)

Ennio Morricone Lounge Music Session Vol. 2 (Original Film Scores) · 1988

2:24 24

Maturità

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso · 1988

2:18 25

The Big Gundown (From “The Big Gundown”) - Title‐Reprise

Ennio Morricone Lounge Music Session Vol. 2 (Original Film Scores) · 1988

2:02 26

Ripensandola

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso · 1988

1:15 27

Chi Mai (From “Maddalena”)

Ennio Morricone Lounge Music Session Vol. 2 (Original Film Scores) · 1988

3:35 28

Infanzia E Maturità

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso · 1988

2:13 29

Cinema In Fiamme

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso · 1988

2:45 30

L’arena (From “The Mercenary - A Professional Gun”)

Ennio Morricone Lounge Music Session Vol. 2 (Original Film Scores) · 1988

4:45 31

Tema D'Amore

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso · 1988

2:45 32

Tema Di Ada (From “Novecento - 1900”)

Ennio Morricone Lounge Music Session Vol. 2 (Original Film Scores) · 1988

4:52 33

Prima Gioventù

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso · 1988

2:15 34

Tepepa - Viva La Revolucion (From “Tepepa”)

Ennio Morricone Lounge Music Session Vol. 2 (Original Film Scores) · 1988

4:22 35

Tema D'Amore Per Nata

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso · 1988

4:07 36

Farewell Moscow (From “Farewell Moscow”)

Ennio Morricone Lounge Music Session Vol. 2 (Original Film Scores) · 1988

4:51 37

Visita Al Cinema

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso · 1988

2:20 38

Quattro Interludi

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso · 1988

1:55 39

Money (From “Money - Intrigo in Nove Mosse”) - Seq. 1

Ennio Morricone Lounge Music Session Vol. 2 (Original Film Scores) · 1988

3:46 40

Fuga, Ricerca E Ritorno

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso · 1988

2:05 41

Ninna Nanna in Blù (From “He Cat O’ Nine Tails”)

Ennio Morricone Lounge Music Session Vol. 2 (Original Film Scores) · 1988

2:40 42

The Night and the Moment (From “The Night and the Moment”)

Ennio Morricone Lounge Music Session Vol. 2 (Original Film Scores) · 1988

3:33 43

Proiezione A Due

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso · 1988

2:05 44

Senza Motivo Apparente (From “Senza Movente”)

Ennio Morricone Lounge Music Session Vol. 2 (Original Film Scores) · 1988

4:23 45

Dal Sex-Appeal Americano Al Primo Fellini

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso · 1988

3:25 46

Belinda May (From “L’alibi”)

Ennio Morricone Lounge Music Session Vol. 2 (Original Film Scores) · 1988

2:57 47

Totò E Alfredo

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso · 1988

1:16 48

Sull’amaca (From “Trip with Anita - Lovers and Liars”)

Ennio Morricone Lounge Music Session Vol. 2 (Original Film Scores) · 1988

2:07 49

Per Elena

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso · 1988

1:48 50

Falls

Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone

Deborah's Theme

Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone

The Untouchables

Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone

The Mission: Gabriel’s Oboe