Ennio Morricone dies aged 91
RIP to a legend
Legendary Italian film composer Ennio Morricone has died in Rome aged 91.
Italian news agency Ansa has released a statement today (6th July) confirming Morricone died in hospital several days after fracturing his femur in a fall.
His lawyer Giorgio Assummas said Morricone “died at dawn on 6 July in Rome with the comfort of faith. He preserved until the final moment full lucidity and great dignity.
“He said goodbye to his beloved wife Maria, who accompanied him with dedication in every moment of his human and professional life and was close to him until his final breath, and thanked his children and grandchildren for the love and care they have given him. He gave a touching remembrance to his audience, whose affectionate support always enabled him to draw strength for his creativity.”
Truly one of the greatest and most prolific composers of all time, Morricone’s score to Clint Eastwood movie ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ in 1966 was highly influential and it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2009.
Nicknamed ‘Maestro’ in his native Italy, Morricone composed over 500 scores for movies and television shows over seven decades, and he also made in excess of 100 classical works throughout his lifetime.
Award-winning movies Morricone created music for include Once Upon a Time in America, The Untouchables and Cinema Paradiso.
Morricone received an honorary Oscar in 2007 for his contribution to film, and in 2016 he won the Best Original Score Oscar for his music for Quentin Tarrantino’s The Hateful Eight.
However, he’s perhaps best known for his trilogy of 1960s westerns helmed by Sergio Leone - A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and the aforementioned The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – which all starred Clint Eastwood as The Man With No Name.
Among Morricone’s best-known compositions are ‘The Ecstasy of Gold’, ‘Se Telefonando’, ‘Man with a Harmonica’, ‘Here's to You’, ‘Gabriel's Oboe’, ‘E Più Ti Penso’ and ‘Chi Mai’, which charted at no.2 in the UK in 1981.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Hans Zimmer said “Ennio was an icon and icons just don’t go away, icons are forever … his music was always outstanding, and done with great emotional fortitude and great intellectual thought.”
Huge fans of Ennio Morricone, Metallica have been using ‘The Ecstasy of Gold’ as their into music at concerts since 1984 and it appeared on their live albums Metallica Through the Never, S&M and Live Sh-t: Binge & Purge.
They also covered the track instrumentally for the 2007 tribute album ‘We All Love Ennio Morricone’, which also features Bruce Springsteen’s version of ‘Once Upon A Time in the West’ and Roger Waters’ take on ‘Lost Boys Calling.’
Since 2008, Muse's live live performances of Knights of Cydonia have included an introduction of Ennio Morricone's "Man With a Harmonica" from Once Upon a Time in the West, with bassist Chris Wolstenholme on harmonica duties.