Wow. A tough one to see pass. Ennio was a legend. I am not sure I have much more to add in this case. You've pulled out some excellent examples. I think this is one of those things you either get, or you don't. And thankfully, his scope and breadth was so impressive that most people do; I think even the average person, who might not know his name, or get it right if they do, will immediately recognise at least some of his work. While most people will immediately associate him from his contributions to Sergio Leone and the 'Man With No Name' trilogy, his was a name I began to recognise (and immediately anticipate) in the opening credit sequence of many spaghetti westerns, including Once Upon a Time in the West, A Fistful of Dynamite, and the Terence Hill features (a soft spot for me) My Name Is Nobody and A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe. Such a vast career, with no definition other than impressive genius. A lot of people often overlook his contribution to horror and giallo fare, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, The Cat o' Nine Tails, What Have You Done to Solange?, Spasmo. The list goes on. It was always a goal of mine (sadly, now unrealised) to be able to attend one of his live scoring sessions. Everyone should do themselves a favour when they have an hour or more free, starting with those pieces David shared, and going down the very welcome rabbit hole of all the samples of his work. His influence went beyond film into all music genres. I salute the artist and the man. Thank you for the pleasure and atmosphere you have given us. RIP.
Apart from his many incredible spaghetti western, horror and giallo film scores, my abiding memory of his genius will be the Metallica shows i attended as a younger man. Whatever you think of Metallica, you cannot knock their excellent choice of 'The Ecstasy of Gold' for the intro music to their live performances. Its hard to describe the excitement, the chills, the effect that song had on a crowd of expectant metal heads waiting in the dark. It rises and rises, until that peak in the middle, and then boom, the band came on and the entire theatre would go fucking nuts. I think it was the finest intro tune I've ever experienced in my lifetime. It still gives me tingles when i hear it to this day. RIP Ennio, you were a true master of your craft.
Thank you Maestro.Your magic was endless. Remembering back to when I was 6 and my aunt popping in the 8-track of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly she got not long after a family TV viewing. All I wanted to do was drive around with her in that truck listening to it on starry nights. I was just 6, but I got it. I realized what a soundtrack really was. I made the best of a rather sobby morning. He was emotion incarnate, and a gift to human kind.
Very rarely does an artist so quintessentially represent a specific genre and Ennio Morricone WAS the western film.
Prolific is an understatement. Check out how many movies he scored: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Ennio_Morricone
posted some of my Morricone collection in this Instagram post. I’m glad @Paulkaiju posted a link to Vergogna Schifosi on here. It might be my favorite soundtrack of all time. Closely followed by Love Circle. Or as it’s also known as Metti Una Cera A Cena.