Ennio Morricone (1928 - 2020)

[soulpope]

Ennio Morricone (1928 - 2020)        R.I.P ....

[Balladeer]

Grande, grande, grande musica. Addio, maestro!

[mjazzg]

Let's not forget his essential contribution to Gruppo Di Improvvizone Nuova

 

[Teasing the Korean]

I own more albums by Ennio Morricone than any other artist.

Ellington and Sun Ra would rank second and third, and not necessarily in that order.

RIP.

 

 

[clifford_thornton]

4 hours ago, mjazzg said:

Let's not forget his essential contribution to Gruppo Di Improvvizone Nuova

 

Yep.

RIP.

[Bluesnik]

Yes. I saw it in the news this midday, although with no volume, but I could still detect they were talking about Morricone. Let's see what they say this evening, my usual TV news time.

[sgcim]

Morricone always turned out interesting scores, whether he was writing for a low budget Giallo or a huge production Academy Award winner. Along Herrmann and Raksin, he was one of my faves At 90,he was still doing world tours conducting his film scores up till last year(!), and apologized on his web site for having to cancel last year's tour because of ill health!

I was surprised to find that his 'serious',non-film music bore no relation to his film music. RIP, Maestro!

[Teasing the Korean]

5 minutes ago, sgcim said:

Morricone always turned out interesting scores, whether he was writing for a low budget Giallo or a huge production Academy Award winner. Along Herrmann and Raksin, he was one of my faves At 90,he was still doing world tours conducting his film scores up till last year(!), and apologized on his web site for having to cancel last year's tour because of ill health!

I was surprised to find that his 'serious',non-film music bore no relation to his film music. RIP, Maestro!

My favorite Morricone period is roughly late-60s to about mid-70s.  There was a definite drop-off after he stopped working with Bruno Nicolai, although there are some great scores afterwards.

Morricone's sense of development is fascinating.  During his Bacharach-influenced period, some of those tracks sound like a usual Bacharach-esque progression slowed down to a glacial tempo.  It has a mildly unsettling effect, because you lose track of where the home key is when slowed down so much.  

I also feel that the Morricone's thematic development is telegraphing something on a subliminal level that you can't quite grasp, like you are looking at individual pieces of a puzzle and then seeing the whole image only much later.  

I listen primarily to film music, and I am constantly awed by Morricone.  

[BFrank]

This was an inspired album

[Teasing the Korean]

Kind of surprised this thread has not received more responses.  Or maybe not. 

[danasgoodstuff]

We have a copy of this, I enjoy it but can't say I listen to it often.

[BFrank]

Nice piece in the NYT by John Zorn

AN APPRAISAL

Ennio Morricone Was More Than Just a Great Film Composer
He was one of the great composers, period.

[Rabshakeh]

1 hour ago, BFrank said:

Nice piece in the NYT by John Zorn

AN APPRAISAL

Ennio Morricone Was More Than Just a Great Film Composer
He was one of the great composers, period.

Nice piece. Thanks for flagging it. Very sad news.

[medjuck]

IIRC (and I often don't) I sent someone on this board an Lp of a Morricone score for an obscure Italian movie called Allonsanfan. 

BTW Here's an interesting note from the LA Times Obituary:

It was a 1960s recording made in Rome of the Woody Guthrie song “Pastures of Plenty” that launched Morricone’s international career. The seemingly incongruous mixture of sounds in the orchestration — surging violins, the crack of a whip, church bells, an electric guitar, an acoustic guitar, chimes and a chanting male chorus — so entranced Leone that he ditched his original choice of composer and hired Morricone to score what became 1964’s “A Fistful of Dollars.

10 hours ago, BFrank said:

Nice piece in the NYT by John Zorn

AN APPRAISAL

Ennio Morricone Was More Than Just a Great Film Composer
He was one of the great composers, period.

Here's a good companion article about his avant-garde work:  https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2020-07-07/ennio-morricone-dies-concert-music-songs

[BFrank]

14 hours ago, medjuck said:

Here's a good companion article about his avant-garde work:  https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2020-07-07/ennio-morricone-dies-concert-music-songs

Thanks!

[jazztrain]

This is a really nice album.  There's a second volume as well.

[Teasing the Korean]

On 7/13/2020 at 11:28 AM, medjuck said:

BTW Here's an interesting note from the LA Times Obituary:

It was a 1960s recording made in Rome of the Woody Guthrie song “Pastures of Plenty” that launched Morricone’s international career. The seemingly incongruous mixture of sounds in the orchestration — surging violins, the crack of a whip, church bells, an electric guitar, an acoustic guitar, chimes and a chanting male chorus — so entranced Leone that he ditched his original choice of composer and hired Morricone to score what became 1964’s “A Fistful of Dollars.

Here is the track in question.  It is a blueprint for A Fistful of Dollars.  You wonder how Morricone's film career might have developed if Leone didn't want this sound.  

 

[T.D.]

Fairly recent Morricone documentary looks like it could be good. Showing in this area next week. Has anyone seen it?

Trailer here

IMDB here

[Teasing the Korean]

1 hour ago, T.D. said:

Fairly recent Morricone documentary looks like it could be good. Showing in this area next week. Has anyone seen it?

Trailer here

Heard about it, but have not seen it. 

 

[T.D.]

I enjoyed it. Recommended.

2:36 running time but held my interest. Only minor quibbles: 1. Lots of brief "talking head" interviews, some of which may be annoying; 2. If you don't speak Italian (I don't), some of the interview subtitles run over black/white film and are difficult to make out.

[Added] The film had a lot of footage of Morricone playing chess. I didn't know he was an enthusiast (or perhaps had forgotten, because I regularly read the site linked to below), so dug up this story about Morricone and chess.

Edited April 11, 2024 by T.D.

[Teasing the Korean]

On 4/10/2024 at 11:53 PM, T.D. said:

Lots of brief "talking head" interviews, some of which may be annoying...

Please tell me that the interviewees do not include any members of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, namely Sting, Bono, Elvis C, and Bruce.  Few things inspire me to change the channel as quickly as those four.  

[T.D.]

1 hour ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Please tell me that the interviewees do not include any members of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, namely Sting, Bono, Elvis C, and Bruce.  Few things inspire me to change the channel as quickly as those four.  

Unfortunately Bruce gets quite a few talking head segments, one of the turnoffs (I've been almost oblivious to BS, but he comes off here as obnoxious). Apparently in his football stadium shows he uses Morricone music as a backdrop when he goes onstage, and a big clip of that gets shown too.

I don't recall any of the other three, checked on IMDB and they're not shown. FYI, you can check the list of IMDB credits here.

The three interviewees I could've done without are Bruce, Oliver Stone (though he told a relevant anecdote) and Quentin Tarantino (though he would've been difficult to omit since Morricone scored one of his films).

[Teasing the Korean]

2 minutes ago, T.D. said:

Unfortunately Bruce gets quite a few talking head segments, one of the turnoffs (I've been almost oblivious to BS, but he comes off here as obnoxious). Apparently in his football stadium shows he uses Morricone music as a backdrop when he goes onstage, and a big clip of that gets shown too.

I don't recall any of the other three, checked on IMDB and they're not shown. FYI, you can check the list of IMDB credits here.

The three interviewees I could've done without are Bruce, Oliver Stone (though he told a relevant anecdote) and Quentin Tarantino (though he would've been difficult to omit since Morricone scored one of his films).

Thanks.  I should specify that my reaction to those four is less about the individuals than it is about the convention of including them in music documentary interview segments.  It's as if they are the ultimate arbiters of taste, and that their appearing in a documentary is a  cultural seal of approval, i.e., Morricone must be worthwhile if someone as great as Bruce likes him!

[T.D.]

I fully understand your reaction and reasoning. 😆

Although the Bruce interviews were less than scintillating, the footage of him taking the stage in a massive stadium to "Once upon a time in the West" music while spectators held up colored placards was pretty impressive cinematically.

Edited April 12, 2024 by T.D.

[Teasing the Korean]

I finally got to see the documentary Ennio.  It was good, not great.  Too many talking heads.  The interviews with people who actually knew and worked with Morricone were worthwhile.  The inverviews with Bruce, Pat Metheny, and the dreaded Hans Zimmer were worthless.

There was not a single mention of Bruno Nicolai, let alone details on their falling out.

I hear that the director also completed a 6-hour edit of the film.  I would love to see this one day, but I hope that the extra 4 hours are not all Bruce, Pat Metheny, or the dreaded Hans Zimmer.