Ennio Morricone

January 2021

Courted by great directors to score their films, Ennio Morricone contributed to a remarkable selection of classics.

Introduction

Introduction

‘I come from a background of experimental music, which mingled real sounds together with musical sounds’
Ennio Morricone

Working in a variety of genres, he created scores that vividly evoked characters and environments. His musical instinct and his fondness for introducing different sounds and instruments into his repertoire saw him courted by auteurs like Pasolini, Zeffirelli, Polanski, Leone, Malick and De Palma. His range was huge, from the indigenous drumming and the oboe melody in The Mission to the cracking whips, gunshots and even an ocarina in Leone’s ‘Dollars trilogy’. Unusually, he often composed his music to the script rather than to filmed footage, which resulted in some directors allowing the score to shape the shoot. His death in July this year, only four years after winning his first competitive Oscar® for The Hateful Eight, leaves us with over 400 films and TV shows touched by the hands of a true virtuoso.

Justin Johnson, season programmer

In partnership with

We have joined forces with Scala Radio on our Ennio Morricone season. Scala Radio is the station that plays classical music for modern life, and if you love film scores then listen at 9am every morning with Charles Nove. Whilst on Saturdays from 1pm, Mark Kermode reviews the latest films, champions up-and-coming composers and takes us on a journey through the film-scoring process. Listen across the UK on Digital Radio and find out more at scalaradio.co.uk

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