Ennio Morricone (1928-2020‪)‬ Composer of the Week

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone is cited as one of the most experimental and influential composers of all time, undoubtedly recognised as one of the world’s greatest ever composers of music for film. A legendary figure who over the course of his career won numerous awards, and accolades, his innovative soundworlds helped to define what film music could be for multiple genres of cinema. Morricone’s music extended far beyond the desert landscapes of Spaghetti Westerns, not just to other genres on the Silver Screen, but also into the worlds of pop music, and into the concert hall – where his study and composition of avant garde music gave him the techniques to experiment within his scores for film as well. Over the course of this week, following on the heels of the 2024 Academy Awards, Donald Macleod explores the incredible career of Ennio Morricone, a composer who quite astoundingly wrote over 500 scores for film and television, as well as over 100 classical works.
Music Featured:
Invenzione
The Ecstasy of Gold from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Party Prohibito from I malamondo
Musica per undici violini
Eduardo di Capua and Alfredo Mazzucchi: O sole mio (arr. Morricone)
Edoardo Nicolardi and Ernesto de Curtis: Voce e’notte (arr. Morricone)
Concerto for Orchestra
Scambio di prigionieri from A Fistful of Dollars
The Man with the Harmonica from Once Upon a Time in the West
Woody Guthrie: Pastures of Plenty (arr. Enrico Morricone)
The Trio (extended version) from The Good the Bad and the Ugly
Titles & A Fistful of Dollars (version 2) from A Fistful of Dollars
Sixty Seconds to What? & Main Theme from For a Few Dollars More
Requiem per un destino (Excerpt)
Main Title from The Good the Bad and the Ugly
Opening credits from Uccellacci e uccellini
Addio a Pier Paolo Passolini
Ostia from Pasolini, un delitto Italiano
Birth of a City & Finale from Once Upon a Time in the West
Suoni per Dino
Delirio Secondo from Un Tranquillo Posto Di Campagna
La Lucertola from Una Lucertola con la Pelle Di Donna
Silenzio nel caos from The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Four Flies on Velvet (take 6) from Four Flies on Grey Velvet
Deborah's Theme from Once Upon a Time in America
Cockeye’s Song & Once upon a time in America – theme from Sergio Leone Suite
Theme from Rampage
La classe operaia va in paradiso from The Working Class Goes to Heaven or Lulu the Tool
Fire from Days of Heaven
Humanity (Part 2) from The Thing
Four studies (Nos 1 & 2)
Bugsy
Cinema Paradiso
Miserere & Gabriel’s Oboe from The Mission
Theme from The Untouchables
Voci dal silenzio (Excerpt)
Theme from Il Mercenario
Volti e fantasmi from La Migliore Offerta
’Ultima Diligenza di Red Rock from the Hateful Eight
On Earth as it is in Heaven from The Mission
Presented by Donald Macleod
Produced by Sam Phillips for BBC Audio Wales and West
For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Ennio Morricone (1928-2020) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001wyr0
And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z