The Italian musician leaves behind an extraordinary job that includes collaborations with notable filmmakers from the late Sergio Leone to Quentin Tarantino.
Morricone created a mix of music and sound effects to create exciting scores for Leona’s classic spaghetti westerns such as “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”, “Once Upon a Time in the West” and “A Fistful of Dollars”.
Leone, who died in 1989, described Morricone’s music as “indispensable” and said that “it underlines actions and feelings more than dialogue.”
“I had him write the music before filming, really as part of the script,” he said.
In honor of one of the biggest names in cinema, here are five Morricone tracks you should listen to:
Main theme “The good, the bad and the ugly”
The theme of Leone’s 1966 masterpiece of a trio of homeless people in search of a lost fortune has become one of the film’s most recognizable compositions.
The film’s original score, starring Clint Eastwood in one of his first major roles, was included in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2009.
‘Days of Heaven’ – ‘Harvest’
“Days of Heaven” was Terrence Malick’s second biggest film, and enlisting Morricone to record the 1978 drama was one of the best decisions he’s ever made.
The film, starring Richard Gere and Brooke Adams, won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography and earned Morricone his first Oscar nomination for Best Original Soundtrack.
“Harvest” is a disturbing theme based on material borrowed from the opening of Camille Saint-Saëns “Aquarium”.
‘Once upon a time in America’ – ‘Memories of childhood’
Morricone partnered with Leone again in 1984 for the director’s final feature film, “Once Upon a Time in America.”
An elegant story of Jewish gangsters in New York, the film explores themes of friendship and lost love, and with its opening, “Childhood Memories” is instantly recognized as Morricone’s work.
‘The Mission’ – ‘Gabriel’s Oboe’
The sweet and moving theme of “Gabriel’s Oboe” was the highlight of the Oscar-winning Roland Joffé’s 1986 drama score about a Jesuit missionary in the South American jungle.
‘The Hateful Eight’ – ‘Overture’
In 2015, Morricone returned to the genre that made it a household name by providing the score for Tarantino’s Western 2015.
The film’s gripping overture oozes unease, tension, and horror, and Morricone finally took home an Oscar for best score.
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