Composer Ennio Morricone was one of a kind. You knew within a few seconds when you were listening to one of his compositions. He composed the scores for dozens of films including The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Days of Heaven, The Untouchables, Bugsy and The Hateful Eight.
He finally won a competitive Oscar for his score for Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight. He had previously been awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2007 (only the second composer to receive an honorary Oscar.)
Morricone passed away at the age of 91 yesterday in Rome. He wrote his own obituary which was released yesterday.
“I, Ennio Morricone, have died.
I’m announcing my death to all my friends that have always been close to me and to those who I haven’t seen for a while. I salute them with great affection. Impossible to name all of them.
“I do want to dedicate a special mention though, to Peppuccio and Roberta, brotherly friends, extremely present in these last days of our life.
“There is only one reason that pushes me to send my farewell to all of you in this way, and for which I’ve decided to have a private funeral: I do not want to disturb.
“I say goodbye with great affection to Ines, Laura, Sara, Enzo and Norbert, thanking them for having shared with my family and me a big part of my life.
“I want to remember with love, my sisters Adriana, Maria and Franca and their loved ones and let them know how much I’ve loved them.
“An intense, full and profound goodbye goes to my children Marco Alessandra, Andrea and Giovanni, my daughter in law Monica, my grandchildren Francesca, Valentina, Francesco and Luca.
“I hope they will understand how much I’ve loved them.
“Last, but not least, Maria to whom I renew the extraordinary love that has kept us together and that I really regret leaving.
“I send my most painful farewell to her.”
Leave it to a composer to orchestrate his final words.
There’s no reason to offer additional words or thoughts on his music. Each and every score means something different to us all. So as we say farewell to the maestro, let me share with you some of my favorite music by Ennio Morricone.
“Harmonica” from Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
“Theme” from Salo, or 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
“Romanzo” from Novecento aka 1900 (1976)
“Cockeye’s Song” from Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
“On Earth As It Is In Heaven” from The Mission (1986)
“Love Theme” from Cinema Paradiso (1988)
“Machine Gun Lullaby” from The Untouchables (1987)
Available to rent on Amazon
“Theme” from Hamlet (1990)
“1900’s Theme” from The Legend of 1900 (1998)
“End Title” from Malena (2000)
I cannot quantify how many hours I’ve spent listening to Morricone’s music. Endless hours of pleasure will continue to remind me of his genius.
Thank you, Maestro.
Photo: Ennio Morricone conducting in London in 2015 (Photo courtesy of EnnioMorricone.org)
Streaming information courtesy of JustWatch.com