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