Morricone and the Wild West Themes
The great western films of yore directed by Sergio Leone perhaps may not have been that great, but for an excellent musical score by Ennio Morricone. Morricone collaborated with Sergio Leone for most of his films and the immortal ones like How the West was Won, My name is Trinity, Good Bad and Ugly, Fistful of Dollars and For a Few dollars more still set the charts ablaze.
He set a stupendous musical score that in no small measure contributed to the success of the movies and two of them being rated as among the all-time great 100 movies of the last century.
Morricone effect
One can even now relish the background score that heightened the scene of 3 macho men as they eye each other in a triangular gunfight (Good bad and ugly) and a young boy who looks through a window to watch a beautiful woman slowly undress and become nude before a mirror (Malena). The effect of these scenes was heightened by the score of Ennio Morricone who was a classmate of Sergio Leone.
Sergio died of a heart attack some years back but Morricone is alive and kicking. He has set the musical score of two latest movies by Giuseppe Tornatore: The Best Offer (2013) and Leningrad (2014). He must truly rank as one of the great composers of an era that spans two centuries. Hollywood honored him with an honorary Oscar award in 2007.
Morricone’s Contribution
Morricone composed music for some 40 westerns and with the score of A Fistful of Dollars Morricone began his 10-year collaboration with his childhood friend Alessandro Alessandroni and his Cantori Moderni. These two provided the whistling and the twanging guitar on the film scores, that have become a distinct trademark of Ennio Morricone. It was a great integration of music with the film by Morricone
Last Word
Morricone is a legend and even in Asia, he has a tremendous following. In the UAE at the Jumeirah Beach resort it was a great pleasure to listen to his tunes against the backdrop of the sea washing the shore. I recommend listening to a DVD of his music, it not only soothes but elevates. The fact that his music has sold 75 million DVD’s is proof that Morricone is a living legend.
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