
Master composer Ennio Morricone's scores go hand-in-hand with the idea of the Western film. Often considered the world's greatest living film composer, and most widely known for his innovative scores to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and the other Sergio Leone's movies, The Mission, Cinema Paradiso and more recently, The Hateful Eight, Morricone has spent the past 60 years reinventing the sound of cinema. In Ennio Morricone: In His Own Words, composers Ennio Morricone and Alessandro De Rosa present a years-long discussion of life, music, and the marvelous and unpredictable ways that the two come into contact with and influence each other. The result is what Morricone himself defines: "beyond a shadow of a doubt the best book ever written about me, the most authentic, the most detailed and well curated. The truest."Opening for the first time the door of his creative laboratory, Morricone offers an exhaustive and rich account of his life, from his early years of study to genre-defining collaborations with the most important Italian and international directors, including Leone, Bertolucci, Pasolini, Argento, Tornatore, Malick, Carpenter, Stone, Nichols, De Palma, Beatty, Levinson, Almodóvar, Polanski, and Tarantino. In the process, Morricone unveils the curious relationship that links music and images in cinema, as well as the creative urgency at the foundation of his experimentations with "absolute music". Throughout these conversations with De Rosa, Morricone dispenses invaluable insights not only on composing but also on the broader process of adaptation and what it means to be human. As he reminds us, "Coming into contact with memories doesn't only entail the melancholy of something that slips away with time, but also looking forward, understanding who I am now. And who knows what else may still happen."
This book investigates the creative philosophy and professional trajectory of Ennio Morricone through an extensive series of dialogues. Alessandro De Rosa, a composer and collaborator, facilitates a deep exploration of Morricone’s six-decade career, focusing on the intersection of his life experiences and his technical approach to film scoring. The text serves as a primary source for understanding the composer's methodology, his collaborative relationships with major directors, and his evolving perspective on the nature of musical composition.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Critics and music scholars frequently cite this work as the definitive account of Morricone’s career due to the direct access provided to the composer's own reflections. Readers often note the depth of the technical discussions, making it a valuable resource for both film enthusiasts and aspiring composers.
Page Count:
365
Publication Date:
2019-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0190681039
ISBN-13:
9780190681036
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