ROME, July 6. /TASS/. Famous Italian composer Ennio Morricone, the author of musical scores to over 500 movies and TV series, died at 91, the ANSA agency reported on Monday.
According to the agency, the composer has passed away at a hospital in Rome where he was hospitalized after the fall. In the past years, he was experiencing serious back problems and was receiving treatment for it.
Morricone, who took up conducting over 10 years ago as well, was one of the most sought-after composers in world cinema. Over 60 movies with his soundtracks received various awards. The composer himself won two Oscars. He visited Russia with concerts numerous times.
Morricone was born on November 10, 1928 in Rome. His father was a professional musician and played the trumpet in a jazz band, his mother was a homemaker. Ennio was the eldest of five children. His first real success came after his partnership with the director Sergio Leone whose westerns were accompanied by Morricone’s music.
Over the course of his long career Morricone worked with many Italian and foreign film directors. He composed the soundtracks to such iconic films as Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America (1984), The Untouchables by Brian De Palma (1987), Giuseppe Tornatore’s Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (1988), Le Professionnel by Georges Lautner (1981), as well as to several seasons of La Piovra TV series.
He also worked with Russian directors. For instance, he composed the soundtrack for Vladimir Khotinenko’s 2004 movie 72 Meters about the submarine accident.
Two Academy Awards
Despite the fact that the composer received dozens of very prestigious awards and was nominated for Oscar twice, his first Academy Award came only in 2007 and was an honorary one, for his contribution to world cinema. His second Oscar was for the score to The Hateful Eight in 2016, where Morricone agreed to an experiment with Quentin Tarantino, who was inspired by spaghetti westerns. Many films scored by Morricone have also won Academy Awards. He released 27 golden music albums while seven went platinum. Some of his compositions became more popular than the movies they were created for.
Morricone remained active until recently, in January he was honored at the Senate. He would have turned 92 in November.