ENNIO MORRICONE nasce a Roma il 10 Novembre 1928. La sua lunga carriera comprende un ampio ventaglio di generi compositivi, spaziando da musica concertistica a colonne sonore, lavorando come scrittore, conduttore e compositore per teatro, radio e cinema. Nel 1946 Ennio riceve il suo diploma come trombettista e nel ’54 si laurea in composizione al Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia, studiando sotto la guida di Goffredo Petrassi. Scrive la sua prima partitura per un concerto alla fine degli anni ’50, poi inizia a lavorare per la RAI e per RCA-Italia. Inizia la sua carriera come compositore cinematografico nel 1961, lavorando alla colonna sonora de “Il Federale” di Luciano Salce. La fama a livello mondiale giunse grazie ai film western girati da Sergio Leone: “Per un Pugno di Dollari”(1964), “Per qualche Dollaro in più” (1965), “Il Buono, il Brutto e il Cattivo” (1966), “C’era un volta il West” (1968) e “Giù la Testa” (1971).
A partire dagli anni ’60, Ennio Morricone ha firmato le colonne sonore di oltre 450 film, lavorando assieme a molti registi italiani e internazionali, quali Sergio Leone, Gillo Pontecorvo, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Bernardo Bertolucci, Lina Wertmuller, Giuseppe Tornatore, Brian De Palma, Roman Polanski, Warren Beatty, Adrian Lyne, Oliver Stone e Pedro Almodovar. Tra i suoi film più celebri (escludendo i western di Leone) troviamo: “La Battaglia degli Algeri” (1966), “Cinema Paradiso” (1988), “Malena” (2000), “The Untouchables” (1987), “C’era una volta in America” (1984), “The Mission” (1986), “Il mio nome è Nessuno” (1973) e “Lolita” (1997).
La sua musica concertistica comprende oltre 100 pezzi composti fin dal 1946, che includono “Concerto per Orchestra n.1” (1957); “Frammenti di Eros” (1985); “Cantata per l’Europa” (1988); “UT per tromba, archi e percussioni” (1991); “Ombra di lontana presenza” (1997); “Voci dal Silenzio” (2002); “Sicilo ed altri frammenti” (2007); “Vuoto d’anima piena” (2008). Nel 2001 Morricone inizia un periodo di intensa attività concertistica, conducendo non solo le opere apposite, ma anche le sue colonne sonore, per le orchestre sinfoniche e cori polifonici in più di cento concerti in tutto il mondo. Nella sua longeva carriera, Ennio Morricone ha anche ricevuto numerosi premi. Ha ricevuto un Leone d’Oro, undici Nastri d’Argento, sei premi BAFTA, cinque nomination agli Oscar, un premio Oscar alla carriera, dieci David di Donatello, tre Golden Globe, tre Grammy Award e due European Film Award. Nel campo discografico, Morricone ha registrato ventisette dischi d’oro, sette dischi di platino, tre Golden Plate e il premio alla Critica cinematografica per la colonna sonora del film “Il Prato”. La colonna sonora de “Il Bello, il Brutto e il Cattivo” viene inserita nella Grammy’s Hall of Fame nel 2009, mentre l’anno seguente Morricone stesso vince il prestigioso premio Polar Music. 

Nel 21esimo secolo, la sua musica è stata riutilizzata innumerevoli volte in tv e al cinema, inclusi i capolavori di Quentin Tarantino “Kill Bill” (2003), “Grindhouse” (2007), “Bastardi senza Gloria” (2009) e “Django Unchained” (2012). Nel 2015, invece, collaborarono per la prima volta ad una partitura originale per “The Hateful Eight”, seguito da una nomination ai Golden Globe, ricevuta il giorno seguente l’uscita ufficiale del film.
Nel novembre del 2013, Ennio Morricone inizia un tour mondiale per celebrare i cinquant’anni della sua carriera nel cinema e si esibì a Mosca, Santiago del Cile, Berlino, Budapest e Vienna. Il 6 febbraio del 2014 la Chicago Symphony Orchestra suonò “Voci dal Silenzio”, una cantata che Morricone realizzò per commemorare le vittime dell’attentato dell’undici settembre. Il suo tour europeo riprese nel 2015, quando tra Febbraio e Marzo porta venti concerti in dodici paesi, suonando nelle location più grandi, come la O2 a Londra o lo Ziggo Dome ad Amsterdam. Suonando di fronte a 150.000 spettatori complessivi e con la maggior parte degli show sold-out, il tour delle Arene europee del Maestro Morricone fu un clamoroso successo. Nel giugno 2015, Morricone condusse una messa in dedica a Papa Francesco.

ENNIO MORRICONE was born in Rome on 10 November 1928. His long artistic career includes a wide range of composition genres, from absolute concert music to applied music, working as orchestrator, conductor and composer for theatre, radio and cinema. In 1946, Ennio received his trumpet diploma and in 1954 he received his diploma in Composition at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia under the guidance of Goffredo Petrassi. He wrote his first concert works at the end of the 1950s, then worked as arranger for RAI (the Italian broadcasting company) and RCA-Italy. He started his career as a film music composer in 1961 with the film Il Federale directed by Luciano Salce. World fame followed through the Sergio Leone westerns: A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966), Once Upon a Time in The West (1968) and A Fistful of Dynamite (1971).

In 1965, Morricone joined the improvisation group Nuova Consonanza. Since 1960, Morricone has scored over 450 films working with many Italian and international directors including Sergio Leone, Gillo Pontecorvo, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Bernardo Bertolucci, Giuliano Montaldo, Lina Wertmuller, Giuseppe Tornatore, Brian De Palma, Roman Polanski, Warren Beatty, Adrian Lyne, Oliver Stone, Margarethe Von Trotta, Henry Verneuil, Pedro Almodovar and Roland Joffè. His most famous films (other than the Italian westerns) include: The Battle of Algiers; Sacco and Vanzetti; Cinema Paradiso; The Legend of 1900, Malena; The Untouchables; Once Upon a Time in America; The Mission and U-Turn. His absolute music production includes over 100 pieces composed from 1946 to the present day. Titles include Concerto per Orchestra n.1 (1957); Frammenti di Eros (1985); Cantata per L’Europa (1988); UT, per tromba, archi e percussioni (1991); Ombra di lontana presenza (1997); Voci dal silenzio (2002); Sicilo ed altri frammenti (2007); Vuoto d’anima piena (2008). In 2001, Ennio Morricone began a period of intense concert activity, conducting his film music and concert works for symphony orchestra and polyphonic choir in more than 100 concerts across Europe, Asia, USA, Central and South America.

During his long career, Ennio Morricone has also received many awards. As well as the Golden Lion and the honorary Oscar he was awarded in 2003, he has been presented with eight Nastri D’argento, five BAFTAs, five Oscar nominations, seven David Di Donatellos, three Golden Globes, one Grammy Award and one European Film Award. In 2009, the then President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, also signed a decree appointing Morricone to the rank of Knight in the Order of the Legion of Honor.

In the recording field, Morricone has received 27 gold discs, seven platinum discs, three Golden Plates and the Critica discografica award for the music of the film Il Prato. The soundtrack from the film The Good, The Bad and The Ugly was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2009 while Morricone himself was awarded the prestigious Polar Music prize the following year.

His more recent works include scores for the television series Karol and The End of a Mystery, 72 Meters and Fateless. In the 21st century, Morricone’s music has been reused countless times for television and in movies including Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill (2003), Death Proof (2007), Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Django Unchained (2012). In 2007, Morricone received the Academy Honorary Award “for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music”.

In November 2013, he began a world tour to coincide with the 50th anniversary of his film music career and performed in locations such as the Crocus City Hall in Moscow, Santiago, Chile, Berlin, Germany (O2 World), Budapest, Hungary, and Vienna’s Stadhalle. On 6 February 2014, Riccardo Mutti conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performing Morricone’s Voices from the Silence, a cantata Morricone composed in response to 9/11 to give voice to innocent victims. In Autumn 2014, Morricone participated in the recording of a documentary about himself by Giuseppe Tornatore, which is yet to be released.

His European tour resumed from February 2015 to March 2015, with 20 concerts in 12 countries, in Europe’s largest arenas, such as the O2 in London and the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam. Playing to a total of 150,000 spectators and with most of the shows sold out, Maestro Morricone’s My Life in Music European Arena Tour was a resounding success.

On 12 June 2015, Morricone conducted a mass composed in dedication to Pope Francis. It was commissioned by the Jesuit Order to commemorate the 200 year anniversary of the recongregation of the Jesuit Order at the Jesuit Church in Rome.

2015 also saw Morricone collaborate with Quentin Tarantino on an original soundtrack for the very first time. On December 7th 2015, The Hateful Eight had its world premiere followed by a Golden Globe nomination in the Best Original Score category the very next day.

Giuseppe Tornatore’s The Correspondence, with an original soundtrack composition by Morricone, is being released on January 15th 2016.