Homage to Morricone & Rota (Wonderful Film Scores)

Homage to Morricone & Rota (Wonderful Film Scores).

Ennio Morricone – Cinema Paradiso

Arena Concerto

Example 3.3: Cinema Paradiso, excerpt of the homonymous
theme:

On the other hand, you co-wrote the love theme—the one
occurring both in the kisses sequence and in the sequence
when the lead character returns to his childhood bedroom
after many years—with your son, Andrea. How come?
I took a theme he had composed and made some irrelevant
adjustments—as his original idea was brilliant. We scored the
whole film together.
For the following two Tornatore movies, we shared the
credit again, even though I composed everything on my own
this time around. We did that as a good omen—because the
first movie had done so well, we hoped for the success of the
next ones.
Meanwhile, Andrea has become a talented composer; in
addition, he studied orchestral conducting… . Despite my
concerns about him starting a career in music (because it is
always such a tough and uncertain choice), I can say today that
I am glad he insisted. Indeed, one could already recognize his
talent in that theme.

Ennio Morricone – The Mission Medley (Live In Venice 2007)

The piece “On Earth as It Is in Heaven” alone earned more
than the entire film. Fernando Ghia, one of the two producers
of the film, was quite annoyed when he told me this—he was
happy for me, of course, since we were close friends, but sorry
for the film. “Gabriel’s Oboe” was on the other hand
rearranged countless times and in all manners possible. I even
came across a flute transcription… . I heard that in some parts
of Europe, such as in Poland, it is often used to accompany the
bride and groom to the altar. In short, the only thing missing
would be an arrangement for an accordion quartet… .

Ennio Morricone: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – The Danish National Symphony Orchestra (Live)

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, the last bullet in Leone’s
Dollar Trilogy, was premiered at the Supercinema in Rome
on December 23, 1966. The film starts with the famous
coyote call in the opening credits… .
Leone’s descriptions inspired me to evoke the coyote’s voice
in order to convey the idea of animal violence in the Wild
West. But how was I to realize this?
I thought that I might come close to this effect by
overlaying two hoarse male voices, one singing the vowel
“A,” the other singing “E” in a pronounced way, somewhere in
between sforzando and falsetto.
I went to the recording room, talked about it with the
singers, we recorded the voices and added a light reverb, and
the effect worked. Then I continued this incipit by emulating
vocal sounds through the wah-wah effect, which trumpets and
trombones obtain by moving the damper back and forth, an
effect typical of brass bands in the twenties and thirties

Example 2.6: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, excerpt of the
main theme:

Ennio Morricone – For a Few Dollars More – Per Qualche Dollaro in Più (OST)

For a Few Dollars More was more mature a filmic and
dramaturgic operation in comparison to the previous movie,
with characters that were more nuanced and lent themselves to
a wider range of musical shades. For example, I associated
both the flute and the whistle playing the theme from A Fistful
of Dollars with Clint Eastwood’s character, Monco, who was
fleeting and fast just like the wind. The colonel played by Lee
Van Cleef was the most mysterious figure of all: I thought that
the marranzano well suited his rougher side, whereas in the
piece “Bye Bye Colonel” I was seeking to reveal his more
refined and intimate side.67 The expressivity of the English
horn, together with the female choir, exposed the introspective
facet of the character: Where else have you seen a bounty
hunter renounce his loot the way he does?

Once Upon a Time in the West | Claudia Couwenbergh

There was a lot of shortsightedness and a robust ideological
divide in every field. Once Upon a Time in the West came out
in 1968; despite its success, Sergio Leone’s films continued to
be stigmatized as B-movies. Critics did not see their value,
which they discovered only several years later, notably after
Once Upon a Time in America (C’era una volta in America,
1984). They used to say, “Has Leone gone mad with all those
close-ups?”—They bitterly mocked him.

Morricone: Theme from Cinema Paradiso (Renaud Capuçon)

Some of them are obligatory, as I am under the impression that
leaving them out would greatly upset the audience. Among
them are The Mission, Cinema Paradiso, my suite from Sergio
Leone’s films. Usually I put Once Upon a Time in America as
the second or third piece in the set, then some of Tornatore’s
film themes, then the westerns… .

Once upon a time in America – Composed and directed by Ennio Morricone.

I consider it Sergio’s masterpiece, and I wonder what else he
would have achieved had he had the chance to direct other
films. Leone had spoken to me about that story for years, and I
had started to elaborate some themes long before it came to be.
Everything was clear in his head, in spite of the fact that
several screenwriters had succeeded one another. It was a
carefully thought-out project, and he did not leave anything to
chance. Starting with the irregular ringing of the telephone,
which opens the film, he wanted to attend to every detail.
He brought my music on set, thus allowing several implicit
sync points to emerge; they were imperceptible and yet
decisive in enhancing some passages of the story, such as the
one in which Noodles arrives at Fat Moe’s and meets his
friend again. A camera movement begins right upon De Niro
blinking at a given moment.

(The Excerpts are from the book Ennio Morricone In His Own Words (Alessandro De Rosa)

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Nino Rota – La Strada (Suite)

The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

Giovanni Rota was born to Emesta Rinaldi and Ercole Rota in Milan in the northern Italian province of Lombardy. He was blessed with the gift of a musical family, as his mother was an accomplished pianist. She took the reigns of nurturing his nascent talent, tutoring him on the piano. It became apparent to her very early on that Nino was gifted, and so he was enrolled in the Conservatory of Milan, where he studied under the auspices of Giacomo Orefice and Ildebrando Pizzetti. By the early age of twelve Nino, as he was nicknamed, had already gained the reputation as a child prodigy.

Nino Rota: The Godfather – Suite, Boian Videnoff – Mannheimer Philharmoniker

Then came the sensational The Godfather (1972), which took the world by storm. The film was drawn from the award-winning novel by Mario Puzo and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Rota was brought in to provide an authentic Italian score. He provided three wonderful themes to underpin the film; the Godfather Waltz, Michael’s Theme and the Love Theme. A recurring monophonic, forlorn and portentous trumpet motif opens the film and sets its tone. The motif actually unfolds and blossoms into the first theme, The Godfather Waltz, which permeates the film and unifies its narrative. When the melody is transferred to woodwinds and strings, it is actually warm and familial and inviting. Michael’s Theme serves as his identity, and is dark, informing us of his menace. Lastly we have the sumptuous Love Theme, one of the finest Rota ever wrote, which unfolds on plucked mandolin with a wondrous Italian sensibility. It was later adapted into song form, with lyrics by Larry Kusik, and soared on the pop charts. Rota also infused his score with traditional Sicilian auras by using the mandolin, accordion, and acoustic guitar. Regretfully, Rota suffered the ignominy of having his Academy Award Nomination revoked when the Academy discovered that he had interpolated themes from his scores for the 1958 film Fortunella.

Nino Rota – Otto e Mezzo, Amarcord

Filarmonica della Scala – Concerto per Milano 2017 diretto da Riccardo Chailly

Otto e Mezzo 0:00 Amarcord 11:45

Rota once mused that he felt it unfortunate that a film score was too often regarded as a “secondary” element of a film, one that was “subservient” to the visual images, “a mere tool, used to recall and give credence to the images and the emotions those images try to evoke.”

Nino Rota A Time for Us (Love Theme from “Romeo and Juliet”)

A Time for Us (Love Theme from “Romeo and Juliet”) · HAUSER · London Symphony Orchestra · Edward Snyder · Larry Kursik · Nino Rota A Time for Us (Love Theme from “Romeo and Juliet”).

The Best Nino Rota Movie Theme Songs (The Godfather, Roma, La Dolce Vita…)

The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

TRACKLIST

1. Suite (From “Amarcord”) : 00:00 2. Thème principal (From “Casanova”) : 05:12 3. Nile Journey (From “Death on the Nile”) : 08:39 4. Suite (From “La Dolce Vita”) : 11:28 5. Thème principal (From “Fellini Satyricon”) : 18:39 6. Thème principal (From “Juliet of the Spirits”) : 21:46 7. Otto e mezzo (From “8 1/2”) : 29:08 8. The Glass Mountain (From “The Legend of the Glass Mountain”) : 34:22 9. Love Theme (from “The Godfather”) : 38:33 10. Fellini’s Roma (From “Roma”) : 42:26 11. Suite (From “La Strada”) : 46:19 12. Overture (From “The Taming of the Shrew”) : 52:59

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Ennio Morricone – The Best of Ennio Morricone – Greatest Hits (HD Audio)

The Best of Ennio Morricone – Greatest Hits 1. The Ecstasy of Gold (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) 0:00 – 3:22 2. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 3:22 – 6:04 3. Once upon a Time in the West 6:05 – 9:15 4. For a Few Dollars More 9:16 – 13:05 5. A Fistful of Dynamite 13:06 – 17:43 6. Cinema Paradiso – Main Theme 17:44 – 20:13 7. Chi Mai (Maddalena & Le professionel) 20:14 – 23:48 8. La Califfa – The Lady Caliph / The Queen 23:48 – 26:27 9. My Name is Nobody 26:27 – 29:37 10. L’arena (Il Mercenario – The Mercenary / A Professional Gun) 29:38 – 34:23 11. Un Monumento (I Crudeli – The Hellbenders) 34:23 – 36:55 12. Misterioso e Ostinato (Faccia a Faccia – Face to Face) 36:56 – 39:17 13. Un Amico (Revolver) 39:18 – 41:55 14. Love Theme for Nata (Cinema Paradiso) 41:55 – 46:03 15. Romanzo (1900 – Novecento) 46:04 – 50:12 16. Romanza Quartiere (Quartiere) 50:12 – 53:51 17. Il Figlio e la Nostalgia (The Law of the Desert) 53:52 – 57:41 18. Ninna Nanna per Adulteri (Cuore di Mamma) 57:41 – 01:00:45 19. Watch Chimes – Carillon’s Theme (For a Few Dollars More) 01:00:45 – 01:01:57 20. Tradimento Primo (Tepepa) 01:01:58 – 01:04:13 21. Run, Man, Run (The Big Gundown) 01:04:13

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