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Donald Macleod explores Morricone’s early years as a chess fanatic and trumpeter, and discovers how a trip he made to Darmstadt proved a particularly formative experience.

Ennio Morricone is cited as one of the most experimental and influential composers of all time, undoubtedly recognised as one of the world’s greatest ever composers of music for film. A legendary figure who over the course of his career won numerous awards, and accolades, his innovative sound worlds helped to define what film music could be for multiple genres of cinema. Morricone’s music extended far beyond the desert landscapes of spaghetti westerns, not just to other genres on the silver screen, but also into the worlds of pop music, and into the concert hall – where his study and composition of avant-garde music gave him the techniques to experiment within his scores for film as well. Over the course of this week, following on the heels of the 2024 Academy Awards, Donald Macleod explores the incredible career of Ennio Morricone, a composer who quite astoundingly wrote over 500 scores for film and television, as well as over 100 classical works.

In Monday’s episode, Donald explores Morricone’s early years as a chess fanatic and discovers how it was a gift from Ennio’s father, Mario – a freelance trumpet player – which pushed the young Morricone into the world of music. We’ll hear about Morricone’s studies, and how his phenomenal but secret success as an arranger for Italian radio and RCA Italiana led him into the burgeoning Italian film industry. Donald also explores a formative trip the young Morricone made to the Summer School at Darmstadt, where the experimental musicians included John Cage, and examines the influence that that experience had on Morricone’s music.

Invenzione
Roberto Prosseda, piano

The Ecstasy of Gold from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Studio orchestra

Party Prohibito from I malamondo
Studio orchestra

Musica per undici violini
Archi di Santa Cecilia
Luigi Piovano, conductor

Eduardo di Capua and Alfredo Mazzucchi
O sole mio (arr. Morricone)
Miranda Martino, singer

Edoardo Nicolardi and Ernesto de Curtis
Voce e’notte (arr. Morricone)
Mario Lanza, singer
Franco Ferrara and his orchestra

Ennio Morricone
Concerto for Orchestra
Ennio Morricone, conductor

Scambio di prigionieri from A Fistful of Dollars
Studio orchestra
Ennio Morricone, conductor

Produced by Sam Phillips for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Audio Wales & West