Reflections on the Music of Ennio Morricone: Fame and Legacy

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Reflections on the Music of Ennio Morricone: Fame and Legacy provides new contextualized perspectives on Ennio Morricones position as a radical composer working at the cutting edge of music within the frame work of his cinematic compositions. The Italian composer has reached world fame as the creator of some 500 film scores and hundreds more arrangements for commercial recordings; however, Sciannameo argues that Morricones legacy must include his concert works, a catalogued list of more than 100 titles. By analyzing the composers formative years as a music practitioner and his transition into the world of composing for the screen, Franco Sciannameo reconsiders the best of Morricones popular compositions and reveals the challenging concert works which have been an intimate expression of Morricones lifelong creative season. Reflections on the Music of Ennio Morricone explores Morricones legacy, its nature, and its eventual impact on posterity.

Reviews

Here, writer and lecturer Franco Sciannameo. . . provides a comprehensive examination of Morricone's lifetime of musical composition. . . it's not a long book but it is quite comprehensive in its treatment and is both newly educational and further inspiring to one's regard of the famous composer. . . . The book is thus an intriguing read--and indeed serves as an essential and comprehensive examination of the fame and legacy of this singular, unique, and multifaceted composer.

Reflections on the Music of Ennio Morricone has the unique distinction of being published just before the death of the esteemed Morricone (1928-2020), who is famous as a cinematic composer. Sciannameo (music, Carnegie Mellon Univ.) developed the book through conversations with the late Sergio Miceli, who was an Italian scholar of film music in his own right. Sciannameo covers Morricone's life from his early days through his retirement in 2019. There is discussion of many of Morricone's best-known works, including both the Once upon a Time... and La Cage aux Folles trilogies, and of his experimental electronic music. Of particular interest to some will be the last chapter, in which Sciannameo picks up the debate about the value of concert music for a composer who was so well received as a Hollywood film musician. With more than 500 scores to his credit, Morricone has interesting works in both genres, and this book introduces the reader to some of the composer's less-known works. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals.

Author Bio

Franco Sciannameo is College of Fine Arts Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music in the School of Music at Carnegie Mellon University.