Oscar winning Italian composer Ennio Morricone dies aged 91
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Oscar winner Ennio Morricone died in during the night between Sunday and Monday in a clinic in the Italian capital Rome due to the consequences of a fall.
The great musician and composer, author of the most beautiful soundtracks of Italian and world cinema from For a Fistful of Dollars to Mission to Once Upon a Time in America from Nuovo cinema Paradiso to Malena, was 92 years old.
The funeral of Ennio Morricone will be held in private form “in respect of the feeling of humility that has always inspired the acts of his existence”. His family made the announcement through their friend and lawyer Giorgio Assumma.
Born in Rome on 10 November 1928, he graduated from the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in trumpet, composition, instrumentation, band conducting and choral music.
He made his cinema debut with the film by Luciano Salce Il federal (1961).
A native and lifelong resident of Rome whose first instrument was the trumpet, Morricone won his Oscar for his work on Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight (2015) and also was nominated for his original scores for Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven (1978), Roland Joffe’s The Mission (1986), Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables (1987), Barry Levinson’s Bugsy (1991) and Giuseppe Tornatore’s Malena (2000).
Known as “The Maestro,” he also received an honorary Oscar in 2007 (presented by Clint Eastwood) for his “magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music,” and he collected 11 David di Donatello Awards, Italy’s highest film honors.
