Ennio Morricone (1928–2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor and trumpeter born in Rome. Over a career spanning more than six decades he composed scores for over 500 films and television productions, in addition to concert music and arrangements for popular and jazz artists. He first gained wide attention scoring Sergio Leone’s “Spaghetti Westerns” in the 1960s, including “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” and went on to compose acclaimed scores for films such as “The Battle of Algiers,” “Once Upon a Time in America,” and “Cinema Paradiso.” He died in Rome in 2020 at the age of 91.

Morricone is widely regarded as one of the most influential film composers of the 20th century, known for blending unconventional instrumentation, memorable melody, and orchestral colour. He received an Honorary Academy Award in 2007 for his body of work and won the Academy Award for Best Original Score in 2016 for Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight.” His theme “Gabriel’s Oboe,” written for the 1986 film “The Mission,” has become one of his most beloved melodies and is frequently arranged for solo guitar and chamber ensembles.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennio_Morricone