Ennio Morricone, one of the greatest soundtrack composers ever, is dead at 91 years old. Noted for the music of many films by Sergio Leone and for dozens of other soundtracks of Italian and international films, as well as for some very popular songs of which he was arranger, over the decades Morricone’s works have been used, mentioned and performed in the most varied contexts, often autonomously and independent of the movies they were meant to be.
Morricone’s songs and especially the soundtracks have come everywhere in popular culture: from television to advertising, from video games to sports, such as they are remembering many on Twitter. in Simpsonfor example, Morricone’s music has been used more than once. In the 15th episode of the 21st season, like, when – in a sequence that is a clear homage to the famous kissing scene of New Cinema Paradiso – one of his best known compositions is heard. The scene of the Simpson it is in turn a citation of several other famous kisses in the history of cinema.
“The ecstasy of gold” it was for years the song chosen by the punk band of Ramones to close their concerts, and from the metal one of Metallica to open them.
Muse, on the other hand, often used “Man with the Harmonica”, a song from the soundtrack of Once Upon a Time in the West, to introduce their song “Knights of Cydonia” to the concerts, which is openly inspired by Morricone.
in Soprano, the HBO series aired between 1999 and 2007, Morricone’s music is heard in the ninth episode of the fourth season, in whose closing credits you can hear “Man with a Harmonica” by Once Upon a Time in the West in the electronic version of the Apollo 440.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aREu2z0GCY
The list of companies that in recent decades have chosen to use Morricone’s compositions for their advertisements is quite long and in addition to Barilla (for which Morricone worked with Tornatore on the campaign “Mill family“) Includes, among others, Sky, Renault, Dolce & Gabbana and, recently, the clothing brand H&M, which has chosen – certainly not first – to use” The Gold’s Ecstasy “, originally composed, in the 1965 for the good, the bad and the ugly by Sergio Leone.
But there have also been cases where companies have chosen to use original, non-cinematographic music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lear_SPgxE
At the 1978 World Cup, Morricone’s music came to us in a much more direct way: in fact, it was his theme (the anthem, if you prefer) of that competition, which Argentina won in the final against Holland, thanks to a brace by Mario Kempes. The title, rather didactic, is “El Mundial”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9IIvcVWE6E
In recent years, Morricone’s music has also been openly cited in the popular and excellently reviewed video game Red Dead Redemption 2, of western setting. Like any other western scene, just take pictures, add one of Morricone’s music, and be almost sure of the effect. Below one of the many videos made by fans by combining images of the video game with music by Morricone.
Morricone has gone almost everywhere even in music. As an arranger of several popular Italian songs (“Abbronzatissima”, “Sapore di sale” and “Se telefonando”, to name three), and thanks to his collaborations with many Italian and international artists. For example, there is a version of “La solitudine” to which he collaborated with Laura Pausini.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9r5lw-KFwc
The list of artists who have sampled or made new versions of Morricone’s songs is very long. Among the many others, also Jay-Z (he too choosing “The ecstasy of gold”, the protagonist of one very long list of citations and various uses).
And it is the same boundless the list of films which in turn used some of his compositions written for previous films as part of the soundtrack. For quantity and quality of the quotes, in this case Quentin Tarantino certainly wins. Which for one of his most famous scenes he recovered “The arena”, originally contained in a film fifty years ago: The mercenary by Sergio Corbucci.
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