The day of Ennio Morricone - master of soundtracks

[giovanni]

Hi from Giovanni.
I'm sure most of us are into the soundtracks world as we always commented Stewart works as soundtrack composer.
Today Ennio Morricone, one of the greatest musician in the world, is going to receive the most important award of his career; let's all give a big and warm applause and thank him for the great soundtracks he gave us in his long career (I bet Stewart learned a lot from him as well)!

Go for it Maestro Ennio Morricone! You deserve it!

Congratulations from Stewartcopeland.net staff!



See the official announcement from the Academy Award:

Beverly Hills, CA — Composer-conductor Ennio Morricone, who has composed more than 300 motion picture scores over a 45-year career, has been voted an Honorary Award by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The Award, an Oscar® statuette, will be given to Morricone at the 79th Academy Awards® presentation on February 25, 2007, “for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music.”
Morricone has earned five Academy Award nominations for original score — for “Days of Heaven” (1978), “The Mission” (1986), “The Untouchables” (1987), “Bugsy” (1991) and “Malèna” (2000) — but has not previously received an Oscar.
“The Board was responding not just to the remarkable number of scores that Mr. Morricone has produced,” said Academy President Sid Ganis, “but to the fact that so many of them are beloved and popular masterpieces.”
While the bulk of his work has been on Italian films, including “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” “Once upon a Time in America” and “Cinema Paradiso,” Morricone has composed memorable scores for such international titles as “Bulworth,” “In the Line of Fire,” “La Cage aux Folles” and “Two Mules for Sister Sara.” His current project, “Leningrad,” has been announced for a 2008 release.
Born in Rome, Morricone was hired in 1964 by Sergio Leone and began a long collaboration with the director on what came to be known as “spaghetti Westerns,” though his career has spanned most film genres from comedy to romance to horror.

Morricone’s Honorary Oscar will be presented, along with other Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2006, on Sunday, February 25, 2007 at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®. The Oscars® will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 5 p.m. PST (8 p.m. EST), beginning with a half-hour red carpet arrivals segment, “The Road to the Oscars.”

[cosplusisin]

awesome! Morricone is brilliant! how can you beat the theme from fistful of dollars?

www.myspace.com/enniomorricone

[Divemistress of the Dark]

He's just *now* winning an Oscar?! Unbelievable.

I'll tape the awards in case anyone wants a disc of it later...

[zilboy]

Great news. Better late than never.

[Al]

He's great,he deserves this award.Congratulations!

[GinaSuperCat]

[quote="Divemistress of the Dark"]He's just *now* winning an Oscar?! Unbelievable.[/quote]

No kidding! Well deserved and about time! Watching the awards now...

The Academy Awards just had a nice all-out tribute: introductory speech by Clint Eastwood, fabulous retrospective montage, Celine singing one of his songs...wish Clint had pulled his speech together a bit better but was really a beautiful tribute...Morricone's speech was in Italiano...Clint read the translation in English interspersedly...they let him speak for a few minutes until he was done without cutting him off with the dreaded music cue...overally classy affair!

(Nothing beats having wireless web and tv when you are feeling sick!)

[jedsoon]

That's incredible, way overdue. Put me down for a copy of that presentation, D!

Morricone effortlessly wears any texture. It wos only years later, when i had a chance to view the film on video that i realized Ennio had scored John Carpenter's masterful Thing remake... for years i believed John himself did the music! Morricone was able to fully immerse himself in JC's style, employing a theme that was sparse and simplistic, yet utterly haunting and unforgettable.

That oblique shot of Kevin Costner on the bridge was an ingenious combination of brilliant cinematography, magical art direction, and breathtaking music. That sax haunts my memory to this day. The infinite spaciousness of the production really puts you in Costner's big, out-of-control world. Fantastic stuff!

[BongoBoy]

I just bought a CD of his stuff a month ago!

he is really, really awesome!

Way to go buddy!

[blueseattle]

I really enjoyed his score for The Untouchables. The scene with Ness in the office looking at the photo of his partners and friends... beautiful. I can't help but cry everytime I watch that movie and it has to do with the score. It definitely does without a doubt.

[GinaSuperCat]

Agree about the Untouchables

Here's Sig. Morricone's speech with Clint translating it on youtube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hAOZ2opWxo