“The melodies, the arrangements, a sense of the superfine composition were the qualities of Morricone, who came from an extremely avant-garde group, Nuova consonanza, he had studied with Goffredo Petrassi, that music for connoisseurs, complex. That preparation helped him to become a special, eclectic composer, capable of ranging from the avant-garde to the arrangements of Mina’s records and pop music. His talent then exploded with Leone: he invented things that are truly an incredible creative gamble, from the Sardinian harpsichord “uauauaua” to the whistle, and then here he is also the great composer with the great orchestra “.
Your first meeting with Morricone?
“Leone and I had just finished writing A lot nice. We had chosen the whole crew, I say “well, we all have, we are fully booked”. Sergio says “no, one is missing”. “Who?”. Screams: “The composer?”. We remain silent for a few minutes and then he says to me “accompany me, let me go to the composer”. I don’t understand but I follow it. He does not tell me where we are going, he is a house not far from his, before entering he tells me I am only telling you his tax return, he quotes an incredible number, he was richer than he was. The door opens and I see Morricone, he takes an accident: ‘You really thought of him for A lot nice?” Of course, I have to debut you ‘to the max’. I immediately got in tune with Ennio, who wanted to read the script. But he didn’t understand the characters well, I did them and he said ‘there is a lot of poetry’, in fact he composed very melancholy themes, the solitude of summer in Rome. This was Morricone, with his very personal timbre he perfectly entered the soul of the film and the author. For me it was a great gift, which he replied with Bianco, Rosso and Verdone “.
Her favorite?
“The theme of Mimmo’s little cemetery and the grandmother of White, Red and Greenfinch, the theme of the emigrant, the final whistle of loneliness A lot nice then it is a jewel“.
in reproduction ….
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How did you work with him?
“Ennio lived in a world of his own, he participated in the speeches but you felt that his mind was already going to his creative room. Every now and then he became estranged and understood that he was looking for something for his work. The first time he called me to his house to make me feel the theme of A lot nice, he started playing with one hand, I did not understand anything, it seemed slightly out of tune. When I went to Trafalgar Recording Studios to listen to the recording with the orchestra, a completely different thing appeared to me, I shivered and I understood that he had made a small masterpiece, those music helped the film in a crazy way “.
Have you remained friends?
“Yes, every now and then he would say we make a film together but I said it was so expensive, ‘when I mention the producers they tremble’, and he said ‘but I do it for you even a little’. And in fact we had decided to work together again, now we will not be able anymore. It is a great pain. He was one of the most important Romans in the history of our city from an artistic point of view, a complete musician who gave us immortal, solemn and ironic soundtracks, they are a pride for our country in the world, it is no coincidence that many international authors have loved and chosen him, from De Palma to Joffé to Tarantino “.
The memory it holds?
“At the end of the final screening of White, Red and Greenfinch he gave me the 45 laps, which was not yet on the market and he wrote me a beautiful dedication in which he wished me success and told me that he had been proud to have worked with me, I keep it as a very valuable thing, because I have it esteemed as much. “
When were you last seen?
“A year ago. He was a man who lived in a world apart. We talked for a long time about Rome, he told me that it was always beautiful, ‘but you are always at home, there are many problems’, he said’ I now see her only from above and it always seems beautiful to me. “He was affectionate, but also reserved and able to say enough when they sought him too insistently or wanted to drag him to events. We spent a beautiful week full of very witty anecdotes. He told me about when , just come out For a bunch of dollars, he and Leone went in front of the cinema to see the flow of the audience; when they realized that the crowd was entering. They looked at each other: ‘Ce so cascati, ce so cascati’, and went to eat. I like to remember Ennio laughing and repeating ‘I know’ fell, ‘even though he knew they had made a masterpiece. “
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