Best Movie Music Composers
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A classmate of director Sergio Leone with whom he would form one of the great director/composer partnerships (right up there with Eisenstein & Prokofiev, Hitchcock & Herrmann, Fellini & Rota), Ennio Morricone studied at Rome's Santa Cecilia Conservatory, where he specialized in trumpet. His first film scores were relatively undistinguished, but he was hired by Leone for A Fistful of Dollars (1964) on the strength of some of his song arrangements. His score for that film, with its sparse arrangements, unorthodox instrumentation (bells, electric guitars, harmonicas, the distinctive twang of the jew's harp) and memorable tunes, revolutionized the way music would be used in Westerns, and it is hard to think of a post-Morricone Western score that doesn't in some way reflect his influence. Although his name will always be synonymous with the spaghetti Western, Morricone has also contributed to a huge range of other film genres: comedies, dramas, thrillers, horror films, romances, art movies, exploitation movies - making him one of the film world's most versatile artists. He has written nearly 400 film scores, so a brief summary is impossible, but his most memorable work includes the Leone films, Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers (1966) , Roland Joffé's The Mission (1986), Brian De Palma's The Untouchables (1987) and Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso (1988), plus a rare example of sung opening credits for Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Hawks and the Sparrows (1966).- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Riz Ortolani was born on 25 March 1926 in Pesaro, Marche, Italy. He was a composer and actor, known for Day of Anger (1967), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Festa di laurea (1985). He was married to Katina Ranieri. He died on 23 January 2014 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Born in Burano (Venice) in 1941, Pino Donaggio studied violin at the Conservatory of Venice and Milan.
After a period of adolescent performer of classical music with the Solisti Veneti and the Soloists of Milan, in 1959 he began to devote himself to the pop music that soon led to international success.
He has participated in ten editions of the Sanremo Festival getting a 3rd place in 1963 with the song "Giovane giovane" and a 4th place in 1966 with the song "Una casa in cima al mondo". His best-known song and performed is 1965 "Io che non vivo (senza te)" starring, among others, also by Elvis Presley.
Since 1973, Donaggio began gradually to abandon pop music to devote himself to composing music for films. In over forty years of activity it has put together more than two hundred soundtracks for the big and small screen, both in Italy and abroad.
He lives and works in Venice.- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
He studied piano and harmony at Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome. In 1957 he started playing light music, being the pianist of important singers such as Rita Pavone. In USA he studied jazz with Dave Brubeck. In 1966 he was called by Cam to compose his first soundtrack: The Bounty Killer, a film directed by Tomas Milian. After the good success, he was asked to compose other soundtracks, among which was A Man, A Horse And A Gun in 1967, which was recorded in the same year by Henry Mancini. Worldwide fame, however, came in 1970, when he composed the score for Anonymous Venetian. This score was a hit all over the world, receiving all the major awards, and is still considered one of the most famous Italian soundtracks. Another very important soundtrack is Tentacles, an American film interpreted by John Huston, Shelley Winters and Henry Fonda. Stelvio Cipriani has composed over 200 film scores, still continuing his activity.- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Gianni Ferrio was born on 16 November 1924 in Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. He was a composer, known for Inglourious Basterds (2009), Look Who's Back (2015) and The Adventurers (1970). He was married to Alba Arnova. He died on 21 October 2013 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Music Department
- Composer
- Special Effects
Bruno Nicolai was born on 26 May 1926 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a composer, known for Romeo and Juliet (1968), Django (1966) and Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019). He died on 16 August 1991 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
Born on the 14th March, 1947, Roy Budd the musician was entirely self-taught, and was hailed as a child prodigy. At the age of four he began to play the piano, initially by ear and then by copying various melodies he heard by listening to the radio. By the age of six he had appeared in public at The London Coliseum, at eight he had mastered a Wurlitzer organ and four years later was appearing on television, and before Royalty at The London Palladium. On the latter occasion, he was apparently so nervous that his piano solo was over at least a minute before the accompanying orchestra had finished!
During his teens he developed a taste for jazz and formed The Roy Budd Trio, with bassist Pete Morgan and drummer Chris Karan. On leaving school at the age of sixteen, he embarked on a professional career as a jazz pianist and was so successful he won a UK jazz poll in the category of best pianist for five years running. At the same time he became the resident pianist at the Bull's Head, Barnes, London and met up with songwriter Jack Fishman. Fishman was so impressed with his musical ability that he secured him a three-year recording contract with MCA, and although the company used their option to drop him after only a year, Fishman bet the MD that Budd would become an internationally renowned writer of film music - a bet he was soon to win.
In 1970, Budd duly made his début in the world of film music, but this was achieved in rather unusual circumstances. Hearing that director Ralph Nelson was looking for an English composer for his controversial film, Soldier Blue (1970), he was so keen to get the assignment, he put together a tape consisting of music composed by such greats as Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, Max Steiner, Dimitri Tiomkin and Lalo Schifrin, and sent it off to Nelson, with the claim that it was all his own work! Shrewdly, he didn't pick any of these composer's main themes, in case of arousing the director's suspicion, and, not surprisingly he got the job. Soldier Blue was filmed mainly in Mexico and was based to a large degree on a battle which took place at Sand Creek in 1864, when hundreds of Cheyenne Indians were brutally killed. Ironically, despite being intended as an 'anti-violence' Western, with the action showing the futility and horror of war, the film was heavily criticised for its violence - particularly the gory opening which was exceeded in blood-shed only by the climax. Apart from the main theme, which he based on Buffy Sainte-Marie's hit song of the same title, he composed all the music required for the film, but then encountered his second major difficulty. At the recording sessions, he found himself expected to conduct the 65-piece Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - a far cry from his jazz-club experiences! However, he followed the advice offered by Fishman, which was to never look back to the control room, and his first assignment was successfully completed.
The acclaim with which his score for Soldier Blue was greeted, led to many more opportunities in the genre, and during the following year he was able to score another six films. The first of these - Flight of the Doves (1971) - was, like Soldier Blue, directed by Ralph Nelson, but there was nothing controversial about this sentimental film, in which Ron Moody and Jack Wild were re-united following their huge impact together in Oliver! (1968). Next up for Budd was the score for a film which has since become something of a cult. Written and directed by Mike Hodges, Get Carter (1971) starred Michael Caine, John Osborne and Ian Hendry in a thoroughly violent story of a London based racketeer aiming to avenge his brother's death at the hands of Northern gangsters. Budd's music admirably suited the mood of the film, particularly his main theme, which incorporated the sounds of Caine's train journey to Newcastle. The film's budget reputedly allowed only 450 pounds for the score, but he overcame this restriction by using only three musicians, including Budd himself playing electric piano and harpsichord simultaneously.
Budd's innovative method of using the film's sound effects to complement his music, continued with Zeppelin (1971). Set during the First World War, this story of an attempt by the British to steal the secrets behind the infamous German airship was noted for its special effects. On this occasion, Budd took advantage of the distinctive sound of the Zeppelin's diesel-powered engine to introduce his own stirring main theme. When producer Euan Lloyd signed him to score the Western, Catlow (1971), it proved to be the start of an enduring relationship According to Lloyd, it was the film's director, former actor Sam Wanamaker who wanted Budd for the music, having been very impressed with his work on Soldier Blue. Lloyd was not familiar with his work but was able to find an Elstree cinema that were showing the film, some time after its release, and despite a poor sound system in the cinema, he heard enough to convince him that Wanamaker's judgement was sound. Catlow, the first of six films (Paper Tiger (1975), The Wild Geese (1978), The Sea Wolves (1980), The Final Option (1982) and Wild Geese II (1985) were the others) on which Budd worked with Lloyd, starred Yul Brynner in the title role, Leonard Nimoy as bounty hunter Miller, who is set on hounding Catlow to his death, and Richard Crenna as Ben Cowan - once on the opposite side to Catlow in the American Civil War, but now his friend and partner. An authorised recording of the musical soundtrack, consisting of just seven cues, was released only in Japan, but Budd's main theme was also recorded for Pye Records.
The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins (1971) was produced and directed by comedian Graham Stark. This film apparently had all the right credentials for box-office success, its writers including those with vast previous success on television, together with a cast consisting of the cream of British comedy actors. Despite all this, however, the film didn't exactly set the box-office alight, being more of a series of sketches - not all of them new - than a complete story-line. Just two cuts of Roy Budd's score, which was co-written with Jack Fishman, found their way onto record - 'Envy, Greed An' Gluttony' and 'Lust'. Something to Hide (1972) was written and directed by Alistair Reid based on the original novel by Nicholas Monsarrat, and starred Peter Finch as Harry; a civil servant who kills and buries his wife, then goes slowly to pieces. Budd once again teamed up with Jack Fishman for the music, but his magnificent 'Concerto For Harry' was entirely his own composition and was the saving grace of a rather forgettable film.
Fear Is the Key (1972) was a faithful film version of an Alistair MacLean novel, directed by Michael Tuchner, starring Suzy Kendall, Barry Newman, John Vernon, Ben Kingsley and Ray McAnally. The story-line was about a man who lays an elaborate plot to track down the killers of his wife and children, who die in a plane crash. When recording the score, Budd returned to his jazz roots by engaging the services of players of the calibre of Ronnie Scott, Tubby Hayes and Kenny Baker. In fact, it was Scott, the legendary jazz-club owner, who played solo sax for the lengthy car chase sequence which took place alongside the Mississippi River. According to director Tuchner, this sequence needed to be recorded in a continuous ten minute plus take, whilst hitting split-second action cues so as to blend perfectly with the chase sound effects. Budd and his orchestra achieved this (on "Car Chase") in just two takes!
During the remainder of the seventies, Budd continued to work on films of widely different style and nature, which gave him the opportunity to utilise his considerable gift for diversity. Outstanding amongst these were The Stone Killer (1973), The Destructors (1974) and The Black Windmill (1974) (two more Michael Caine films), Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) and the aforementioned Paper Tiger and The Wild Geese.
Moving on to the eighties, his film work also included the scores for Mama Dracula (1980) and Field of Honor (1986), but he didn't restrict himself to this genre. Returning to his first love, he played regular jazz gigs at 'Duke's Bar' in Marylebone, London; as well as partnering veteran harmonica player Larry Adler. He also arranged for and accompanied such artists as Bob Hope, Tony Bennett, Charles Aznavour and Caterina Valente (who became his first wife) in concerts all around the world. But perhaps his most ambitious project was that completed shortly before his death. His symphonic score for the 1925 silent film classic - The Phantom of the Opera (1925)- written for an eighty-piece orchestra, was recorded and seems likely
Roy Budd died from a brain haemorrhage on the 7th August 1993 at the tragically early age of 46. Fortunately for devotees of film music, during a relatively short career he managed to cram in over fifty films, several of which found their way onto LPs and latterly CDs.- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Armando Trovajoli was born on 2 September 1917 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a composer and actor, known for Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), A Special Day (1977) and Get Smart (2008). He was married to Maria Paola Trovajoli and Pier Angeli. He died on 1 March 2013 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Composer
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- Soundtrack
Brian May rates highly as one of the best film music composers in the history of Australian cinema. May's scores are distinguished by their full, rich and supremely melodic orchestration. Brian was born on July 28, 1934 in Adelaide, South Australia. He studied as a pianist, violinist and conductor at the Adelaide Elder Conservatorium. May joined the ABC Adelaide in 1957 so he could form and conduct the well-regarded ensemble the ABC Adelaide Big Band. At age 35 Brian moved to Melbourne to become the conductor and arranger of the ABC's Melbourne Show band. Brian began his career providing the themes for such TV programs as "Bellbird," "Countdown," and "New Wave" prior to breaking into the movie business. His score for the dramatic series "Rush" in particular is considered one of his finest musical accomplishments. Brian achieved his greatest commercial success with the thrilling and powerful scores for the first two "Mad Max" futuristic science fiction action features, supplying raw, potent and thunderous music which added immensely to the on-screen drama and excitement. May deservedly received an Australian Film Institute Award for his outstanding work on "Mad Max." His scores for "Roadgames," "Mad Max 2," and "Frog Dreaming" were also nominated for Australian Film Institute Awards for Best Score. Brian collaborated on four pictures with director Richard Franklin: ""The True Story of Eskimo Nell," "Patrick," "Roadgames," and "Cloak & Dagger." (Franklin originally wanted to work with May again on "Psycho II," but wound up ultimately using Jerry Goldsmith instead.) Moreover, Brian provided the music for a handful of movies made by producer Anthony I. Ginnane: "Patrick," "Snapshot," "Harlequin," "The Survivor," "The Race for the Yankee Zephyr," and "Turkey Shoot." May composed the chillingly effective scores for the horror films "Nightmares," "Blood Moon," "Dr. Giggles," and "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare." Brian May died at age 62 from a heart attack on April 25, 1997.- Music Department
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- Actor
The man behind the low woodwinds that open Citizen Kane (1941), the shrieking violins of Psycho (1960), and the plaintive saxophone of Taxi Driver (1976) was one of the most original and distinctive composers ever to work in film. He started early, winning a composition prize at the age of 13 and founding his own orchestra at the age of 20. After writing scores for Orson Welles's radio shows in the 1930s (including the notorious 1938 "The War of the Worlds" broadcast), he was the obvious choice to score Welles's film debut, Citizen Kane (1941), and, subsequently, The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), although he removed his name from the latter after additional music was added without his (or Welles's) consent when the film was mutilated by a panic-stricken studio. Herrmann was a prolific film composer, producing some of his most memorable work for Alfred Hitchcock, for whom he wrote nine scores. A notorious perfectionist and demanding (he once said that most directors didn't have a clue about music, and he blithely ignored their instructions--like Hitchcock's suggestion that Psycho (1960) have a jazz score and no music in the shower scene). He ended his partnership with Hitchcock after the latter rejected his score for Torn Curtain (1966) on studio advice. He was also an early experimenter in the sounds used in film scores, most famously The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), scored for two theremins, pianos, and a horn section; and was a consultant on the electronic sounds created by Oskar Sala on the mixtrautonium for The Birds (1963). His last score was for Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976) and died just hours after recording it. He also wrote an opera, "Wuthering Heights", and a cantata, "Moby Dick".