Famed Italian Composer Ennio Morricone has passed away at 91. Last week, representatives for Morricone indicated that he was hospitalized after he fell and fractured his femur. He died Monday morning, the 6th of July, in Rome.
The Oscar-winning maestro wrote famous film scores for Directors such as Sergio Leone, Terrence Malick, John Carpenter, Quentin Tarantino, and many more.
In particular, Morricone’s work on spaghetti western soundtracks for Sergio Leone’s 1960s Fistful of Dollars trilogy starring Clint East helped to define the genre and made an unparalleled impact on pop culture.
Morricone also scored John Carpenter’s The Thing. for which NYC-based post-punk label Sacred Bones recently released the LP Lost Cues: The Thing, earlier this year.
Morricone’s influence on music can not be overstated. For example, The introductory track to Fields of the Nephilim’s Dawnrazer contains a sample of the Morricone theme “Man with the Harmonica” from Sergio Leone’s epic 1968 western film Once Upon a Time in the West.
New Order’s Bernard Sumner had this to say about Morricone’s passing:
“I saw with great sadness that one of my musical heroes, Ennio Morricone has passed away today. His music introduced me to albums and the first album I ever bought was one of his. He made beautiful emotional music and was the master of melody.”
The Cult’s Guitarist Billy Duffy, who wore Morricone’s influence on his sleeve while playing guitar on the Theatre of Hate single, “The Hop”, also paid his respects:
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