Since 1946 Morricone composed over 500 scores for cinema and television, as well as over 100 classical works. His filmography includes over 70 award-winning films, including all Sergio Leone films since A Fistful of Dollars (including For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West and Once Upon a Time in America), all Giuseppe Tornatore films (since Cinema Paradiso), The Battle of Algiers, the Animal Trilogy, 1900, Exorcist II, Days of Heaven, several major films in French cinema, in particular the comedy trilogy La Cage aux Folles I, II, III and Le Professionnel, The Thing, The Mission, The Untouchables, Mission to Mars, Bugsy, Disclosure, In the Line of Fire, Bulworth, Ripley's Game and The Hateful Eight.
After playing the trumpet in jazz bands in the 1940s, he became a studio arranger for RCA Victor and in 1955 started ghost writing for film and theatre. Throughout his career, he composed music for artists such as Paul Anka, Mina, Milva, Zucchero and Andrea Bocelli. From 1960 to 1975, Morricone gained international fame for composing music for westerns. His score to 1966's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is considered one of the most influential soundtracks in history and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. With an estimated 10 million copies sold, Once Upon a Time in the West is one of the best-selling scores worldwide. He also scored seven westerns for Sergio Corbucci, Duccio Tessari's Ringo duology and Sergio Sollima's The Big Gundown and Face to Face. Morricone worked extensively for other film genres with directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci, Mauro Bolognini, Giuliano Montaldo, Roland Joffé, Roman Polanski and Henri Verneuil. His acclaimed soundtrack for The Mission (1986) was certified gold in the United States. The album Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone stayed 105 weeks on the Billboard Top Classical Albums.
Morricone's best-known compositions include "The Ecstasy of Gold", "Se Telefonando", "Man with a Harmonica", "Here's to You", the UK No. 2 single "Chi Mai", "Gabriel's Oboe" and "E Più Ti Penso". He functioned during the period 1966–1980 as a main member of Il Gruppo, one of the first experimental composers collectives. In 1969, he co-founded Forum Music Village, a prestigious recording studio. From the 1970s, Morricone excelled in Hollywood, composing for prolific American directors such as Don Siegel, Mike Nichols, Brian De Palma, Barry Levinson, Oliver Stone, Warren Beatty and Quentin Tarantino. In 1977, he composed the official theme for the 1978 FIFA World Cup. He continued to compose music for European productions, such as Marco Polo, La Piovra, Nostromo, Fateless, Karol and En mai, fais ce qu'il te plait. Morricone's music has been reused in television series, including The Simpsons and The Sopranos, and in many films, including Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained.
As of 2013, Ennio Morricone has sold over 70 million records worldwide. In 1971, he received a "Targa d'Oro" for the worldwide sales of 22 million.[8] In 2007, he received the Academy Honorary Award "for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music." He has been nominated for a further six Oscars. In 2016, Morricone received his first Academy Award for his score to Quentin Tarantino's film The Hateful Eight (2015), becoming the oldest person ever to win an Oscar. His other achievements include three Grammy Awards, three Golden Globes, six BAFTAs, ten David di Donatello, eleven Nastro d'Argento, two European Film Awards, the Golden Lion Honorary Award and the Polar Music Prize in 2010. He died in his home city of Rome, Italy in 2020 at the age of 91, leaving a grand legacy behind him.
Morricone: La Califfa
Ennio Morricone Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Through your broken words at me
A flower fair, a whisper in the air
Your heart is blind to all that I see
You say love is like the tide
Nothing lasts for all of time
But I believe that love is here with me
Tu ritroverai con me
La più splendida proprietà
Un attimo di sole sopra noi
Alla ricerca di te
Un attimo di sole sopra noi
Alla ricerca di te
The lyrics of Ennio Morricone & Milva's song La Califfa describe a one-sided love that isn't being reciprocated as it should. The singer feels like she's constantly been overlooked and not seen by the one she loves. She's expressing the fact that her love for this person is true and eternal, whereas he claims that love is like the tide and nothing lasts forever. The singer tries to appeal to the person she loves by saying that they'll find the most beautiful property with her, and they'll search for each other under the sun. She's trying to find a way to convince him to stay and love her like she wants.
The song is full of emotion and depth. La Califfa translates to "The Lady Caliph," who was a medieval female leader renowned for her great beauty and strength. The song was written for the 1970 Italian film La Califfa, which followed the romance between a wealthy widower and a poor radical pacifist who incites the worker oppression.
Line by Line Meaning
You look down and all you see
You have lost hope and can only see darkness and despair
Through your broken words at me
Even though you cannot express yourself properly, you are still trying to communicate with me
A flower fair, a whisper in the air
Love is delicate and elusive, like a beautiful flower or a soft whisper
Your heart is blind to all that I see
You are unable to understand my perspective or feelings
You say love is like the tide
You believe that love is fleeting and temporary, like the ebb and flow of the ocean
Nothing lasts for all of time
You are convinced that nothing beautiful or meaningful can endure forever
But I believe that love is here with me
Despite your doubts, I have faith that love is real and exists within us
And for eternity
Love is not limited by time or space, it is eternal and everlasting
Tu ritroverai con me
You will find yourself again with me
La più splendida proprietà
In my eyes, you are the most precious possession
Un attimo di sole sopra noi
A moment of sunshine above us
Alla ricerca di te
We are searching for each other, trying to find our way back to love
Un attimo di sole sopra noi
A moment of sunshine above us
Alla ricerca di te
We are still searching for each other, hoping to reconnect and reignite our love
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Ennio Morricone
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@dapunisher62583
I feel this is the most beautiful melody ever composed. Morricone time and again composed scores that no one ever came close to surpassing. Williams has the most iconic themes, yes, but as far as beauty goes, nobody comes close to Ennio.
@micheledaubin5659
Ok
@arupian666
I'm crying like baby listening to this.
R.I.P Maestro. The Mozart of our times.
@clansymbiont8688
Save your tears for death and mayhem. Crying at stuffed animals and gum drops doesn't make you sensitive, just overly dramatic.
@italianguy9449
@Clan Symbiont he cry for the Lost of Ennio Morricone
@dariocarellario7023
@Clan Symbiont We are all crying for his death
@TheMax6269
yes sir,I think same...
@alexandrua5596
I’m crying too! It’s not fair! Sometimes God is a DJ! 😒
@arvstephenson1107
Ennio Morricone - A musical genius has left us with a magnificent legacy.
@alessandrodefrancesco1728
😓😓😓