Giovanni Rota Rinaldi (3 December 1911 – 10 April 1979), better known as Ni… Read Full Bio ↴Giovanni Rota Rinaldi (3 December 1911 – 10 April 1979), better known as Nino Rota, was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor and academic who is best known for his film scores, notably for the films of Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti. He also composed the music for two of Franco Zeffirelli's Shakespeare films, and for the first two films of Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather trilogy, receiving the Academy Award for Best Original Score for The Godfather Part II (1974).
During his long career, Rota was an extraordinarily prolific composer, especially of music for the cinema. He wrote more than 150 scores for Italian and international productions from the 1930s until his death in 1979—an average of three scores each year over a 46-year period, and in his most productive period from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s he wrote as many as ten scores every year, and sometimes more, with a remarkable thirteen film scores to his credit in 1954. Alongside this great body of film work, he composed ten operas, five ballets and dozens of other orchestral, choral and chamber works, the best known being his string concerto. He also composed the music for many theatre productions by Visconti, Zeffirelli and Eduardo De Filippo as well as maintaining a long teaching career at the Liceo Musicale in Bari, Italy, where he was the director for almost 30 years.
Rota was born Giovanni Rota Rinaldi on 3 December 1911, into a musical family in Milan. Rota was a renowned child prodigy—his first oratorio, L'infanzia di San Giovanni Battista, was written at age 11 and performed in Milan and Paris as early as 1923; his three-act lyrical comedy after Hans Christian Andersen, Il Principe Porcaro, was composed when he was just 13 and published in 1926. He studied at the Milan conservatory there under Giacomo Orefice and then undertook serious study of composition under Ildebrando Pizzetti and Alfredo Casella at the Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome, graduating in 1930.
Encouraged by Arturo Toscanini, Rota moved to the United States where he lived from 1930 to 1932. He won a scholarship to the Curtis Institute of Philadelphia, where he was taught conducting by Fritz Reiner and had Rosario Scalero as an instructor in composition. Returning to Milan, he wrote a thesis on the Renaissance composer Gioseffo Zarlino. Rota earned a degree in literature from the University of Milan, graduating in 1937, and began a teaching career that led to the directorship of the Liceo Musicale in Bari, a title he held from 1950 until 1978.
Rota had one daughter, Nina Rota, from a relationship with pianist Magda Longari. He died, age 67, from a coronary thrombosis in Rome.
During his long career, Rota was an extraordinarily prolific composer, especially of music for the cinema. He wrote more than 150 scores for Italian and international productions from the 1930s until his death in 1979—an average of three scores each year over a 46-year period, and in his most productive period from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s he wrote as many as ten scores every year, and sometimes more, with a remarkable thirteen film scores to his credit in 1954. Alongside this great body of film work, he composed ten operas, five ballets and dozens of other orchestral, choral and chamber works, the best known being his string concerto. He also composed the music for many theatre productions by Visconti, Zeffirelli and Eduardo De Filippo as well as maintaining a long teaching career at the Liceo Musicale in Bari, Italy, where he was the director for almost 30 years.
Rota was born Giovanni Rota Rinaldi on 3 December 1911, into a musical family in Milan. Rota was a renowned child prodigy—his first oratorio, L'infanzia di San Giovanni Battista, was written at age 11 and performed in Milan and Paris as early as 1923; his three-act lyrical comedy after Hans Christian Andersen, Il Principe Porcaro, was composed when he was just 13 and published in 1926. He studied at the Milan conservatory there under Giacomo Orefice and then undertook serious study of composition under Ildebrando Pizzetti and Alfredo Casella at the Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome, graduating in 1930.
Encouraged by Arturo Toscanini, Rota moved to the United States where he lived from 1930 to 1932. He won a scholarship to the Curtis Institute of Philadelphia, where he was taught conducting by Fritz Reiner and had Rosario Scalero as an instructor in composition. Returning to Milan, he wrote a thesis on the Renaissance composer Gioseffo Zarlino. Rota earned a degree in literature from the University of Milan, graduating in 1937, and began a teaching career that led to the directorship of the Liceo Musicale in Bari, a title he held from 1950 until 1978.
Rota had one daughter, Nina Rota, from a relationship with pianist Magda Longari. He died, age 67, from a coronary thrombosis in Rome.
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Ryan Greene
After careful study and consideration, I have concluded that the “Immigrant Theme” is the greatest movie theme of all time. I know that’s a bold claim, but it perfectly captures the romance and tragedy of the movie and the thrill, as well as reservations of coming to a new land to forget the past and look for a future that is both bright and nervously unknown. Vito came to live the American Dream, whether in the bright, but tough world of the working man or the dark underworld of the Mafia. A very dramatic, beautiful theme that a handful of movies have pulled off masterfully.
Finn's Cinema
I can't agree due to the existence of films such as Oldboy, Wolf Children, I Lost My Body and even biggies like Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings, not to mention Once Upon a Time in the West. In no way will there ever be ONE score or theme. That being said, this theme here is a phenomenal masterpiece without any question at all.
Vic Perez
@Finn's Cinema I would say the immigrant theme is better then all of those except for Once Upon A time in the west. The only reason I say that is the music is only half of it and the scene with the boat arriving at Ellis island passing the Statue of Liberty completes the piece.
Emperor
Why is there only 2 replies I feel like there should've been a huge debut about this anyways I guess I would have to say it is one of the best movie themes
Ryan Greene
@Emperor It’s definitely highly debatable, I’ll admit. I think Once Upon a Time in America comes close.
Dyutimoy Biswas
Among Italian themes, Ladri di biciclette is top of the lot
pls stop
0:00 - 0:37 The transition into the Godfather theme to Michael's theme is so goddamn brilliant I get chills every time. Nino Rota was such a masterful composer.
MJ
God bless you
Joy Mukherjee
Was?
pls stop
@Joy Mukherjee Yes. Nino Rota passed away roughly 42 years ago. I speak of him in the past tense, not the present.