Ennio Morricone has passed away the age of 91, with his fellow composer Hans Zimmer describing him an icon that will last forever.
The Academy Award winner composed some of the most famous scores in cinema history, including numerous Sergio Leone Spaghetti Westerns, such as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, not to mention the likes of The Mission and Cinema Paradiso.
Speaking about his peer on BBC Breakfast, Hans Zimmer said:
I am devastated by this news because Ennio was an icon and icons just don't go away, icons are there forever, and it really has taken me by surprise. I saw him about a year ago, he seemed strong, he was conducting at the O2.
I mean, come on, you've got film music at the o2, that's a major achievement. And it wasn't just the music he wrote for Spaghetti Westerns; think about The Mission, think about Once Upon A Time In America, what beautiful music that truly was.
“Ennio was an icon and icons just don’t go away"
On #BBCBreakfast composer @HansZimmer reflects on the death of the film and TV music composer Ennio Morricone.https://t.co/poOdCpb3a2 pic.twitter.com/Azliaelk0N— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) July 6, 2020
Morricone's ubiquitous scores brought a whole host of films to life, with Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood's 'Man With No Name' triology the perfect example of his genius. Morricone also composed the music to Leone's Once Upon A Time In The West, a movie which had a profound impact on Zimmer:
I was a huge fan of course, he was a major influence on me. The first movie I ever saw was Once Upon A Time In The West. I heard that music and I saw those images, and I went "That's what I want to do."
Sometimes he worked on no such great movies but his music was always outstanding and done with great emotional fortitude and great intellectual thought.
The Italian legend passed away following complications from a fall he suffered last week. Six times nominated for the Oscar for "Best Original Score," Morricone won the award for Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight in 2016. He also won an Honorary Academy Award in 2007.
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Ennio Morricone Image: Dziurek / Shutterstock.com
