Oscar-winning composer Ennio Morricone passes away at 91 in Rome; funeral will be a private affair, says lawyer

Oscar-winning composer Ennio Morricone died on 6 July in Rome at the age of 91. The musical maestro passed away after suffering a fall last week in which he broke his femur, according to his lawyer Giorgio Assumma, writes Reuters. The Italian musician has provided scores more than 400 films including The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West and The Hateful Eight. His name was most closely linked with the director Sergio Leone, with whom he worked on the Spaghetti Westerns as well as epic crime drama Once Upon a Time in America. Morricone’s music earned him a spot in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2009. The composer’s funeral will be a private affair “out of respect for the humility that inspired his whole life,“Assumma said. [caption id=“attachment_8564171” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Ennio Morricone. Image from Twitter @BFI[/caption] Morricone was born in Rome in the year 1928. He wrote his first composition when he was mere 6-year-old. The composer studied classical music and after completing his graduation, he began writing scores for theatre and radio. He was hired as an arranger by the label RCA in Italy and later Morricone also started writing for pop artists, according to The Guardian. The composer was conducting his orchestra till 2019. He sold more than 70 million albums. He was the recipient of three Grammy awards and six BAFTAs. Morricone’s career took off in 1970 in Hollywood. He went on to compose for directors such as Don Siegel, Mike Nichols, Brian De Palma, Barry Levinson, Oliver Stone, Warren Beatty and John Carpenter. The composer’s European collaborators included Bernardo Bertolucci, Roland Joffé, Roman Polanski and Henry Veneuil. Soon after the news of his death was made public, people took to social media to pay their tributes. Italian film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis said: “With Ennio Morricone goes a part of world cinema. His humility, combined with a greatness that he never flaunted, allowed him to support small and big movies, giving them a unique soul that made them perfect and unforgettable.” Writer-director Edgar Wright said Morricone could make “an average movie into a must see, a good movie into art, and a great movie into legend.” Here is Wright’s tweet

Where to even begin with iconic composer Ennio Morricone? He could make an average movie into a must see, a good movie into art, and a great movie into legend. He hasn't been off my stereo my entire life. What a legacy of work he leaves behind. RIP. https://t.co/qZX6qE10ke

— edgarwright (@edgarwright) July 6, 2020

Morricone is survived by his wife Maria, his three sons Andrea, a composer and conductor, Giovanni and Marco and his daughter Alessandra. (With inputs from Reuters)