This week’s Classic Ross Amico crossword honors the life and career of Ennio Morricone, who died on Monday at the age of 91. The composer of over 500 film and television scores, Morricone was likely the most prolific film composer of all time, but he also left his mark on the classical and popular worlds. For a “film composer,” he was unusually influential.
To fill out the puzzle, follow the link and select “solve online” at the bottom of the page. You’ll then be able to type directly into the squares. Once you feel you’ve exhausted the puzzle, you’ll find the solutions by clicking on “Answer Key PDF.”
Celebrate the composer of “The Mission,” “The Untouchables,” “Cinema Paradiso,” “Once Upon a Time in the West,” and “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” With Ennio, it was all good.
A sad day for anyone who loves the movies. Ennio Morricone is dead.
The composer of over 500 film and television scores, he was likely the most prolific film composer of all time.
Although he has always been very popular in America, and around the world, with tributes pouring in over the decades from both pop and classical artists, acknowledgment from the Hollywood establishment came only fairly recently. He received a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in 2016, the same year he won his only competitive Academy Award, for his score to Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight.” By then, he was 87 years-old. (He was nominated five other times, the first in 1979.) Earlier, he received an honorary Oscar, for lifetime achievement, in 2007.
Of course, Morricone never needed Hollywood to confirm his greatness. He churned out score after score from his home in Rome, and always supplied his own orchestrations – by no means standard practice in the film industry. The sheer volume of his output ensured that he left his mark on nearly every genre, but none more indelibly than the western. His collaborations in the form with director Sergio Leone – especially “A Fistful of Dollars,” “For a Few Dollars More,” “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” and “Once Upon a Time in the West” – made him internationally famous.
His music for “The Mission,” “The Untouchables,” and “Cinema Paradiso” also remains popular. His melodies are much appropriated by figure skaters, television commercials, and by the movies themselves. His music has been quoted or reused in over 150 films, in which he has had absolutely no involvement. Even in instances in which the movies were absolutely atrocious, Morricone could be counted on to draw on his unfailing professionalism, infusing the ridiculous with dramatic tension and often heartbreaking lyricism.
No word on whether or not he was able to follow through on his commitment to write music for the 2026 Olympic Games in Milano Cortina.
Morricone was 91 years-old. One of the last of the legends is gone.
This week on “Picture Perfect,” we’ll stick a feather in our cap and call it Morricone.
Ennio Morricone, author of over 500 film and television scores, is perhaps the most prolific movie composer of all time. Tomorrow will mark his 90th birthday(!).
We’ll celebrate this extraordinary artist by revisiting some of his most indelible inspirations, including selections from “Cinema Paradiso” (1988), “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966), “The Mission” (1986), “Once Upon a Time in the West” (1968), “Navajo Joe” (1966), “The Untouchables” (1987), and his Academy Award winning music for “The Hateful Eight” (2015).
I’d hate for you to miss it. Join me this Friday evening at 6:00 EST, as we salute Italy’s maestro of the movies. It’s Morricone at 90, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
He’s written music for over 500 movies and television shows, making him the most prolific film composer of all time. He’s composed for movies of all quality, from schlock to Oscar fare. His music is constantly sampled and recycled in other films, especially those of Quentin Tarantino. The upcoming western, “The Hateful Eight,” scheduled for release in January, marks the first genuine collaboration between the two, with Morricone providing his first western score in forty years.
Of course, he virtually invented the spaghetti western sound, with its whistles, harmonicas, jew’s harps, whip cracks and indecipherable chanting choruses. His score for “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” is among the most famous of all time. But he’s shown himself to be equally adept at a winning lyricism, as evidenced by his music for “The Mission” (another favorite of figure skaters) and “Cinema Paradiso.”
Morricone is one of those rare composers in the industry who does all of his own orchestrations. Somewhere along the way, he manages to write concert music, too.
Happy birthday, Ennio Morricone, 87 years old today.
