Favourite Euro Western Composers
Though most of the Western movies made in Europe were Italian, often we have several countries involved, from the staff to the filming location. So, besides the composers for the Italo or "Spaghetti Western", you also find some Germans here, for "Sauerkraut Western" (West Germany) and "Indianerfilme" (East Germany).
No ranking, just sorted First Name / Family Name.
Personal favourites are Francesco de Masi for the Italian section, Martin Böttcher for the German section, and as always Maestro Morricone.
Ennio Morricone made the genre famous, but please consider that he has done around 25 scores for Western movies (only), while all in all he composed around 500 (!) soundtracks to all kind of movie genres. So, he does not deserve to be classified as Italo Western music composer only.
Thanks for checking, enjoy.
No ranking, just sorted First Name / Family Name.
Personal favourites are Francesco de Masi for the Italian section, Martin Böttcher for the German section, and as always Maestro Morricone.
Ennio Morricone made the genre famous, but please consider that he has done around 25 scores for Western movies (only), while all in all he composed around 500 (!) soundtracks to all kind of movie genres. So, he does not deserve to be classified as Italo Western music composer only.
Thanks for checking, enjoy.
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A classmate of director Sergio Leone with whom he would form one of the great director/composer partnerships (right up there with Eisenstein & Prokofiev, Hitchcock & Herrmann, Fellini & Rota), Ennio Morricone studied at Rome's Santa Cecilia Conservatory, where he specialized in trumpet. His first film scores were relatively undistinguished, but he was hired by Leone for A Fistful of Dollars (1964) on the strength of some of his song arrangements. His score for that film, with its sparse arrangements, unorthodox instrumentation (bells, electric guitars, harmonicas, the distinctive twang of the jew's harp) and memorable tunes, revolutionized the way music would be used in Westerns, and it is hard to think of a post-Morricone Western score that doesn't in some way reflect his influence. Although his name will always be synonymous with the spaghetti Western, Morricone has also contributed to a huge range of other film genres: comedies, dramas, thrillers, horror films, romances, art movies, exploitation movies - making him one of the film world's most versatile artists. He has written nearly 400 film scores, so a brief summary is impossible, but his most memorable work includes the Leone films, Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers (1966) , Roland Joffé's The Mission (1986), Brian De Palma's The Untouchables (1987) and Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso (1988), plus a rare example of sung opening credits for Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Hawks and the Sparrows (1966).- Music Department
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Alessandro Alessandroni was born in Rome. He came to fame for playing the guitar and "the whistle" theme on Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars (1964) on music composed by Ennio Morricone. Alessandroni started playing at age 11. When still a teenager, he formed a band playing in several venues in Italy and he was already fond of guitar, piano, sax, flute and other instruments. After graduating from the Conservatory in Rome, he was discovered by Nino Rota who wanted him in his orchestra. Already known within Cinecittà for his whistling ability, he was called by Morricone to work on "A Fistfull of Dollars". Their collaboration continued on For a Few Dollars More (1965), The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) and _Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)_. Always in 1968, Alessandroni was called by composer Piero Umiliani to perform on _Sweden: Heaven and Hell (1968)_. For the movie, Alessandroni, together with his wife Giulia, provided the vocals for the song "Mah Nà Mah Nà" that became instantly both a hit and a catchphrase and it has since been often used in several sketches worldwide like in The Red Skelton Hour (1951), Sesame Street (1969), The Muppet Show (1976), The Benny Hill Show (1969).- Composer
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Amedeo Tommasi was born on 1 December 1935 in Trieste, Italy. He was a composer, known for The Legend of 1900 (1998), The House with Laughing Windows (1976) and Sleepless (2001). He died on 13 April 2021 in Rome, Italy.- Composer
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- Editor
André Hossein was born on 2 February 1905 in Echghabad, Iran. He was a composer and editor, known for Train d'enfer (1965), Scorching Sands (1963) and Les yeux cernés (1964). He died on 9 August 1983 in Paris, France.- Composer
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He graduated in violin and composition at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan (Italy), Lavagnino deserves a special place in film music for his contribution to documentaries. He gave reportages a new dimension; he did not elaborate folkloristic themes, neither he passively adapts the instruments of a certain musical civilization: he identifies the elements that characterize a country under the "sound profile" and gives a plausible equivalent. For this aim, Lavagnino uses all the possibilities given by modern technology, his goal is to "build" a sound. The main collaborator of a musician is no more the orchestra director, but the sound engineer. This attitude did not prevent Lavagnino from producing great orchestra music. In the classical field, he wrote a Concert for violin and orchestra and a Mass for chorus and orchestra. He began composing for cinema in 1951, for film director Orson Welles' Othello. Since then, he wrote music for hundreds of films, among which: Nero's Weekend (Nero's Mistress (1956)) with Gloria Swanson and Brigitte Bardot, The Naked Maja (1958) with Ava Gardner, Imperial Venus (Imperial Venus (1962)) with Gina Lollobrigida, Falstaff (Chimes at Midnight (1965)) directed by and starring Orson Welles, and many others.- Composer
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Antón García Abril was born on 19 May 1933 in Teruel, Aragón, Spain. He was a composer, known for No le busques tres pies... (1968), La fiel infantería (1960) and Los pájaros de Baden-Baden (1975). He was married to Aurea Ruiz. He died on 17 March 2021 in Madrid, Spain.- Music Department
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Armando Sciascia was born on 16 June 1920 in Lanciano, Abruzzo, Italy. He was a composer and actor, known for L'uomo che bruciò il suo cadavere (1964), Per un dollaro a Tucson si muore (1965) and Adolescenti al sole (1964). He died on 23 June 2017 in Connecticut, USA.- Composer
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Armando Trovajoli was born on 2 September 1917 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a composer and actor, known for Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), A Special Day (1977) and Get Smart (2008). He was married to Maria Paola Trovajoli and Pier Angeli. He died on 1 March 2013 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Composer
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Augusto Martelli was born on 15 March 1940 in Genoa, Liguria, Italy. He was a composer and actor, known for Nella misura in cui... (1979), The Spider's Stratagem (1970) and Per amore o per forza (1971). He died on 3 November 2014 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.- Composer
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Benedetto Ghiglia was born on 27 December 1921 in Fiesole, Tuscany, Italy. He was a composer, known for Espionage in Tangiers (1965), Secret Agent Super Dragon (1966) and I tulipani di Haarlem (1970). He died on 4 July 2012 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Composer
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Berto Pisano was born on 13 October 1928 in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. He was a composer, known for Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! (1971), Death Smiles on a Murderer (1973) and The Big Blackout (1966). He died on 29 January 2002 in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy.- Music Department
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Bruno Nicolai was born on 26 May 1926 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a composer, known for Romeo and Juliet (1968), Django (1966) and Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019). He died on 16 August 1991 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Composer
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Carlos Pes was born on 3 March 1927 in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. He was a composer and actor, known for About Time (2013), 21 (2008) and Ocean's Twelve (2004). He died on 24 December 1999 in Bellagio, Italy.- Composer
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Carlo Rustichelli was born on 24 December 1916 in Carpi, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. He was a composer, known for Man of Straw (1958), L'armata Brancaleone (1966) and The Facts of Murder (1959). He was married to Elvira Zecchino. He died on 13 November 2004 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Music Department
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Carlo Savina was born on 2 August 1919 in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. He was a composer and actor, known for The Brothers Bloom (2008), Sixteen Candles (1984) and The Tenant (1976). He died on 23 June 2002 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Composer
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Coriolano Gori was born on 7 March 1927 in Cervia, Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. He was a composer, known for Kindar the Invulnerable (1965), Massacre Time (1966) and Karzan, il favoloso uomo della jungla (1972). He died on 1 December 1982 in Terracina, Lazio, Italy.- Composer
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Daniele Patucchi was born in 1945 in Turin, Italy. He was a composer, known for Warrior of the Lost World (1983), Il sorriso del ragno (1971) and Jugando con la muerte (1982). He died on 27 July 2015 in Rome, Italy.- Composer
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Egisto Macchi was born on 4 August 1928 in Grosseto, Italy. He was a composer, known for Ocean's Twelve (2004), Miss Lovely (2012) and Avenger of the Seven Seas (1962). He died on 4 August 1992 in Montpellier, France.- Composer
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Elsio Mancuso is known for Golden Chameleon (1967).- Composer
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Erwin Halletz was born on 12 July 1923 in Vienna, Austria. He was a composer, known for Siebenmal in der Woche (1957), Uneasy Summer (1967) and Die ganze Welt ist himmelblau (1964). He was married to Nina Konsta. He died on 27 October 2008 in Vienna, Austria.- Composer
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Born in Rome, he studied composition at the Neapolitan Conservatory "S. Pietro a Majella" under the direction of M° Achille Longo then proceeded to study orchestra direction at the Chigiana Academy in Siena with Paul Van Kempen and Franco Ferrara. He also graduated in horn, after having studied with Domenico Ceccarossi. He then took part in the "A. Scarlatti" Orchestra of Naples and in the Rome Symphonic Orchestra of RAI TV. In 1968 he won the "Review" award of young conductors sponsored by RAI, and since then he has been very active in conducting concerts and operas in Italy and abroad. In 1974 he held the chair of orchestra rehearsals at the Conservatory "S. Pietro a Majella" in Naples where, since 1983, he has been teaching orchestra direction. He has been teaching at the "S. Cecilia" Conservatory of Rome since 1989.
He has recorded many discs with music by Boccherini, Mozart, Ciaikovsky, Honegger, Chausson, Beethoven, C. Nielsen, V. Caracciolo. He is the director of the "Roma Symphonia" orchestra. In the field of film soundtracks he began his activity in the 1950s composing music for a few documentaries and feature films. In 1955 he attended a course in film music taught by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino at the Chigiana Academy in Siena, and later became his assistant, collaborating with him on several major films. In 1957 he started his collaboration with Folco Quilici, first on some documentaries, then on the following films: "Dagli Appennini alle Ande" followed by "Ti-koyo e il suo Pescecane" and on several TV series such as "Firenze 1000 Giorni", "L'Uomo Europeo", "Festa Barocca", "Grandepoque", "Archivi del Tempo", "Le Avventure del Capitano Cook", etc. He has composed scores to hundreds of cinematographic and TV documentaries and to more than 200 films, especially historical films and westerns, in Italy, Spain, Germany and the U.S..- Composer
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Franco Micalizzi was born on 21 December 1939 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is a composer, known for Death Proof (2007), Grindhouse (2007) and Django Unchained (2012).- Composer
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Franco Salina is known for Tutto sul rosso (1968), La clinica dell'amore (1976) and Churchill's Leopards (1970).- Composer
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German film and TV show composer Gert Wilden was born as Gert Wychodil on April 15, 1917 in Moravska Trebova, Czechoslovakia. Wilden studied conduction and composition at the Prague Conservatorium under the expert tutelage of George Szell, Fritz Rieger, and Fidelio Fincke. In the late 1940's Gert composed and arranged music for most German radio stations. In addition, Wilden worked as a ghost writer in collaboration with Michael Jary, H.M. Majewski, Alfred Newman, and Victor Young. He first began composing film scores in the mid-1950's. Gert was perhaps best known for providing the groovy, joyous and jaunty music for the notoriously naughty "Schoolgirl Report" lowbrow soft-core comedy features that were made throughout the 70s. Wilden has more than 50 movie scores to his credit in a diverse array of pictures in such genres as comedy, Western and even thrillers. Moreover, Gert has over 300 CDs and LPs on his resume as an arranger, composer, or producer. He headed the Bavarian Television Orchestra from 1961 to 1964. Wilden worked as an arranger and supervisor on music recordings for such artists as Hildegard Knef, Zarah Leander, Elke Sommer, Hans Albers, and Heinz Ruhmann. He was married to former actress and singer Trude Hofmeister; they are the parents of a son and a daughter. Gert resided in Munich and Tutzing at the Starnberger Lake. He died at age 98 on September 10, 2015 in Tutzing, Bavaria, Germany.- Composer
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Gianfranco Di Stefano is known for Giorni d'amore sul filo di una lama (1973), La figliastra (Storia di corna e di passione) (1976) and Giochi erotici di una famiglia per bene (1975).- Music Department
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Gianfranco Plenizio was born on 10 January 1941 in Sedegliano, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. He was a composer, known for 21 (2008), Joy (2015) and Hotel Rwanda (2004). He died on 7 February 2017 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Composer
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Gianfranco Reverberi was born on 12 December 1934 in Genoa, Liguria, Italy. He was a composer, known for Kick-Ass (2010), Boyhood (2014) and The Big Short (2015). He died on 8 January 2024 in Genoa, Liguria, Italy.- Composer
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Gianni Ferrio was born on 16 November 1924 in Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. He was a composer, known for Inglourious Basterds (2009), Look Who's Back (2015) and The Adventurers (1970). He was married to Alba Arnova. He died on 21 October 2013 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Composer
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Gianni Marchetti was born on 7 September 1933 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a composer, known for King of Africa (1968), The Killer Likes Candy (1968) and Colpo di stato (1969). He died on 10 April 2012 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Actor
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Gianni Meccia was born on 2 June 1931 in Ferrara, Italy. He is an actor and composer, known for About Time (2013), Decameron n° 3 - Le più belle donne del Boccaccio (1972) and Howlers of the Dock (1960).- Composer
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Gian Piero Reverberi was born on 29 July 1939 in Genoa, Italy. He is a composer and writer, known for Kick-Ass (2010), Boyhood (2014) and Horrible Bosses (2011). He has been married to Laura Giordano since 1963.- Gioacchino Angelo is known for Il vendicatore mascherato (1963), La vispa Teresa (1943) and Agguato sul mare (1955).
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Guido De Angelis was born on 22 December 1944 in Rocca di Papa, Lazio, Italy. He is a composer and producer, known for Yor: The Hunter from the Future (1983), Death Proof (2007) and All the Way Boys (1972).- Composer
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Günther Fischer was born on 23 June 1944 in Teplitz-Schönau, Sudetenland, Germany [now Teplice, Czech Republic]. He is a composer and actor, known for Solo Sunny (1980), The House on the River (1986) and Eolomea (1972).- Composer
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Hans-Dieter Hosalla was born on 8 December 1919 in Erfurt, Germany. He was a composer, known for The Divided Heaven (1964), Mother Courage and Her Children (1961) and Professor Mamlock (1961). He died on 18 August 1995 in Berlin, Germany.- Music Department
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Born on February 10, 1929, Jerry Goldsmith studied piano with Jakob Gimpel and composition, theory, and counterpoint with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. He also attended classes in film composition given by Miklós Rózsa at the Univeristy of Southern California. In 1950, he was employed as a clerk typist in the music department at CBS. There, he was given his first embryonic assignments as a composer for radio shows such as "Romance" and "CBS Radio Workshop". He wrote one score a week for these shows, which were performed live on transmission. He stayed with CBS until 1960, having already scored The Twilight Zone (1959). He was hired by Revue Studios to score their series Thriller (1960). It was here that he met the influential film composer Alfred Newman who hired Goldsmith to score the film Lonely Are the Brave (1962), his first major feature film score. An experimentalist, Goldsmith constantly pushed forward the bounds of film music: Planet of the Apes (1968) included horns blown without mouthpieces and a bass clarinetist fingering the notes but not blowing. He was unafraid to use the wide variety of electronic sounds and instruments which had become available, although he did not use them for their own sake.
He rose rapidly to the top of his profession in the early to mid-1960s, with scores such as Freud (1962), A Patch of Blue (1965) and The Sand Pebbles (1966). In fact, he received Oscar nominations for all three and another in the 1960s for Planet of the Apes (1968). From then onwards, his career and reputation was secure and he scored an astonishing variety of films during the next 30 years or so, from Patton (1970) to Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) and from Chinatown (1974) to The Boys from Brazil (1978). He received 17 Oscar nominations but won only once, for The Omen (1976) in 1977 (Goldsmith himself dismissed the thought of even getting a nomination for work on a "horror show"). He enjoyed giving concerts of his music and performed all over the world, notably in London, where he built up a strong relationship with London Symphony Orchestra.
Jerry Goldsmith died at age 75 on July 21, 2004 after a long battle with cancer.- Composer
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Karel Svoboda was born on 19 December 1938 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He was a composer and actor, known for Three Wishes for Cinderella (1973), Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea (1977) and How About a Plate of Spinach? (1977). He was married to Vendula Pizingerová and Hana Bohatová. He died on 28 January 2007 in Jevany, Czech Republic.- Composer
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Karl-Ernst Sasse was born on 5 December 1923 in Bremen, Germany. He was a composer and actor, known for Destiny (1921), The Last Laugh (1924) and Das Licht auf dem Galgen (1976). He was married to Inge Burg. He died on 12 November 2006 in Potsdam-Babelsberg, Brandenburg, Germany.- Composer
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Luis Bacalov was born on 30 August 1933 in San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was a composer and writer, known for The Postman (1994), Django Unchained (2012) and Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003). He died on 15 November 2017 in Rome, Italy.- Composer
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Manuel De Sica was born on 24 February 1949 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a composer and writer, known for The Icicle Thief (1989), Celluloide (1996) and Cemetery Man (1994). He was married to Tilde Corsi and Maria Lucia Langella. He died on 5 December 2014 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Composer
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Marcello Gigante is known for Un alibi per morire (1962), Wanted Johnny Texas (1967) and The Electric Chair (1969).- Composer
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Marcello Giombini was born on 24 July 1928 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a composer, known for Our Man in Jamaica (1965) and Mission Stardust (1967). He died on 12 December 2003 in Italy.- Composer
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Marcello Marrocchi is known for Black Milk (1999), Those Sweet Creatures (1970) and Pensiero d'amore (1969).- Composer
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Mario Migliardi was born on 31 May 1919 in Alessandria, Piedmont, Italy. He was a composer, known for The Price of Death (1971), Tharus figlio di Attila (1962) and It's Your Move (1968). He died in 2000 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Composer
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Böttcher was born 1927 in Berlin/Germany. After the second world war the young Böttcher began as solo guitarist at Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk. In the year 1955 he wrote the music for his first film Der Hauptmann und sein Held (1955). Already his next movie Teenage Wolfpack (1956), was a great artistic success for himself. He becomes one of the busiest composers for Cinema and TV in Germany. At the height of his career he made the music of 10 Karl-May-frontier-sagas in which actors Lex Barker and Pierre Brice are the central figures (1962-68). All in all Böttcher made the music for about 60 Films and 100 television productions. By turnes he lives on Sardinia and in Lugano. He shall also write the music for the new Winnetou" ZDF -televsion production with Pierre Brice.- Composer
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Maurizio De Angelis was born on 22 February 1947 in Rocca di Papa, Lazio, Italy. He is a composer and producer, known for Yor: The Hunter from the Future (1983), Death Proof (2007) and All the Way Boys (1972).- Music Department
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Michele Lacerenza was born on 7 January 1922 in Taranto, Italy. Michele was a composer, known for Wrath of God (1968), Mission Bloody Mary (1965) and Blood at Sundown (1965). Michele died on 17 November 1989 in Rome, Italy.- Composer
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Prolific singer, songwriter and composer Nico Fidenco was born in Rome as Domenico Colarossi on January 24, 1933. Signed to RCA in Rome in 1960, he had his first major hit as a singer with Legata ad un granello di sabbia. This became the first single to sell over a million copies in Italy. Soon after, Fidenco's beautiful rendition of Su nel cielo was chosen by the director Francesco Maselli for the soundtrack of his film Silver Spoon Set (1960). From then on, Fidenco followed in the footsteps of balladeer/cantautore Peppino Di Capri by recording in both English and Italian. Many of these recordings were covers of songs that featured prominently as motion picture themes, such as Exodus or Moon River (from Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). Though he never registered a win at the prestigious San Remo music festival, Fidenco nonetheless turned an impressive number of superb ballads. He reached the peak of his popularity and ranking high in the charts by the mid-60's with iconic songs like Goccia di mare, A casa d'Irene, Celestina, Come nasce un amore and Non è Vero.
By 1966, Fidenco had turned his attention to writing a plethora of scores for genre movies, ranging from spaghetti westerns (The Texican (1966), Dynamite Jim (1966), etc.) to horror (Zombie Holocaust (1980)), Japanese anime and sexploitation (notably, the Emanuelle series). His warm, melodious voice was still occasionally featured, as in the title song, La ballata del treno, for the western Bandidos. Along with Jimmy Fontana, Riccardo Del Turco and Gianni Meccia, Fidenco co-founded a nostalgic vocal quartet (Super Quattro) in 1984, giving live performances (and releasing a trio of albums) of their respective 60's hits, updated with modern arrangements. The group disbanded in 1994. Fidenco himself retired in 2014 but his distinctive - very evocatively 1960s -- music can still be heard in films like Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019).
Fidenco was married to the actress Anna Maria Surdo from 1969 until his death in November 2022.- Composer
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Nino Oliviero was born on 13 February 1918 in Naples, Campania, Italy. Nino was a composer, known for Nine (2009), A Dog's Life (1962) and Radhapura - Endstation der Verdammten (1968). Nino died on 1 March 1980 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Music Department
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Nora Orlandi was born on 28 June 1933 in Voghera, Lombardy, Italy. She is a composer and actress, known for Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), Double Face (1969) and The Sweet Body of Deborah (1968).- Composer
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Peter Rabenalt was born on 16 July 1937 in Rathenow, Brandenburg, Germany. He is a composer and actor, known for Zille und ick (1983), Aus unserer Zeit (1970) and Tambari (1977).- Composer
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Peter Thomas was born on 1 December 1925 in Breslau, Silesia, Germany [now Wroclaw, Dolnoslaskie, Poland]. He was a composer and actor, known for Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), The Big Boss (1971) and Escape to Berlin (1961). He was married to Cordy Thomas. He died on 17 May 2020 in Lugano, Cantone Ticino, Switzerland.- Composer
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Piero Piccioni was born in Turin (Italy) on the 6th December 1921. Son of a pure Turinese mother (her maiden name was Marengo), and from here the pseudonym Piero Morgan, which he adopted until 1957. He had played on the radio with his historic Big Band "013" in 1938, to then return, after the liberation of Italy in 1944. His was the first Italian jazz band to be aired in Italy. Piero Piccioni had listened to jazz since he was a child and had learned to play the piano without having been to the Conservatory. As a self-taught musician, his father used to accompany him to visit the E.I.A.R. in Florence, to listen to orchestral recitals. As he began to write some songs of his own he was able to get some published by Carisch. Having written nearly 300 soundtracks and pieces for radio, television, ballets and orchestra he was deeply influenced by 20th century classical composers and by American cinematography. Amongst his favourites were Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, John Ford and Alex North, who had greatly influenced him in his use of jazz.
Piero Piccioni had come in contact with the world of movies during the fifties when he was practicing as a lawyer in Rome and sealing movie rights for Italian Italian distributors as Titanus and De Laurentiis. During that time, Michelangelo Antonioni had called him to create music for a documentary for one of his apprentices, Luigi Polidoro. His first feature film was Gianni Franciolini's, "Il Mondo le Condanna"(1952). Piccioni had found a close working relationship with directors Francesco Rosi (More Than A Miracle, Le Mani Sulla Citta', Salvatore Giuliano, Chronicle of a Death Foretold) and Alberto Sordi, and had also cemented strong personal and professional bonds with them. Many directors had wanted Piero Piccioni for the music for their films: Francesco Rosi, Mario Monicelli, Alberto Lattuada, Luigi Comencini, Luchino Visconti, Antonio Pietrangeli, Bernardo Bertolucci, Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica, Tinto Brass, Dino Risi, and more. "Swept Away"(David Donatello prize) and "Tutto A Posto Niente in Ordine" by Lina Wertmuller, "Il bell'Antonio" by Mauro Bolognini , the "Tenth Victim" by Elio Petri, with Marcello Mastroianni Ursula Andress also bear his name. His very distinctive style of Jazz, Bossanova, Orchestral and Contemporary Classical will not be easily forgotten.- Composer
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Piero Umiliani was born on 17 July 1926 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. He was a composer, known for The Spectacular Now (2013), Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958) and The Muppets (2011). He died on 14 February 2001 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Composer
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Born in Burano (Venice) in 1941, Pino Donaggio studied violin at the Conservatory of Venice and Milan.
After a period of adolescent performer of classical music with the Solisti Veneti and the Soloists of Milan, in 1959 he began to devote himself to the pop music that soon led to international success.
He has participated in ten editions of the Sanremo Festival getting a 3rd place in 1963 with the song "Giovane giovane" and a 4th place in 1966 with the song "Una casa in cima al mondo". His best-known song and performed is 1965 "Io che non vivo (senza te)" starring, among others, also by Elvis Presley.
Since 1973, Donaggio began gradually to abandon pop music to devote himself to composing music for films. In over forty years of activity it has put together more than two hundred soundtracks for the big and small screen, both in Italy and abroad.
He lives and works in Venice.- Composer
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Raimund Rosenberger was born on 17 October 1917 in Munich, Germany. He was a composer and actor, known for Interpol (1963), Der Fluch der gelben Schlange (1963) and Mein Schulfreund (1960). He died on 29 October 1990 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.- Composer
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Riz Ortolani was born on 25 March 1926 in Pesaro, Marche, Italy. He was a composer and actor, known for Day of Anger (1967), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Festa di laurea (1985). He was married to Katina Ranieri. He died on 23 January 2014 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Music Department
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Robby Poitevin is known for Look Who's Back (2015), The Love Witch (2016) and Operation White Shark (1966).- Music Department
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Roberto Pregadio was born on 6 December 1928 in Aci Sant'Antonio, Catania, Sicily, Italy. He was a composer, known for Our Men in Bagdad (1966), Kong Island (1968) and Three Golden Serpents (1969). He died on 15 November 2010 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Sante Maria Romitelli was a composer, known for Isabella, Duchess of the Devils (1969), This Time I'll Make You Rich (1974) and Sotto a chi tocca! (1972). Sante Maria died on 30 October 2004 in Perugia, Umbria, Italy.
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He studied piano and harmony at Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome. In 1957 he started playing light music, being the pianist of important singers such as Rita Pavone. In USA he studied jazz with Dave Brubeck. In 1966 he was called by Cam to compose his first soundtrack: The Bounty Killer, a film directed by Tomas Milian. After the good success, he was asked to compose other soundtracks, among which was A Man, A Horse And A Gun in 1967, which was recorded in the same year by Henry Mancini. Worldwide fame, however, came in 1970, when he composed the score for Anonymous Venetian. This score was a hit all over the world, receiving all the major awards, and is still considered one of the most famous Italian soundtracks. Another very important soundtrack is Tentacles, an American film interpreted by John Huston, Shelley Winters and Henry Fonda. Stelvio Cipriani has composed over 200 film scores, still continuing his activity.- Composer
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Vasili Kojucharov is known for The Big Blackout (1966), Killer's Gold (1979) and Churchill's Leopards (1970).- Composer
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Vince Tempera was born on 18 September 1946 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. He is a composer, known for Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), Silver Saddle (1978) and Day of Violence (1977).- Wilhelm Neef was born on 28 January 1916 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He was a composer, known for Die schwarze Galeere (1962), Kabale und Liebe (1959) and Sonntagsfahrer (1963). He died on 20 March 1990 in Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany.
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Willy Brezza was born on 2 January 1935 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is a composer and actor, known for Marinai in coperta (1967), Peggio per me... meglio per te (1968) and Crónica de un atraco (1968).- Sound Department
Wolfgang Meyer is known for Stuhlberg - Der jüngste Manager Europas (1999) and Winter in Weiterstadt (2004).