Ennio Morricone: Never Predictable, Always Memorable

From the iconic wail of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly to the mix of diegetic and nondiegetic sound in The Thing, composer Ennio Morricone isnt afraid to take risks, get weird, and create musical accompaniments that are positively even if theyre not necessarily easy to hum along with. Hes worked with luminaries like Sergio Leone, Dario Argento, Brian De Palma, Quentin Tarantino, Terrence Malick, and even John Carpenter (who, it could be argued, knows a thing or two about scoring a movie). From Bulworth to The Untouchables (and its unmistakable Battleship Potemkin reference), chances are you love a Morricone score and dont even know it. In this video, youll hear exactly how much the movies Morricone has made music for rely on his mastery of dissonance, mood, and tension and, in one case, what happens when you take his music out. Hint: It certainly doesnt improve things. Watch Now: Or rather, listen now The Bird With the Crystal Plumage, a prime example of Morricones mastery of score, i