ENNIOMORRICONE.IT

Hello, I am new this message board,

I was hoping anyone could point me towards some information about the process for the creation of Morricone's soundtrack for "Once Upon a Time in the West". I have read elsewhere that it was composed and recorded prior to filming, and I would like to find out about the challenges faced by this method, and how much direction Leone will have given, if any, and whether Morricone simply had the script to work from, or an outline of the plot, or complete creative freedom.

Thanks for your time,

Youan

Hello Youan,

Maybe a good place to start would be P.Ehresmann's article "Western, Italian style":
http://www.chimai.com/resources/specials/ehresmann-western.cfm?screen=special&id=3&language=en&page=8&nb_pages=10
Go to page 8 for Once Upon a Time in the West.

Best regards,

Didier

Thankyou, Didier, for your swift and useful response.

The information in the passage is close to the sum of all knowledge that I can find about this technique (let's call it pre-production audio). Perhaps my research methods are somewhat lacking, but I can't seem to find anyone's interpretation, or facts, on this subject.

To me, it seems very important to distinguish between pre or post production audio. For a start, not having a visual stimulus by which to work must alter the creative process in a very large way. It would also be interesting to know exactly how much direction the composer was given, and whether or not they had a script (or stage directions etc.)

Thanks again,

Youan

It is said, that Sergio Leone had a talent to tell a story very vividly. So when he pointed out the story to his friend Ennio, I'm sure the maestro had the pictures before his eyes. Listening to Leone must have been very close to watching a movie, perhaps even better.

I am sure that what you say is true, in fact it is easy to tell due to the way that the visuals and the music work so well together.

Do you mean to say that, in your opinion, the composer will simply have received a spoken description of each scene or character, and worked from there? (i.e. no script and no timing markers) I also wonder if he had any say in the editing of the music, once it had been submitted, or whether Leone was in complete control once the music was handed over...

Regards,

Youan

The legend goes, and I think it's quite true, that Leone liked to play pre-recorded cues on set, so to get his actors in the right mood. It may not have helped Clint Eastwood much, his acting mode 'Grim' could not have been improved by anything.
There are movies with no Morricone music where Eastwood's acting is excellent. Which doesn't make me a Morricone basher! There are rumors that Eastwood and Leone didn't quite gel.

I suppose composers work basically from scripts (Morricone once said he seldom sees rushes) and from brainstorm sessions they have with the directors. I think that after the first Leone/Morricone collaboration, some sort of spaghetti western chemistry happened, so Morricone just knew what Leone wanted. (both knew each other from their schooldays, that helps) But I also think that Morricone has a special knack for estimating the right musical colour, character and scope for specific movie productions.

According to MSV, during the recording sessions for Once/West Bruno Nicolai staged a coup because conductor Morricone had fallen asleep in the studio, but I think we have an urban legend here.

So did Morricone usually compose soundtracks for Leone before the filming?

I was under the impression that this was an unusual occurrence.

I suppose I am trying to distinguish between methods, and also by outcomes.

Er, Leone was a quite unusual man...
I have the information from MSV - the EM Society, Holland. The newsletter mentioned it more than once, so I guess there's (some) truth in it. On the other hand, if I was a director with a tight budget and shooting schedule, I would use recordings from an already existing, similar score. Hang 'm high, or Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, available & nicely priced in every local recordstore.
The world may praise itself lucky that I'm not a movie director.