For You

A year ago on this very date, the 6th of July, Ennio Morricone passed away. Numerous obituaries were published by major newspapers all around the world. Few, if any, would have mentioned his non-film music. Most people only know of Morricone as a film composer. That was, after all, the medium for which he became famous and popular. They lauded and praised him for his innovative film scores but those innovations didn’t came from nowhere. They came from Darmstadt. For those unaware, the unassuming town of Darmstadt in Germany became the epicentre of avant-garde composers in post-WWII Europe. Specifically, the annual Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music, or more simply, the Darmstadt School . The roll call of major names that attended the courses as students or lecturers include Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Luigi Nono, Bruno Maderna, Luciano Berio, Henri Pousseur, György Ligeti, Olivier Messiaen, Edgard Varèse, Witold Lutosławski, Hans Werner Henze, Franco Donatoni, Wolfgang Rihm, Helmut Lachenman, etc. There were prominent American visitors too like John Cage, Milton Babbitt, and Morton Feldman. In short, Darmstadt was the Mecca for avant-garde composers in the mid-20th century. Ennio Morricone was one of those names that attended the Darmstadt courses. And he didn’t made any secret about it. He credited his visit to Darmstadt as fundamental to his growth as a composer. In aninterview with the Spectator’s Richard Bratby in 2018, he said: “I went to Darmstadt, the festival in Germany, and really understood what it was to write contemporary music.” In particular, Morricone counted Luigi Nono among his favourite composers and was always open about the debt he owes to his Italian compatriot: "In Nono's writing, a logic-mathematical system (which attracted me) perfectly coexisted with a pronounced expressive energy, and the outcome was extremely communicative. The pure internal coherence of his writing impressed me. The aesthetic and timbral fascination that captured me in his music is still strong today, despite the passing of so many years. Timbres, pitches, values, and silences were rigorously calculated, but there was a further dimension to that, a poetics that relied on expressivity. Not only did I find a confirmation of my own research interest in his music, but I also felt encouraged to continue my exploration of post-Webernian serialism, with even more determination."quote from Ennio Morricone: In His Own Words, edited by Alessandro De Rosa Morricone’s film scores rank among the most famous and popular works of the 20th century despite his frequent tendency to use unconventional instruments and experimental techniques to deliver unusual sound effects. On the other hand, his non-film compositions have languished in relative obscurity. Even fans of avant-garde composers are generally unaware of Morricone's avant-garde side. I suspect his renown as a film composer has resulted in fans of “serious” avant-garde music dismissing him as a non-serious composer. There’s an unfortunately common snobbery that some classical music fans have towards film composers, as some of you might be aware of. Here are some examples of his non-film compositions. If you’re a fan of composers like Boulez, Stockhausen, Nono, etc. you might find something to enjoy here: * 1957: Concerto for Orchestra * 1958: Music For 11 Violins * 1958: Distanze for piano trio * 1969: Suoni Per Dino for viola & two tape recorders * 1988: Cadenza for flute & magnetic tape * 1990: Reflessi for solo cello * 1993: Vidi Aquam for soprano & orchestra * 1997: Ombra di Lontana Presenza for viola, string orchestra & magnetic tape