[Limelight] Ennio Morricone is a 'Revolutionary Composer'

Documentary Film 'Ennio: The Maestro'
'Film Music Is a Semi-Artistic Act' Ignored Yet Sparks New Trends
"Artistic Inspiration Does Not Exist... Only Hard Work Adds Up"
Overcoming the Constraint of Absolute Power Held by Film Directors
Persuading and Pursuing New Sounds "I Want to Be Remembered as a Composer"

Composed music was created based on seven notes. It guaranteed a standard of understanding from the listener's senses. Since the notes appeared repeatedly, they were easily accepted. The consistent flow changed when Richard Wagner (1813?1883) released 'Tristan und Isolde.' Composers began to delve deeply into chromaticism. In particular, Arnold Schoenberg (1874?1951) theorized a method using twelve tones. He assigned equal value to each note. Ignoring the special characteristics of some notes was a kind of realization of democracy. Interestingly, this period coincided roughly with the birth of several democratic countries.

Music that broke away from the standard of repetition was difficult to accept immediately. However, the emphasis on pitch, duration, and timbre enriched the music. Later, even the importance of rests was acknowledged. It was a natural result rather than a radical change. Changes in expressive styles also occurred significantly in other art fields. Most of these changes happened intertwined with historical and political shifts, like the advent of democracy. It was a revolution in pursuit of novelty.

The documentary film 'Ennio: The Maestro' honors a revolutionary figure no less than Wagner or Schoenberg. That is Ennio Morricone (1928?2020), who brought a new breeze to film music. Until he devoted himself to it, film music was thoroughly ignored. Critics were trapped in stereotypes and could not make authoritative judgments. They valued the purity of music that much. Even Morricone's teacher, Goffredo Petrassi (1904?2003), opposed the composer's involvement in film music, disparaging it as "an entirely anti-artistic act."

Morricone was isolated for a while and engulfed in inner conflict but did not give up on film music. He believed that every musical work, regardless of genre or value, is a mirror of the composer and the society in which the piece was created. Still, he did not completely shake off his regrets. In an interview with Antonio Monda, author of 'Conversations with Ennio Morricone' and a professor at New York University's film department, he said the following.

"To be honest, the hardest thing for me was that I was known only as a film music composer. Of course, I started because I liked it, but being a musician for films was not truly what I wanted. I thought about composing pieces following in the footsteps of Pierre Boulez (1925?2016), Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928?2007), and Luciano Berio (1925?2003). I have long told my wife, 'I want to carve out a small but unique place in music history.' I believe I have that place in the history of film music. But I cannot express how happy I am to see my pure music works gradually being performed. Of course, I know well that this is possible because of the fame that films brought me. But I have had a few opportunities to hear truly moving performances."

What was the secret behind producing such gems despite identity confusion? Morricone says at the end of 'Ennio: The Maestro,' "Thoughts do not immediately become music. That is the problem. Whenever I start composing, I always suffer because of that. What kind of piece should the composer write on the blank sheet in front of him? What should be written on that blank sheet? The thoughts are already there, but they need to be refined and further developed. They must be found. Found what? That I do not know."

Morricone believed that artistic inspiration does not exist. He thought there are only initial ideas to be concretized into music through work. Sometimes ideas themselves contain something, but not always. In fact, it was common during work to completely overturn or omit ideas. "There are too many cases where the origin of inspiration is discussed on the level of emotion. As if one could get inspiration from the body of a beautiful woman. Of course, that is possible. But that too is only an initial idea at the starting stage. In fact, the first idea gives rise to the second and third ideas. Then, the work done with sweat is added."

This series of labor can be seen as an experiment. Each time, he enhanced creativity by moving between contemporary music and film, exploring possibilities in different directions. For example, in 'The Mission' (1986), he first checked the rough cut without music and then created tailor-made music. Morricone began researching from the 18th century, the film's historical background. He carefully read the collection of writings titled 'Sacred Experiences in Paraguay' left by Jesuit priest Antonio Sch?tz and pondered extensively on the music of that era.

He could not freely combine various ideas. There were three major constraints. The first was that the protagonist played the oboe. It was impossible for Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons) to express music from 1750 years later. The second was that all religious music composers at the time adhered to the agreements made at the Council of Trent. These were rules established by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (circa 1525?1594). Therefore, Morricone used motets (vocal religious music mainly used in the medieval Renaissance period). The third was the consideration of the Paraguayan Indian world. It was difficult to extract anything special from the materials he had. After deep thought, he conceived of a boring and persistently repetitive rhythm.

Morricone expressed these elements by pairing two or more together. He composed pieces so that the first and second elements appeared together. Especially in the finale, he combined all three elements to solve technical problems while leaving a strong impression. He said, "Perhaps from a religious perspective, it might be even more intense. Because 'The Mission' is a film of that genre. The three themes come together in the final scene."

He was not able to lead all film music projects. The person who ultimately holds absolute power in a film is the director. Morricone regarded overcoming their constraints as a task. Simply attaching a title does not make a hymn, so he struggled every time to overcome limits. He constantly persuaded directors and sometimes secretly carried out other attempts, pursuing 'new sounds.' Perhaps that is why, when asked how he wanted to be recorded in encyclopedias, he answered succinctly, "As a composer."

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