Following the death of composer Ennio Morricone this week, our Cinema Curator Mark Cosgrove looks back on the maestro's life and presents talks and interviews from our archive which celebrate this great legend of cinema.

"Composer Ennio Morricone - who died on Sunday aged 91 - was a towering figure in cinema. He is probably best known for his iconic scores for director Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns such as A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More. These not only redefined the Western genre but the part music could play in film by providing characterisation, tension, playfulness through a unique musical vocabulary complimenting Leone’s dramatic camera angles and tight facial close-ups ; the the stand-off between Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and the opening of Once Upon A Time in the West are both wordless, timeless, epic and operatic.

"Morricone was rightly celebrated for his partnership with Leone but had a prolific seven-decade-long career, creating over 500 scores and winning two Oscars. His musical influence can be heard over all genres from horror (Dario Argento’s The Bird with The Crystal Plumage) to political thrillers (Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers) and historical drama (Roland Joffé’s The Mission). He even had a chart-topping pop hit for his title theme to the BBC drama The Life and Times of David Lloyd George.

"Music curator and critic Phil Johnson and I set up Filmic, a partnership between Watershed and St George’s Bristol, to explore the creative connections across film and music, in 2012. The very first programme included talks, concerts and films focused on Morricone (the other composer we celebrated was Michel Legrand, who passed away last year).

"Phil was fortunate enough to interview Morricone about his life and music back in 2003, and kindly allowed us to reproduce his interview. We naturally had a programme of spaghetti western films, and invited cultural critic Sir Christopher Frayling to give an illustrated talk on the genre’s revolutionary use of music - you can watch a recording of the event here.

"You would be hard pressed to find a musician - never mind a filmmaker - not influenced by Morricone, and his impact was felt and appreciated in future editions of Filmic. In the 2013 programme composer, producer, artist and collaborator John Parish, who has a lifelong fascination with soundtracks, gave a talk on the film music that inspired him - and once again that extraordinary opening to Once Upon a Time in the West makes an appearance. Watch the full video here.

"In addition to his huge back catalogue I’m pleased we can return to these celebrations of the maestro’s genius. His music will remain an indelible reminder of the enduring partnership between music and cinema."

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