Ennio Morricone is one of only a very few examples of a true living legend. But while everyone knows him for his Sergio Leone film scores, few Americans realize that those were just part of a massive catalog of musical output. In fact, the prolific Italian composer is proficient in multiple genres including classical, jazz and pop.

Ennio Morricone’s arrangements are stirring, powerful things, splendidly evocative. It is no accident that Quentin Tarantino keeps pinching such gems as “Titoli Di Testa” and “L’Arena” for some of the most epic moments in his films. But anyone unfamiliar with Morricone’s other work is missing out on such wonders as the superhero psychedelia conjured up for Danger: Diabolik the clangy claustrophobia found in Un Uomo Da Rispettare and the acid jazz weirdness of Gli Occhi Freddi Della Paura.

Of course it is for good reason that his scores for the 1960’s Spaghetti Westerns are Morricone’s best-known work. It is easy, today to forget how unique, how bizarre those early compositions were. Before A Fistful of Dollars in 1964, Western film scores simply didn’t have any Jew’s harp or whistle solos, not to mention the virtuoso guitar of Alessandro Alessandroni. Now, of course, it is nearly impossible to think of a Western without such things.

Take “L’Estasi Dell’Oro” for example, the infamous piece from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. What is going on there? A soft but nervous piano skitters past, followed by a solemn string section that is soon overrun by the rest of the orchestra and an operatic solo female vocal. The whole thing culminates in a grand crescendo that employs cascading trumpets and pounding timpani, all the while somehow managing not to sound overdone. It is baroque, divine madness of the rarest kind.

Ennio Morricone – L’Estasi Dell’Oro

Examining “Il Triello” we find a pastoral symphony beset upon by a wailing chorus of vocals and brass. And when the ominous guitar begins to strum, we understand the storm can be held off, but not forever. The calm is refreshing, if only because we know that the torrent of horns and voices are bound to return, crushing us with their insistence. Brushed cymbals and funerial piano give way to marching-band drums and ecstatic orchestral stabs as the chorus welcomes the fallen into its arms.

Ennio Morricone – Il Triello

Finally, “Titoli Di Testa” from Navaho Joe. From its initial hair-raising scream to its ultimate reverberating echo, it is an exercise in exuberant excess. Even after repeated listens I cannot help but be unnerved by its sheer majesty. The shouting warriors give way to the cleanest, most crisp guitar ever plucked by man, and the drums call down the fury of a power I cannot begin to comprehend. Trade a thousand souls to a thousand devils, and you still would not have the supernatural power of Ennio Morricone.

Ennio Morricone – Titoli Di Testa

Special thanks to Brakhage at The Dinosaur Gardens, who has put together a marvelous mixtape of Morricone music available for download. http://www.dinosaurgardens.com/archives/401