Piero Piccioni
[1921 - 2004]
Who is the greatest composer of Italian cinema?
Easy: Nino Rota.
And after him? Easy too: Ennio Morricone.
Right, but who else in a market that in the post-war produced countless works highlighted as classic films as works of popular orientation? After Hollywood and Bollywood, Italian movie market is one of the most prolific in quantity, quality and variety of genres.
Even before Ennio Morricone revolution in writing for movies with his extravagant spaghetti-westerns sounds, Piero Piccioni had divided the history of music in Italian cinema in "past" and "present" with his incomparable work.
With scores for Il Bell'Antonio (1961) and Il Demonio (1963), Piccioni anticipated the 60´s revolution, that would be expanded by composers such as Ennio Morricone, Riz Ortolani, Gianni Ferrio or Bruno Nicolai. Piccioni is certainly among the greatest of his time with his very personal touch and fearless innovations. Who would have thought in a jazzy soundtrack to a Western? He did exactly that in Sartana (1968). Currently the CD soundtrack market is doing a remarkable rescue of his works.
Born in Turin, Piero Piccioni was also a pioneer in the use of jazz in Italian cinema. His jazz band was the first to have presentations on national television after the fall of fascism. During the dictatorship of Mussolini American jazz was forbidden.
Like many of his generation, Piccioni benefited from the diversity of genres that was produced in the popular cinema in the 60s and 70. Thus, had the chance to work in popular films besides for renowned directors such as Mauro Bolognini in La Viaccia (1960); Bernardo Bertolucci, Grim Reaper (1962); Elio Petri, L'Assassin (1961), Sergio Corbucci, Minnesota Clay (1965), Lina Wertmuller in Travolti Da Un Insolito Destino (1974) and Luigi Comencini in Quelle Strane Occasioni (1976).
The music for the fiction pop-futuristic The 10th Victim (1967) by Elio Petri, is remarkable for its creative kitsch-satiric jazz. In the diversity of its vast production stand out great moments as the western Sartana (1968), the erotics Camille 2000 (1969) and Scacco La Regina (1969), the adventures Puppet on a Chain (1970), The Light At the Edge of the World (1971) and the drama Il Monaco (1972).
Its main partnership was with director Francesco Rosi for those set to music famous works of political cinema as Salvatore Giuliano (1962), Il Caso Mattei (1973), and Lucky Luciano (1974). The partnership with comedian Alberto Sordi was also significant in Piccioni career and went on for many years in the movies The Gentleman (Fumo Di Londra, 1966), An Italian in America (1967) and Il Comune Sense Del Pudore (1976) among many others.
