Ennio Morricone

“I don't know the names of any pop musicians. Pop music is standardised; it's made to please the largest audience possible. I also compose to please a large audience, but when you listen to my music, you understand that I have studied and applied the whole history of composition.”

“I like composing music, but I love being with my family.”

“I also used these realistic sounds in a psychological way. With The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, I used animal sounds - as you say, the coyote sound - so the sound of the animal became the main theme of the movie.”

“I have to see a definitive cut of the film before I even start thinking about the music, I tell the director what my feelings are and what I would like to do. He accepts what I say or discusses it or destroys it. Eventually, we have to find a compromise.”

“I really like conducting my music in concerts because I'm convinced it's not just for films; it has its own life. It can live far away from the images of the movie.”

“You can see my decision as either a distinctive factor or as a limitation. I don't feel it is a limitation.”

“My favourite type of pizza is a Napoletana: tomatoes, mozzarella, and very few anchovies. It must have a thin base.”

“I want people to know about all the kinds of music that I write. Some believe I just write film scores, which is not true.”

“I was offered a free villa in Hollywood, but I said no thank you, I prefer to live in Italy.”

“I come from a background of experimental music which mingled real sounds together with musical sounds.”

“I never watch the dailies. What I usually do is have a look at the rough or final cut, and I just get something from the story. Sometimes I start composing even before the director has shot anything. The dailies don't help me at all.”

“In my youth, cinemas showed two films in one day. I used to watch both of them. It may sound strange, but 'West Side Story' was the only musical I liked. I didn't like musicals, or films with songs, at all. I always thought they were not real, that the songs sounded a little bit false. But in the case of 'West Side Story,' things were different.”