When you name Ennio Morricone, you immediately think about epic music from the Spaghetti Westerns, but also sweet melodies from movies like The Mission, or pompous symphonies from the Mafia films like The Godfather. Whatever movie the maestro reminds you, we all agree that this gentleman changed the way we intend movie soundtracks, how they can be instrumental in telling a story, transmitting the emotions that a scene aims to deliver.
Ennio Morricone showed extreme passion for music, eagerness to surprise movie directors and their audiences, always experimenting, combining sounds nobody had ever dared or imagined to combine before him. He was the most eclectic composer, ranging from any kind of music and movie genre, always giving a distinctive sound. Morricone's music didn't limit to "accompany" a story, his music told the story!
I could write a whole book about Ennio Morricone's music, but there are at least 7 scores I'm particularly attached to and that I play often on my YouTube playlist while I'm working (and dreaming) during the day!
This is my humble farewell tribute to the Maestro !

7. The Good The Bad and The Ugly

Confess! How many times you shouted that epic “Whahahah! Wha-wha-wha!” ???
This theme is the West encased in a musical nutshell! The drums describe the horses keeping their pace, the guitar reminds you that in the West there is no time to waste, the choirs tell you not to trust anybody, the trumpets announce that something incredible is waiting for you beyond the horizon (gold?) and the choirs of course: “Whahahah!”

6. The Thing

Can you hear the tension? Can you hear that some...thing is observing you... ready to assimilate and replace you??? If you are getting paranoid it's normal. This is what happens when the greatest film soundtrack composer of all time creates the score for the scariest horror movie of all time (according to several Hollywood directors).
The music here is very simple, but effective. I love how the beat increases volume towards the end, progressively, as if The Thing is approaching its lonely prey! The production was not simple at all though. This theme is part of a 20 minutes recording session, most of which unused or spread across the movie in tiny pieces. You can hear some unreleased parts in The Hateful Eight though...

5. Il Vizio di Uccidere

"Il Vizio di Uccidere" means "The Vice of Killing". This was a common vice in the harsh environment of the Far West. For some it was the only way of living. As the Romans used to say "Mors tua, vita mea" or "Your death, my life".
Despite this piece is about death, it is "allegro", perhaps because in the Far West, death wasn't such a big deal after all. Everyone was aware that your time would have come sooner or later, so just useless to think about it, better to make the most out of your life while you can...

4. Man with a Harmonica

I always say that great music scores must serve great movie stories. Man with a Harmonica does the best job in serving its story. This harmonica haunts you throughout the whole length of Once Upon a Time in the West, from the moment the protagonist (nicknamed indeed Harmonica) recalls his blurry past, till the final epic duel, when the full length of this gem of music unravels completely.
As the music stops, the guns shoot and... we find out the cruel truth behind those flashbacks of Harmonica...

3. Il Triello

There is no true Spaghetti Western without a duel, but what if the contenders are three? Everything gets more interesting. “Il Triello” can be translated as “The Truel”. As Duel stands for a showdown between two shooters, a Truel stands for three, when indeed the Good, the Bad and the Ugly resolve their issues in the final showdown. If you've never seen The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, I won't tell you how such a weird showdown ends. If you've seen the film, be aware that this narrative configuration surely inspired Tarantino for his famous Mexican stand-offs....

2. Ecstasy of Gold

There was one thing that drove hordes of men to bet their entire life in the Far West, more than anything else: Gold! Millions crossed the ocean or just left the East Coast to chase the unparalleled wealth that only gold can give you! Of course the 99% of those men failed miserably if not died at all. But imagine to be among that 1% who actually found gold and survived to tell! It's pure ecstasy and not the one you take in pills, but the pure adrenaline joy that shakes your body when you accomplish something epic, just like this theme!

1. Once Upon a Time in the West – Main Theme

In my opinion, this is not simply Ennio Morricone's most beautiful composition. This is the most beautiful music theme in cinema history! It is the perfect melancholic description of the Far West coming to an end, taken away by that train that chimes at the end of the movie. It is nostalgia made music, remembering us that the West has gone... forever, but still once upon a time...
The score contains a breath-taking wordless vocals line by Italian singer Edda Dell'Orso that sings directly to your heart from the spirals of history. It is wordless because no words can describe such beauty!

Ennio... grazie di tutto!