L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 6 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS tion, either. Yet, he felt he had to respect it because it put bread on the table. This conflict lasted quite a while and he suffered a lot, but then he changed his mind. In the last years especially, and also thanks to the work we did together, something he says in many interviews and also in our book's intro- duction. This process helped him understand that all his music, all his experiences w e r e i m p o r t a n t b e c a u s e they showed the world who Ennio Morricone was. What was the sound t h e M a e s t r o t r u l y sought, in your opinion? When we were looking for a t i t l e f o r t h e b o o k , Morricone came out with a poem he had written for his wife, Maria. Everything was there: "The sound of your v o i c e / f i n d s i n t h e a i r / a n invisible tempo/and makes i t s t i l l / i n a n e t e r n a l moment. That echo entered in me/shattering the fragile crystals/of my suspended present/…without return. I ' l l h a v e t o s e e k t h e f u t u r e / f o l l o w i n g t h a t sound/myself a desperate echo/to find myself." He was after a sound that l e a d s t o w a r d s l o v e a n d a f f e c t i o n , t h a t a i m s a t understanding one another and wants to inspire new thoughts. He was after com- munication between people w h i l e p r o t e c t i n g h i s o w n personal history, his own musical path. Identity was very important to him. The book's title, just like the photograph on its front cover, invites us to keep silent and listen. They invite us to listen t o t h e M a e s t r o , t o h i s e x p e r i e n c e , t o h i s music. Is there also an i n v i t a t i o n t o r e a d e r s , t h o u g h , t o s e e k t h e i r own sound? I n d e e d , s i l e n c e i s k e y when listening to Morricone and his tales. By the way, in the 20th century, silence became music: Morricone o f t e n c i t e s J o h n C a g e ' s famous 4 minutes and 33 seconds track, created as a c h a l l e n g e t o t h e g r e a t amount of music produced. Silence can nurture reflec- tion between the object and the subject. It's the zero- condition, the base to which m u s i c , j u s t l i k e l i f e , c a n c o m e a n d g o . T h o s e moments may be empty or very dense. If we want to fol- low suit, if we want to listen, we need to create a moment of inner and outer silence and find a balance within ourselves and then with oth- ers. You are both a com- p o s e r a n d a w r i t e r : notes and words are two different languages, just like music and cinema, t w o l a n g u a g e s t h a t M o r r i c o n e , h o w e v e r , c o u l d b r i n g t o g e t h e r perfectly. What do the words of your book add to Morricone as a musi- cian? There is no need to add a n y t h i n g t o M o r r i c o n e ' s music because - contrarily to other periods, of which we have music scores, but not the composer's desired exe- cution – with him we have the opportunity to listen to all his music, to get in direct c o n t a c t w i t h t h e s o u n d source. In the book, we don't o n l y t a l k a b o u t h o w h e became a composer, we can also listen to the experience o f a m a n a n d a m u s i c i a n who created his own life, himself, step after step. The book wants readers to go backstage and wonder about what's behind each choice, w h y h e c h o s e E d d a dell'Orso's voice for western movies, and why that excep- tional voice became part of our collective imagination. To tell the story of his l i f e , M o r r i c o n e c h o s e a n o t h e r c o m p o s e r , much younger than him- self. What do you think it means? Affinity is cer- t a i n l y a n e c e s s i t y t o understand one anoth- er, but do you need also distance – in this case, temporal – to better get the meaning of things? Morricone was born in 1928, I was born in 1985. We do speak about the dif- ferences between our gener- ations, it's another impor- tant theme of our relation- ship. Yes, both distance and closeness are necessary, but you need also to be a good listener, to understand the person in front of you. There must be an initial connec- t i o n , r e s p e c t , a n d t r u s t , which grow with time. In a way, we chose one another, a n d t h e n , j u s t l i k e i n S e r e n d i p i t y , t h i n g s h a p - pened, even if both of us were predisposed for them to happen. It's not only a matter of a younger and an older person meeting, there must be a will to communi- cate and to understand each other, there must be open- ness. When you met for the f i r s t t i m e i n 2 0 0 5 , M o r r i c o n e s u g g e s t e d y o u s t u d i e d c o m p o s i - tion, as he noticed you had an inclination and a talent for it already at a young age. This is actu- ally something you have i n c o m m o n : R o b e r t o Cangiano had suggested he studied composition rather than the trumpet. W h a t e l s e w o u l d y o u like to share with him, a n d o n w h a t , o n t h e other hand, do you think h e i s a b s o l u t e l y u n r i - valed? Besides biographical sim- ilarities and very different l i f e c o n t e x t s , I t h i n k w e found each other especially in one thing: human emo- tions haven't changed, as P a s o l i n i u s e d t o s a y . W e f o u n d e a c h o t h e r i n o u r desire to express ourselves, i n o u r a m b i t i o n s , i n o u r integrity, in our wish to do and dig deeper into things. Morricone's music demon- strates it, because you see what he saw through it, and feel what he wanted you to feel: thanks to his commu- nicative power and his abili- ty to analyze the senses, he could show you something that movies didn't show. In what he remains unrivaled? W e l l … M o r r i c o n e i s Morricone. All I can hope f o r m y s e l f i s t o f i n d Alessandro De Rosa. Y o u r a l b u m , " F l e s h and Soul," was released on the 15th of February. It is a journey through emotions, eight tracks a n d 7 0 m i n u t e s o f m u s i c . I t ' s a l e n g t h y record, which is unusual i n t o d a y ' s f a s t - p a c e d world… T h e m e a n i n g o f t h e record, where I collaborate with Brasilian singer-song- writer, performer, activist and twice-platinum-record Fantine Tho, and which is i l l u s t r a t e d b y G r e t a F a c c h i n a t o , i s t h e e x a c t opposite of the fragmenta- tion we experience today. Krishnamurti used to say it often. This record is a jour- ney towards connection, lis- tening, meditation, Indian philosophy, within oneself, and within archetypes. I was inspired by Tho's activism in reforestation and by the fact that we can't expect a bal- anced world without finding our balance within. It's a meditative record, that leads towards an inner, cosmic journey. A journey, however, that needs time because it's essential, as the music of our past teaches, to delve into things, to concentrate, to break away. Silence. Is there anything of " y o u r t i m e w i t h Morricone" that'll stay with you? My time with Morricone will stay with me, just like the time I shared with my maestro, Boris Porena, who studied under Petrassi, will. There are encounters in life we always bring with us. The important ones, those where s o m e t h i n g i s e x c h a n g e d , and then we're no longer the same as before. I'll keep on thinking about my time with M o r r i c o n e , I ' l l k e e p o n understanding it better, and g i v i n g i t m o r e v a l u e . T o i m p r o v e , a n d t o g e t n e w means to read it, to perceive it. But I'll keep seeking, too. I'll keep looking for some- thing deeper and deeper. Continued from page 4 Composer and writer Alessandro De Rosa met Morricone when he was 19 (Photo courtesy of Alessandro De Rosa)

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