Ennio Morricone Celebrated With New Collection, ‘Morricone Segreto’

The career of the influential Italian composer Ennio Morricone is celebrated by a new collection, Morricone Segreto, set for release through Decca Records on November 6.

This brand new collection, featuring 7 previously unreleased tracks, explores what is possibly Morricone’s richest creative period, between the end of the 1960s to the early 80s, demonstrating Morricone’s long lasting influence for generations of musicians and film directors to this day.

Morricone Segreto is described as “an acid-tinged sonic journey through mysterious voices, fuzz guitars, airy strings, eerie synths and modern grooves from the Academy-a composer who was always ahead of the trend, dictating style in his own way.”

The world-renowned Italian composer sadly passed away at the age of 91 earlier this year. During an extraordinary career which spanned more than six decades, he created over 600 original compositions. He was, without a doubt, the most important Italian artist of the last 60 years and possibly the most well-known film music composer of the 20th century.

Yet, behind the mainstream Morricone hugely celebrated by critics and acclaimed by his audience, there is a hidden Morricone, a Morricone Segreto: an eccentric, underground genius who used his refined education, to implant cultured materials in a daily, popular context. This side of the Maestro that is mostly unknown to the broader audience, but deeply appreciated and influential for so many artists and connoisseurs.

That’s the Morricone from apparently “minor” movies, which gave birth to his most remarkable sheet music, as the creative freedom provided by the bis cinema system made his work a long lasting influence for the generations of musicians that came after him, especially in the rock, pop and dance world; fascinated by his Morricone Segreto: the hidden, dark-tinged and psychedelic side of the maestro with ability to merge vanguard pulses and pop culture, atonal mazes and compelling melodies, psycho flavors, and innovative arrangements, in a unique and unrepeatable short circuit between high and low, dark and light. The results were so modern for his time that they sound incredibly current still to this day.

This compilation explores what perhaps is the richest creative period of the Maestro, between the end of the 60s and the early 80s. Movies spanning from psychological thriller to Giallo lounge, crime flick and polar from all over the ‘70s; all genres for which the Maestro managed to create a unique and unmistakable style, blending avant-garde solutions with the finest pop-psych attitude.

Not a mere best-of, but an acid-tinged journey amongst mysterious voices, fuzz guitars, airy strings, eerie synths, solid drums, and various percussions: a path between modern grooves and less obvious ones coming from a genius composer who was able to predict trends and to dictate alternative styles without ever forgetting his relationship with his core audience.

This Morricone Segreto sonic journey was made possible by a deep digging among the historical archives of CAM Sugar, uncovering a treasure of rare and forgotten pieces, including a fistful of precious unreleased tracks and alternative takes that were never before published, extracted from Il Clan Dei Siciliani, Quando l’amore è sensualità, Stark System, Macchie Solari, Lui Per Lei, La Smagliatura and many other films that are rarely taken into account within the historiography of the Maestro.

Morricone Segreto is proof that even a celebrated and renowned legend like Ennio Morricone can still hold secrets yet to be unveiled.

Morricone Segreto is out on November 6. Scroll down to read the full tracklisting and pre-order it here.

Morricone Segreto:

“Vie-Ni”(alt. take) –  QUANDO L’AMORE Ė SENSUALITÀ – 1973
“Fantasmi Grotteschi” (edit) – STARK SYSTEM – 1980
“Vita e Malavita” – STORIE DI VITA E MALAVITA – 1975
“Tette e Antenne, Tetti e Gonne” – LA SMAGLIATURA – 1975
“Patrizia” (alt. take – con voci) INCONTRO – 1971
“Per Dalila” – IL BANDITO DAGLI OCCHI AZZURRI – 1980
“18 Pari” – UN UOMO DA RISPETTARE – 1972
“Psychedelic Mood” –  LUI PER LEI – 1970
“Fuggire Lontano” (edit) – L’AUTOMOBILE – 1971
“Jukebox Psychédélique” –  PEUR SUR LA VILLE – 1975
“Fondati Timori” – LA SMAGLIATURA – 1975
“Edda Bocca Chiusa” –  LUI PER LEI – 1970
“Non Può Essere Vero” –  MIO CARO ASSASSINO – 1972
“Eat It (versione singolo)” – EAT IT – 1969
“Nascosta nell’Ombra” – QUANDO L’AMORE Ė SENSUALITÀ – 1973
“Dramma su di Noi” – SPOGLIATI, PROTESTA, UCCIDI – 1972
“Lui per Lei” – LUI PER LEI – 1970
“Beat per Quattro Ruote” – L’AUTOMOBILE – 1971
“Stark System (Rock)” – STARK SYSTEM – 1980
“Il Clan dei Siciliani (Tema n. 5)” –  IL CLAN DEI SICILIANI – 1969
“René La Canne” – RENE LA CANNE – 1977
“Ore 22” – SAN BABILA ORE 20: UN DELITTO INUTILE – 1976
“Sinfonia di una Città” – 2:47 | COPKILLER – 1983
“L’Incarico” – UN UOMO DA RISPETTARE – 1972
“L’Immoralità (edit)” – L’IMMORALITÀ – 1978
“Inseguimento Mortale” –  LA TARANTOLA DAL VENTRE NERO – 1971
“Macchie Solari (The Victim – versione singolo)” – MACCHIE SOLARI – 1974