It really is all about who you know ...

Over the course of the last three weeks I have more-or-less decided on my thesis topic for my dual masters degree. Through a recent surge of interest in (1) spaghetti westerns and (2) Gregorian/Early sacred chant I have dreamed up the topic of relating early chant melodies to the writings of Ennio Morricone. Morricone is known best for his film scores from The Mission, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, A Fistful of Dollars, and countless other famous westerns and popular movies from other genres. The idea came to me from watching the movie Vamos a matar, Compañeros with a friend of mine. In one of the special features, Morricone was interviewed about the theme of the movie, and he mentioned that he "simply" took the melodic line from an old chant melody.

The idea I have is to analyze Morricone's use of chant melody in his film music and other vocal settings. This provides a tie to the history and theory of music, fulfilling the need to encompass both areas of study in my thesis to be eligable for both degrees.

An old former professor of mine, Dr. Michael Schelle, has published on the topic of film score and film composers, so I contacted him about how to get ahold of orchestral scores. He in turn gave me the email of a contact of his in LA, who I emailed in hopes of a possible lead in getting some scores. The contact emailed me back within an hour, stating that he had contacted Andrea Morricone, Ennio's son, and asked how I might be able to get ahold of some of his father's scores. Chances are I will hear from him directly. Chances are also fair that he will mention my desire to analyze his works to his father.

It is a small world we live in.

I have managed to get a few of his scores from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
Ennio Morricone : the best of
Notturno e passacaglia : version
Finale : invenzione improvvisata
Scherzo per violino e pianoforte
Voci dal silenzio : per voce registrate, coro e orchestra

As well as the books:
The Exotic in Western Music - Jonathan Bellman
Ennio Morricone's The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A film score guide - Charles Leinberger

I may contact Dr. Leinberger about how he got his score for analysis.

I will more or less chronicle my thesis pursuit here, which can be seen by using the label system that the new Blogger has built-in.