Alessandro Alessandroni (18 March 1925 – 26 March 2017) was an Italian musician and composer. He played multiple instruments, including the guitar,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of ...

, mandolincello,

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a ree ...

and piano, and composed more than 40

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

s and countless library music.

Biography

Alessandroni collaborated with his childhood friend

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classi ...

on a number of soundtracks for

Spaghetti Western The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

s. Morricone's orchestration often calls for an unusual combination of instruments, voices, and whistling. Alessandroni's twangy guitar riff is central to the main theme for ''

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' ( it, Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo, literally "The good, the ugly, the bad") is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood as "the Good", Lee Van Clee ...

''. Alessandroni can be heard as the whistler on the soundtracks for

Sergio Leone Sergio Leone (; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter credited as the pioneer of the Spaghetti Western genre and widely regarded as one of the most influential directors in the history of cin ...

's films, including ''

A Fistful of Dollars ''A Fistful of Dollars'' ( it, Per un pugno di dollari, lit=For a Fistful of Dollars titled on-screen as ''Fistful of Dollars'') is a 1964 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, a ...

'', ''

For a Few Dollars More ''For a Few Dollars More'' ( it, Per qualche dollaro in più) is a 1965 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone. It stars Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef as bounty hunters and Gian Maria Volonté as the primary villain. German actor ...

'', '' Once Upon a Time in the West'', and ''

Pervirella ''Pervirella'' is a 1997 adventure-comedy film which was directed by Alex Chandon, the film stars Emily Booth in the lead role and featured brief cameos from Jonathan Ross and Mark Lamarr. Pervirella harbors a sex demon within her. Plot In t ...

''. He also collaborated with Morricone in scoring the 1974 film '' Around the World with Peynet's Lovers''. Alessandroni founded the octet vocal group ' (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

: ''The Modern Choristers'') in 1961. The group, which included his wife, , performed wordless vocals on several Italian movie soundtracks. Most notably, ''I Cantori Moderni'' are featured on the song "

Mah Nà Mah Nà "Mah Nà Mah Nà" is a popular song by Italian composer Piero Umiliani. It originally appeared in the Italian film '' Sweden: Heaven and Hell'' (''Svezia, inferno e paradiso''). It was a minor radio hit in the United States and in Britain, but bec ...

", written by

Piero Umiliani Piero Umiliani (17 July 1926 – 14 February 2001) was an Italian composer of film scores. Biography Umiliani was born in Florence, Tuscany. Like many of his Italian colleagues at that time, he composed the scores for many exploitation f ...

for the 1968

Luigi Scattini Luigi Scattini (17 May 1927 – 12 July 2010) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Scattini graduated in law, then he began his career as a journalist and a film critic for several weekly magazines such as '' Gente'' and '' Oggi''. ...

mondo film Mondo films are a subgenre of exploitation films and documentary films. Many mondo films are made in a way to resemble a pseudo-documentary and usually depicting sensational topics, scenes, or situations. Common traits of mondo films include p ...

'' Sweden: Heaven and Hell'' (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: ') and popularized on ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as ...

''. Alessandro has also composed film scores, including ''

Any Gun Can Play ''Any Gun Can Play'' ( it, Vado... l'ammazzo e torno) is a 1967 spaghetti Western starring Gilbert Roland, Edd Byrnes Edward Byrne Breitenberger (July 30, 1932 – January 8, 2020), known professionally as Edd Byrnes, was an American actor, be ...

'' (1967), '' The Reward's Yours... The Man's Mine'' (1969), ''

Lady Frankenstein ''Lady Frankenstein'' is a 1971 Italian horror film directed by Mel Welles and written by Edward di Lorenzo. It stars Rosalba Neri (under the pseudonym Sara Bey), Joseph Cotten, Mickey Hargitay and Paul Müller. Plot Somewhere in Western-Ce ...

'' (1971), ''

The Devil's Nightmare ''The Devil's Nightmare'' (french: La plus longue nuit du diable, lit=The Devil's Longest Night, it, La terrificante notte del demonio, lit=The Terrifying Night of the Demon) is a 1971 supernatural horror film directed by Jean Brismée and starri ...

'' (1971), ''The Mad Butcher'' (1971), '' Seven Hours of Violence'' (1973), ''

Sinbad and the Caliph of Baghdad ''Sinbad and the Caliph of Baghdad'' (Italian: ''Simbad e il califfo di Bagdad'') is a 1973 Italian adventure film directed by Pietro Francisci and starring Robert Malcolm, Sonia Wilson, Luigi Bonos and Arturo DominiciMoliterno p.136 Based on th ...

'' (1973), '' Poker in Bed'' (1974), '' White Fang and the Hunter'' (1975), ''

Blood and Bullets ''Blood and Bullets'' ( it, Sangue di sbirro, also known as ''Knell, Bloody Avenger'') is a 1976 Italian poliziottesco film written and directed by Alfonso Brescia and starring Jack Palance, George Eastman and Jenny Tamburi. Plot Cast *Jack ...

'' (1976), '' L'adolescente'' (1976), ''

La professoressa di scienze naturali ''La professoressa di scienze naturali'' (Professor of Natural Sciences) is a 1976 commedia sexy all'italiana directed by Michele Massimo Tarantini. Cast * Lilli Carati: Stefania Marini *Michele Gammino: Baron Fifì Cacciapupolo *Giacomo Rizzo: ...

'' (1976), ''

The Opening of Misty Beethoven ''The Opening of Misty Beethoven'' is an American pornographic comedy film released in 1976. It was produced with a relatively high budget and filmed on elaborate locations in Paris, New York City and Rome with a musical score, and owes much to ...

'' (1976), ''Women's Camp 119'' (1977), ''

Killer Nun ''Killer Nun'' (Italian: ''Suor Omicidi'', ''Sister Murders'') is a 1979 Italian nunsploitation horror film directed and co-written by Giulio Berruti, co-written by Alberto Tarallo, and starring Anita Ekberg, Joe Dallesandro, Lou Castel, and Al ...

'' (1978), ''

L'imbranato ''L'imbranato'' (''The bumbling man'') is a 1979 Italian comedy film written and directed by Pier Francesco Pingitore. Plot Pippo Sperandio is an employee of an Italian electronics company in direct contact with his boss, the pleasure-seeker Dr ...

'' (1979), and ''Trinity Goes East'' (1998).

References

External links

Official site
* 1925 births 2017 deaths Musicians from Rome Italian film score composers Italian male film score composers Whistlers 20th-century Italian composers 20th-century Italian male musicians {{Italy-composer-stub