Riziero Ortolani (; 25 March 192623 January 2014) was an Italian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, conductor, and

orchestrator Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

, predominantly of

film scores 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 ...

. He scored over 200 films and television programs between 1955 and 2014, with a career spanning over fifty years. Internationally, he is best known for his

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

scores, notably his music for mondo,

giallo In Italian cinema, (; : ; from , ) is a genre that often contains Slasher film, slasher, thriller (genre), thriller, psychological horror, psychological thriller, Sexploitation film, sexploitation, and, less frequently, supernatural, supernat ...

, horror, and

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 filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

films. His most famous composition is " More," which he wrote for the infamous film ''

Mondo Cane ''Mondo Cane'' (a somewhat coarse Italian expletive, literally ) is a 1962 Italian mondo documentary film and directed by the trio of Gualtiero Jacopetti, Paolo Cavara, and Franco E. Prosperi, with narration by Stefano Sibaldi. The film ...

''. It won the 1964 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Theme and was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the Film industry, motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who h ...

at the 36th Academy Awards. The song was later covered by

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

Kai Winding Kai Chresten Winding ( ; May 18, 1922 – May 6, 1983) was a Danish-born American trombonist and jazz composer. He is known for his collaborations with fellow trombonist J. J. Johnson. His version of " More", the theme from the movie ''Mondo Ca ...

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were ...

, and others. Ortolani received many other accolades, including four David di Donatello Awards, three Nastro d'Argento Awards, and a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

for Best Original Song. In 2013, he received a Lifetime Achievement from the World Soundtrack Academy.

Early life

Ortolani was born on 25 March 1926 in

Pesaro Pesaro (; ) is a (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, capital of the province of Pesaro and Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He was the youngest of six children. Ortolani's father, a postal worker, gave his son a violin at age 4. Ortolani later switched to flute after injuring his elbow in a car accident. He studied at the Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Gioachino Rossini" in his hometown of Pesaro before moving to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 1948 and finding work with the RAI orchestra. Though the chronology is unclear, he also likely served as a musician in the Italian Air Force orchestra, formed a Jazz ensemble, and came to the United States as a Jazz musician in Hollywood, all before scoring his first film. Ortolani married Katyna Ranieri in 1956.

Career

In the early 1950s, Ortolani was founder and member of a well-known Italian jazz band. One of his early film scores was for

Paolo Cavara Paolo Cavara (4 July 1926 – 7 August 1982) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He is best known for collaborating with Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco E. Prosperi on the 1962 mondo film ''Mondo Cane'', and for directing the ficti ...

and Gualtiero Jacopetti's 1962 pseudo-documentary ''

'', whose main title-song '' More'' earned him a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

and was also nominated for an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

as ''Best Song''. The success of the soundtrack of ''Mondo Cane'' led Ortolani to score films in England and the United States such as '' The Yellow Rolls-Royce'' (1964), '' The Spy with a Cold Nose'' (1966), ''

The Biggest Bundle of Them All ''The Biggest Bundle of Them All'' is a 1968 American crime film set in Naples, Italy. The story is about a mobster and a novice gang of crooks who team up to steal $5 million worth of platinum ingots from a train. The film stars Robert Wagne ...

'' (1968) and '' Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell'' (1968). He also scored the 1972 film '' The Valachi Papers'', directed by Terence Young and starring

Charles Bronson Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. He was known for his roles in action films and his "granite features and brawny physique". Bronson was born into extreme poverty in ...

. Ortolani scored all or parts of over 200 films, including German westerns like '' Old Shatterhand'' (1964) and a long series of Italian

s, Eurospy films,

Exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that seeks commercial success by capitalizing on current trends, niche genres, or sensational content. Exploitation films often feature themes such as suggestive or explicit sex, sensational violence, drug use, nudi ...

s and mondo films. These include ''

Il Sorpasso ''Il sorpasso'' (), also titled ''The Easy Life'' in English, is a 1962 Italian comedy film co-written and directed by Dino Risi and starring Vittorio Gassman, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Catherine Spaak. It is considered Risi's masterpiece and on ...

'' (1962), ''

Castle of Blood ''Castle of Blood'' () is a 1964 gothic horror film directed by Antonio Margheriti and starring Barbara Steele, Georges Rivière, Margarete Robsahm, Arturo Dominici, Silvano Tranquilli and Umberto Raho. It was an Italian-French co-production ...

'' (1964), ''

Africa Addio ''Africa Addio'' (; also known as ''Africa: Blood and Guts'' in the United States and ''Farewell Africa'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1966 Italian Mondo film, mondo documentary film co-directed, co-edited and co-written by Gualtiero Jacopetti an ...

'' (1966), ''

Day of Anger ''Day of Anger'' ( , lit. "The Days of Wrath") is a 1967 Spaghetti Western film directed and co-written by Tonino Valerii and starring Lee Van Cleef and Giuliano Gemma, and features a musical score by Riz Ortolani. The film credits the novel ' ...

'' (1967), '' Anzio'' (1968), '' The McKenzie Break'' (1970), '' The Hunting Party'' (1971), '' A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die'' (1972), '' Seven Blood-Stained Orchids'' (1972), '' The Fifth Musketeer'' (1979), '' From Hell to Victory'' (1979), the controversial

Ruggero Deodato Ruggero Deodato (; 7 May 1939 – 29 December 2022) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. His career spanned a wide-range of genres including Sword-and-sandal, peplum, Comedy film, comedy, Drama (film and television), drama, P ...

films ''

Cannibal Holocaust ''Cannibal Holocaust'' is a 1980 Italian cannibal film directed by Ruggero Deodato and written by Gianfranco Clerici. It stars Robert Kerman as Harold Monroe, an anthropologist who leads a rescue team into the Amazon rainforest to locate a ...

'' (1980) and '' The House on the Edge of the Park'' (1980), and the first series of '' La piovra'' (1984). In later years he scored many films for Italian director

Pupi Avati Giuseppe Avati, better known as Pupi Avati (born 3 November 1938), is an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known to horror film fans for his two '' giallo'' masterpieces, '' The House with Laughing Windows'' (1976) and '' ...

. His music was used on soundtracks for '' Grand Theft Auto: London 1969'' (1999), '' Kill Bill: Volume 1'' (2003), '' Kill Bill: Volume 2'' (2004), '' Drive'' (2011) and '' Django Unchained'' (2012). In 2013, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Soundtrack Academy.

Death

Ortolani died on 23 January 2014 in Rome, aged 87.

Selected filmography

References

External links

* * * *
Riz Ortolani at ''Epdlp''
(Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ortolani, Riz 1926 births 2014 deaths People from Pesaro Italian film score composers Italian male film score composers Grammy Award winners David di Donatello winners Nastro d'Argento winners Golden Globe Award–winning musicians 20th-century Italian musicians Italian jazz pianists 20th-century Italian male musicians Varèse Sarabande Records artists Italian male jazz pianists