Stelvio Cipriani (20 August 1937 – 1 October 2018), also known as Viostel, was an Italian composer, mostly of motion picture

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

s, conductor and pianist.The New York Times
/ref>

Biography

Though not raised with a strong musical upbringing, as a child Cipriani was fascinated by his church's organ. His priest gave Cipriani his first music lessons and encouraged the boy and his family. Cipriani attended the Santa Cecilia Conservatory starting at the age of 14. Around this time, he played in

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

bands,Movie Music Italiano , The Home Of Italian Movie Music
enabling him to meet

Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...

. Upon returning to Italy, he began working as

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

accompaniment for

Rita Pavone Rita Ori Filomena Merk-Pavone (, ; born August 23, 1945) is an Italian-Swiss pop singer, actress and showgirl, who enjoyed success through the 1960s. Known as "the Mosquito of Turin" (), she was also nicknamed "Carrot Hair" () because of the r ...

. Cipriani's first soundtrack was for the

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 ...

'' The Bounty Killer'' (1966). This was followed by his more widely known score for '' The Stranger Returns'' (a 1967 film, also known by the alternate titles ''A Man, a Horse, a Gun'' and ''Shoot First, Laugh Last'', starring Tony Anthony). Cipriani would go on to compose other Spaghetti Western scores and also began composing poliziottesco soundtracks. Cipriani became prolific in the Italian film world, eventually garnering a

Nastro d'Argento for Best Score The ''Nastro d'Argento'' (Silver Ribbon) is a film award assigned each year, since 1946, by ''Sindacato Nazionale dei Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani'' ("Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists"), the association of Italian film critics ...

award for '' The Anonymous Venetian'' (1970). Furthermore, one of Cipriani's most famous scores would come about in 1973, the soundtrack for '' La polizia sta a guardare'' (''The Great Kidnapping''). The main theme was recycled by Cipriani in 1974 and 1977 for the scores to '' La polizia chiede aiuto'' and '' Tentacoli''. This track was brought to the public's attention again in 2007 when it was featured in

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...

's ''

Death Proof ''Death Proof'' is a 2007 American slasher film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Kurt Russell as a Stunt performer, stuntman who murders young women with modified cars he says are "death-proof". Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito ...

''. Some of the themes from ''La polizia sta a guardare'' were also used by Hélène Cattet &

Bruno Forzani Bruno may refer to: People and fictional characters * Bruno (name), including lists of people and fictional characters with either the given name or surname * Bruno, Duke of Saxony (died 880) * Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne ...

in the soundtrack for their first feature '' Amer''. Cipriani was also noted for his score of the 1979 film '' The Concorde Affair''. In a 2007 interview, Cipriani said that he had composed music for Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

and was working with

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

. In 2014 he released his original composition "Anonimo Veneziano" ("To Be the One You Love") with the voice of International Recording Artist Veronica Vitale. In 2017 he took part in some chapters of the episodic docufilm "Diario Di Bordo, Inside the Outsider," promoted by international recording artist Veronica Vitale.

Selected filmography

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cipriani, Stelvio 1937 births 2018 deaths Italian film score composers Italian male film score composers Spaghetti Western composers Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia alumni Nastro d'Argento winners Composers from Rome Burials at Campo Verano