Ennio Morricone receives the Oscar for The Hateful Eight !!!!

I must honestly admit that the last few years I hadn't been watching the Oscars anymore but this year, both John Williams and Ennio Morricone were nominated.

John Williams

John Williams received his 50th nomination for the score of STAR WARS THE FORCE AWAKENS, which is an amazing record !! Ennio Morricone may not have that many nominations to his name but he was also very much overdue for the honor.

Ennio Morricone's acceptance speech (picture credit VARIETY)

These days, it is especially meaningful if we see our living legends acknowledged. I have had Ennio Morricone's music in the background all my life because my brother brought his music into the house from an early time on. (It must have been mid-1970s that  I heard my brother play Once Upon A Time In The West for the first time. This particular LP at the time was so popular that in my country nearly every house had a copy!) And so I have heard a lot of his wonderful music over the years.

In fact also just a few weeks ago, my brother and I went to an Ennio Morricone concert in the Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, which was very good, indeed. We had heard Ennio Morricone perform his music in concerts before but this time he was playing a lot of themes of films that previously were never played at concerts (such as The Red Tent, a wonderful score for a 1968 film starring Sean Connery). When Ennio Morricone accepted his award a week or so ago, you could see he was visibly moved by the honor bestowed upon him: he received the longest standing ovation of the whole evening!!!  My sincere congratulations to Ennio Morricone, the best European Film Composer in this world.

I would also like to congratulate John Williams who similarly has a tremendous reputation in the American Entertainment World. His music has been heard since the days of JAWS and STAR WARS (although he also scored a good many films and television series before that time) and also merits similar appraisal. Mr. Williams, I love your scores too ! Personally I thought your music was the best part of the whole film (regarding Star Wars The Force Awakens). Congratulations to your nomination!

Similarly, congratulations to Thomas Newman, Carter Burwell and Johann Johannson for their nominations.