Italian composer Ennio Morricone, famed for his film scores, has died in Rome at the age of 91. The prolific composer scored over 500 films, including his famous music for the 1966 movie The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and his recent Oscar-winning score to Quentin Tarantino’s 2016 The Hateful Eight. The Oscar for Best Original Score followed a lifetime achievement award at the 2007 Academy Awards.

Ennio Morricone. Photo © Sven-Sebastian Sajak

The composer, who was born in 1928, learned trumpet from his father and cut his teeth in jazz bands in the 1940s. He studied composition with Goffredo Petrassi and worked in radio as an arranger before shooting to international fame with his scores for the Westerns of the 1960s. His many film credits include A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West, La Cage aux Folles, The Mission and The Untouchables. Few composers have achieved such wide ranging influence.

Tributes have been pouring in for Morricone from across the world, including from the likes of Celine Dion and Antonio Banderas. Composer Hans...