The great, the dangerous and the ugly in business music
We are asked about ten times a year to either create something Morricone-like or to license one of his scores (usually Ecstasy of Gold, of course). "What do you like so much about Ennio Morricone's music?" we ask. And every time the answer is connected with storytelling, emotion and recognizability. And we can't really argue with that.
When we start working with a new customer, we want to find out how receptive he is to something new, something different from his usual direction, and whether he will trust us in the development. When Ennio Morricone composed the scores for the spaghetti westerns, director Sergio Leone would have done just that – he had no idea how the ideas and colors could be translated into Morricone's head, it is still difficult to know under which genre the Music falls! But he trusted his creative vision, was open to this collaboration and expertise, and took the risk. And boy, did it pay off?
What makes it so effective? When you think back to the good, the bad, the ugly, and the iconic “wah-wah-wah-wah-wahhhh”, you immediately think of the emotions you felt at the time of watching – and that's because of the music. There is actually not much going on in the scene – it is long, lengthy and has no real dialogue. The music tells the whole story and creates the entire narrative and emotion of tension. It was groundbreaking.
Not surprisingly, his work is popular with brands and agencies. At first glance, I can think of a number of brands that have used Ecstasy of Gold in their advertising. D & G, Lamborghini, Nike, KFC and currently H & M. And I hardly scratched the surface here. It was used everywhere. And is that important? Oh well.