Piero Piccioni(1921-2004)
- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Piero Piccioni was born in Turin (Italy) on the 6th December 1921. Son
of a pure Turinese mother (her maiden name was Marengo), and from here
the pseudonym Piero Morgan, which he adopted until 1957. He had played
on the radio with his historic Big Band "013" in 1938, to then return,
after the liberation of Italy in 1944. His was the first Italian jazz
band to be aired in Italy. Piero Piccioni had listened to jazz since he
was a child and had learned to play the piano without having been to
the Conservatory. As a self-taught musician, his father used to
accompany him to visit the E.I.A.R. in Florence, to listen to
orchestral recitals. As he began to write some songs of his own he was
able to get some published by Carisch. Having written nearly 300
soundtracks and pieces for radio, television, ballets and orchestra he
was deeply influenced by 20th century classical composers and by
American cinematography. Amongst his favourites were Frank Capra,
Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, John Ford and Alex North, who had
greatly influenced him in his use of jazz.
Piero Piccioni had come in contact with the world of movies during the fifties when he was practicing as a lawyer in Rome and sealing movie rights for Italian Italian distributors as Titanus and De Laurentiis. During that time, Michelangelo Antonioni had called him to create music for a documentary for one of his apprentices, Luigi Polidoro. His first feature film was Gianni Franciolini's, "Il Mondo le Condanna"(1952). Piccioni had found a close working relationship with directors Francesco Rosi (More Than A Miracle, Le Mani Sulla Citta', Salvatore Giuliano, Chronicle of a Death Foretold) and Alberto Sordi, and had also cemented strong personal and professional bonds with them. Many directors had wanted Piero Piccioni for the music for their films: Francesco Rosi, Mario Monicelli, Alberto Lattuada, Luigi Comencini, Luchino Visconti, Antonio Pietrangeli, Bernardo Bertolucci, Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica, Tinto Brass, Dino Risi, and more. "Swept Away"(David Donatello prize) and "Tutto A Posto Niente in Ordine" by Lina Wertmuller, "Il bell'Antonio" by Mauro Bolognini , the "Tenth Victim" by Elio Petri, with Marcello Mastroianni Ursula Andress also bear his name. His very distinctive style of Jazz, Bossanova, Orchestral and Contemporary Classical will not be easily forgotten.
Piero Piccioni had come in contact with the world of movies during the fifties when he was practicing as a lawyer in Rome and sealing movie rights for Italian Italian distributors as Titanus and De Laurentiis. During that time, Michelangelo Antonioni had called him to create music for a documentary for one of his apprentices, Luigi Polidoro. His first feature film was Gianni Franciolini's, "Il Mondo le Condanna"(1952). Piccioni had found a close working relationship with directors Francesco Rosi (More Than A Miracle, Le Mani Sulla Citta', Salvatore Giuliano, Chronicle of a Death Foretold) and Alberto Sordi, and had also cemented strong personal and professional bonds with them. Many directors had wanted Piero Piccioni for the music for their films: Francesco Rosi, Mario Monicelli, Alberto Lattuada, Luigi Comencini, Luchino Visconti, Antonio Pietrangeli, Bernardo Bertolucci, Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica, Tinto Brass, Dino Risi, and more. "Swept Away"(David Donatello prize) and "Tutto A Posto Niente in Ordine" by Lina Wertmuller, "Il bell'Antonio" by Mauro Bolognini , the "Tenth Victim" by Elio Petri, with Marcello Mastroianni Ursula Andress also bear his name. His very distinctive style of Jazz, Bossanova, Orchestral and Contemporary Classical will not be easily forgotten.
