The President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, shares his memories of Oscar-winning Italian composer Ennio Morricone, who died on Monday in Rome at the age of 91.
By Vatican News
Sharing his memories of the late composer with Vatican News’ Giancarlo La Vella, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi recalled that Ennio Morricone was a man of faith.
The President of the Pontifical Council for Culture also said he would remember this great cinematic composer for a least two particular spiritual events.
The first, Cardinal Ravasi recalled, was in Poland when he was preparing an Oratory for Pope St John Paul II.
“The second event is the most recent meeting on 15 April 2019, when I presented him, in the name of Pope Francis, with the Pontifical Gold Medal for his musical work. These two moments testify to what he has always attested: his faith.”
Spiritual dimension
The Cardinal went on to say that there was always a religious and spiritual dimension to the composer’s music, whether he was scoring a film like “The Mission” or a western.
The Council President underlined that, with the music of Morricone, the score was the protagonist, along with the screen images.
Elaborating on this, Cardinal Ravasi recalled he had invited Morricone to speak during a plenary session on the theme of beauty, starting from his experience as a musician.
Musical commentary
“If we review the films of which Ennio Morricone composed the soundtrack”, said the Cardinal, “it is almost spontaneous to remember, not only the visual dimension, but also the sound dimension. There is a musical thread, which goes hand in hand with that of the image.”
In particular, Cardinal Ravasi mentioned the film “The Mission” in which, he said, the musical commentary is of a religious nature and illustrates the theme of the film.
“That is why I believe that we should all be grateful to Ennio Morricone, believers and non-believers alike, but above all the believers to whom he belonged, for having been able to express the ineffable and the invisible at the same time, which are the soul of religion.”
