Nino Rota

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Rota as a child (1923)

Giovanni "Nino" Rota (born December 3, 1911 in Milan , † April 10, 1979 in Rome ) was an Italian composer. He became internationally known for his over 150 film scores, including classic films by Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti . In 1975 he received the Oscar for the score for The Godfather - Part II .

Life

Nino Rota was the son of a pianist. In his youth he was considered a musical child prodigy , as he began to compose at the age of eight. In 1923 he was accepted at the Conservatory in Milan , where he took lessons from Giacomo Orefice and Ildebrando Pizzetti . He then studied with Alfredo Casella in Rome and graduated in 1930 from the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome with a diploma in composition. In the years 1931 and 1932 he attended the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia ( Pennsylvania ), where he studied composition and conducting . During this time he discovered the great Hollywood films and the music of George Gershwin . In 1937 he made his diploma in the Lettere course at the University of Milan with a thesis on Zarlino. From 1939 he held a professorship for harmony, then for composition at the Niccolò Piccinni Conservatory in Bari. In 1950 he became director of the conservatory.

Although Rota saw himself as a classical composer all his life, after the Second World War he was best known as a composer of film music , especially for Federico Fellini , with whom he worked from 1952. Fellini only used Rota's music for his films until his death in 1979. In addition to Fellini, Rota wrote film music for such well-known directors as Luchino Visconti , Francis Ford Coppola , Lina Wertmüller and Franco Zeffirelli . He was particularly valued for the fact that, thanks to his extraordinary skills as an improviser, his mental flexibility and imagination, he was able to musically implement even the directors' unusual wishes in a very short time. With his musical work, Nino Rota oriented himself strongly to circus music, among other things . For his soundtrack to Coppola's The Godfather - Part II , he received an Oscar and the Golden Globe Award in 1975 .

In total he wrote about 150 film scores. He is less known as a composer of concert and stage music. His work includes ten operas as well as 23 ballet and stage compositions, three symphonies , three piano concertos , three cello concertos , a double bass concert (Divertimento Concertante, 1973), a trombone concert, a bassoon concert, a harp concert, a concert for strings, chamber and piano music and choral works .

Nino Rota died of coronary thrombosis in 1979 at the age of 67 . He had a daughter from his relationship with the pianist Magda Longari.

Awards

Academy Awards

Golden Globe

  • 1973 : Nominated for the best film music for The Godfather .
  • 1975 : Awarded for the best film music for The Godfather - Part II .

Grammy Award

  • 1973 : Awarded for Best Original Music for a Film or a TV Special for The Godfather .

Nastro d'Argento : Best Score

Further

Filmography (selection)

Other works (selection)

  • 1928: Il Presepio [The Crib] (string quartet with voice)
  • 1932: "Musiche di scena" Le prime battute di 6 canzoni e un coro per " L'isola disabitata "
  • 1934–1935: Sonata for viola and piano
  • 1935: Canzona (orchestral work)
  • 1937–1941: Sinfonia No. 2
  • 1950: I due timidi [The two shy ones ] (radio opera in one act)
  • 1955: Il cappello di paglia di Firenze [The Florentine straw hat] (Farsa musicale in four acts)
  • 1956–1957: Sinfonia No. 3
  • 1959: La notte di un nevrastenico [The night of a neurasthenic] (opera in one act)
  • 1958–1961: Concerto Festivo
  • 1959: Lo scoiattolo in gamba [The smart squirrel] (opera)
  • 1960: Mariae dicata (mass)
  • 1961: Messa breve
  • 1962: Messa senza gloria
  • 1962: Mysterium catholicum (cantata)
  • 1962: Unum panem (choral work)
  • 1963–1965: Aladino e la lampada magica [Aladin and the magic lamp] (opera)
  • 1965/1969: La visita meravigliosa [The wonderful visit] (Opera)
  • 1968–1970: La vita di Maria (opera)
  • 1968–1970: Il Natale degli innocenti (oratorio)
  • 1970–1971: Roma capomunni (cantata)
  • 1972: Cello Concerto No. 1
  • 1972: Cantico in memoria di Alfredo Casella (song)
  • 1976: Le Molière imaginaire (ballet)
  • 1976: Guardando il Fujiyama (orchestral work)
  • 1977: Napoli milionaria (opera)

Web links

Commons : Nino Rota  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ - la Repubblica.it . In: Archivio - la Repubblica.it . ( repubblica.it [accessed March 7, 2018]).
personal data
SURNAME Rota, Nino
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rota, Giovanni
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian composer
DATE OF BIRTH December 3, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Milan
DATE OF DEATH April 10, 1979
Place of death Rome