Francesco De Masi
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Francesco De Masi (January 11, 1930 – November 6, 2005) was an Italian conductor and film score composer. He studied composition at the San Pietro a Maiella in Naples, under the guidance of Achille Longo, who was also his uncle. De Masi got interested in film music when Longo was asked to compose a soundtrack for a film, and he asked De Masi to be his assistant. De Masi's filmography includes scores for over 200 films and TV series, ranging from spaghetti westerns and sword and sandal epics to gialli and horror films, such as Lucio Fulci's Lo squartatore di New York (The New York Ripper). De Masi died of cancer at the age of 75.
De Masi also scored several action films, such as Enzo G. Castellari's Quel maledetto treno blindato (Inglorious Bastards), but he is best remembered for his work on spaghetti westerns. Unlike most other composers, De Masi started writing western scores slightly earlier than the genre's most influential musician, Ennio Morricone. As De Masi's music was less influenced by Morricone, his style had a distinctive sound. Many of his songs were performed by the low-voiced member of the I Cantori Moderni choir, Ettore "Raoul" Lovecchio.
De Masi was also very interested in classical music. He taught at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory, also conducting the conservatory's orchestra. In an interview, De Masi listed Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Maurice Ravel and Dmitri Shostakovich as his main classical influences.
Partial filmography
- Ercole l'invincibile (Hercules the Invincible, 1963)
- Un angelo per Satana (An Angel for Satan, 1966)
- Arizona Colt (The Man from Nowhere, 1966)
- Vado... l'ammazzo e torno (Any Gun Can Play, 1967)
- Los quatro salvajes (Ringo; Face of Revenge, 1967)
- Quella sporca storia nel west (Johnny Hamlet, 1968)
- Sette winchester per un massacro (Seven Winchesters for a Massacre, 1968)
- Ammazzali tutti e torna solo (Go Kill Everybody and Come Back Alone, 1968)
- La battaglia d'Inghilterra (Battle Squadron, 1969)
- C'è Sartana... vendi la pistola e comprati la bara (I Am Sartana, Trade Your Guns for a Coffin, 1970)
- I Familiari delle vittime non saranno avvertiti (Crime Boss, 1972)
- La orgía de los muertos (The Orgy of the Dead, 1973)
- The Arena (1974)
- Vizi privati, pubbliche virtù (Vices and Pleasures, 1975)
- Quel maledetto treno blindato (Inglorious Bastards, 1977)
- Napoli spara (Weapons of Death, 1977)
- Kid Vengeance (1977)
- Lo squartatore di New York (The New York Ripper, 1982)
- Rush (1983)
- Thor il conquistatore (Thor the Conqueror, 1983)
- Lone Wolf McQuade (1983)
- Fuga dal Bronx (Bronx Warriors 2, 1983)
- Cobra Mission (1985)
- 7, Hyden Park: la casa maledetta, (Formula for a Murder, 1985)
- Mortacci (Death to You, 1989)
