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Music Amuses Did you know that Nino Rota, one of the greatest Italian film composers, never wore a watch? Nino Rota started to write music since he was eight, and always travelled with manuscript paper. His astonishing gift for composing memorable melodies and improvising at the piano proved perfect for last-minute film adjustments. That said, Rota was less shrewd when it comes to the practical aspects of daily life. In particular, he did not know how time was calibrated. He never wore a watch, and for years he thought time was decimal. When testing timings on his first film score at the age of twenty-one, he was amazed to learn that that a minute had 60 seconds, not 100! Missing a plane in his forties, he was astonished to learn that 20:00 was not 10:00 pm! Though his “time management” was rather poor, his works have stood the test of time and become perennial favourites with audiences worldwide. More trivia from the world of Italian film music composers ….. Nicola Piovani Several years ago an American encyclopedia made quite a big mistake. They thought Nicola Piovani was the pseudonym of Ennio Morricone! Nicola Piovani had to win an Oscar to prove he was another composer! Fiorenzo Carpi Widely known for his memorable film scores, Fiorenzo Carpi was also the in-house musician for the famous Milan theatre directed by Giorgio Strehler, “Il Piccolo Teatro di Milano”, for which he composed over 130 scores. Giorgio Strehler used to say that his theatre was held together by Carpi’s notes. The film music of these composers and more will be featured in the CCOHK's upcoming Cinema Amore Mio concert! Don’t miss it!! |