Armando Trovajoli
Armando Trovajoli (also Trovaioli, 2 September 1917 – 28 February 2013)[1] was an Italian film composer and pianist with over 300 credits as composer and/or conductor, many of them jazz scores for exploitation films of the Commedia all'italiana genre.[2] He collaborated with Vittorio De Sica on a number of projects, including one segment of Boccaccio '70. Trovajoli was also the author of several Italian musicals: among them, Rugantino and Aggiungi un posto a tavola.[3]
Trovajoli was the husband of actress Pier Angeli. He died in Rome at the age of 95 on 28 February 2013.[4]
Radio[]
After graduating from the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome (1948), Trovajoli was entrusted by RAI with the direction of a pop music orchestra, set with 12 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 1 flute, 1 oboe, 1 clarinet, 1 horn, harp, vibraphone, electric guitar, bass, drums and the piano (played by Trovajoli himself).[3] In 1952–53 he collaborated with Piero Piccioni in Eclipse, a weekly musical broadcast in which the orchestra is directed alternately by the two composers, in a style extremely refined and sophisticated, very different from the music of radio orchestras at that time.[3]
Movie scores[]
Together with Goffredo Petrassi, Trovajoli composed the score of Giuseppe De Santis' Bitter Rice (1949). In 1951, Trovajoli was invited by Dino De Laurentiis to write music for Anna, a film directed by Alberto Lattuada: particularly the song El Negro Zumbón became an international success: inspired by tropical rhythms, is sung in playback and danced by Silvana Mangano, but actually performed by Flo Sandon's.[3] Since then, Trovajoli wrote soundtracks for directors as Dino Risi, Vittorio De Sica, Ettore Scola and others, for a total of over 300 scores.[5]
Selected filmography[]
- Two Nights with Cleopatra (1954)
- A Day in Court (1954)
- Poveri milionari (1958)
- Il vedovo (1959)
- Uncle Was a Vampire (1959)
- Winter Holidays (1959)
- Two Women (1960)
- Atom Age Vampire (1960)
- Hercules and the Conquest of Atlantis (1961)
- Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules (1961)
- The Giant of Metropolis (1961)
- Hercules in the Haunted World (1961)
- The Orderly (1961)
- His Women (1961)
- Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory (1962)
- Boccaccio '70 (1962)
- Toto's First Night (1962)
- I mostri (1963)
- Sexy Toto (1963)
- Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963)
- Marriage Italian Style (1964)
- Let's Talk About Women (1964)
- Beautiful Families (1964)
- Attack and Retreat (1965)
- Assassination in Rome (1965)
- Seven Golden Men (1965)
- Seven Golden Men Strike Again (1966)
- The Devil in Love (1966)
- Sex Quartet (1966)
- Maigret a Pigalle (1966)
- Adultery Italian Style (1966)
- Treasure of San Gennaro (1966)
- Col cuore in gola (1967)
- Long Days of Vengeance (1967)
- Will Our Heroes Be Able to Find Their Friend Who Has Mysteriously Disappeared in Africa? (1968)
- Seven Times Seven (1968)
- Il profeta (1968)
- Torture Me But Kill Me with Kisses (1968)
- Faustina (1968)
- The Libertine (1968)
- I See Naked (1969)
- Police Chief Pepe (1969)
- Where Are You Going All Naked? (1969)
- Nell'anno del Signore (1969)
- Il giovane normale (1969)
- The Pizza Triangle (1970)
- May Morning (1970)
- The Priest's Wife (1971)
- The Blonde in the Blue Movie (1971)
- The Double (1971)
- Homo Eroticus (1971)
- That's How We Women Are (1971)
- Stanza 17-17 palazzo delle tasse, ufficio imposte (1971)
- Manhunt (1972)
- L'uccello migratore (1972)
- How Funny Can Sex Be? (1973)
- Rugantino (1973)
- La Tosca (1973)
- Amore e ginnastica (1973)
- Scent of a Woman (1974)
- The Sensual Man (1974)
- La via dei babbuini (1974)
- Bitter Love (1974)
- Duck in Orange Sauce (1974)
- We All Loved Each Other So Much (1974)
- La moglie vergine (1975)
- Strange Shadows in an Empty Room (1976)
- Tell Me You Do Everything for Me (1976)
- The Career of a Chambermaid (1976)
- Down and Dirty (1976)
- Evil Thoughts (1976)
- Luna di miele in tre (1976)
- A Special Day (1977)
- Il marito in collegio (1977)
- I nuovi mostri (1977)
- In the Name of the Pope King (1977)
- La stanza del vescovo (1977)
- The Fifth Commandment (1978)
- Amori miei (1978)
- Dr. Jekyll Likes Them Hot (1979)
- Life Is Beautiful (1979)
- La terrazza (1980)
- Passion of Love (1981)
- Count Tacchia (1982)
- Grand Hotel Excelsior (1982)
- Il paramedico (1982)
- That Night in Varennes (1982)
- Dagger Eyes (1983)
- Sing Sing (1983)
- Macaroni (1985)
- La Famiglia (1987)
- Miss Arizona (1988)
- Days of Inspector Ambrosio (1988)
- Mano rubata (1989)
- What Time Is It? (1989)
- Captain Fracassa's Journey (1990)
- The Wicked (1991)
- Gangsters (1992)
- Giovani e belli (1996)
- The Dinner (1998)
- Unfair Competition (2001)
References[]
- ^ "Addio al maestro Armando Trovajoli, è stato la musica e l'anima di Roma". La Repubblica. 2 March 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
- ^ Spencer, Kristopher (2008). Film and television scores, 1950–1979: a critical survey by genre. McFarland & Company. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-7864-3682-8. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Redazione Roma (2 March 2013). "Addio ad Armando Trovajoli Poeta e cantore di Roma". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
- ^ "E' morto Armando Trovajoli". Il Messaggero. 2 March 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
- ^ "È morto Armando Trovajoli. Aveva 95 anni l'autore di "Roma nun fà la stupida stasera"". Corriere della Sera. 2 March 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
External links[]
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- 1917 births
- 2013 deaths
- David di Donatello Career Award winners
- David di Donatello winners
- Italian film score composers
- Italian male film score composers
- Italian jazz musicians
- Musicians from Rome
- Nastro d'Argento winners
- 20th-century Italian musicians
- 20th-century Italian male musicians
- Male jazz musicians