Nino Rota (December 3, 1911 – April 10, 1979) was an Italian composer. He is particularly remembered for his work on film scores, especially The Godfather series and a number of films by Federico Fellini.

Rota was born into a musical family in Milan, and studied at the conservatory there under Ildebrando Pizzetti. Later, the conductor Arturo Toscanini encouraged him to go to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to study. This he did, where he worked under Fritz Reiner, amongst others. He later returned to Milan, where he wrote a thesis on the renaissance composer Gioseffo Zarlino.

Rota wrote his first film score in 1944 for Zazà, a film directed by Renato Castellani. He later met the director Federico Fellini while the latter was working on his first film, Lo Sceicco Bianco. The two collaborated on many occasions, with Rota's score for 8½ often cited as one of the main factors which makes the film more cohesive.

His score for Fellini's Juliet of the Spirits (1965) included a collaboration with Eugene Walter on the song, "Go Milk the Moon" (cut from the final version of the film), and they teamed again for the song "What Is Youth," part of Rota's score for Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet.

After his death Rota's music was the subject of the 1981 tribute album Amarcord Nino Rota. Produced by Hal Willner it is regarded as the first 'modern' tribute album. Rota's scores for Fellini have served as very recognizable inspiration for Danny Elfman's movie scores.

Although best known for his work in films, Rota also composed ten operas, five ballets and many other instrumental works. His 1977 opera The Italian Straw Hat, an adaptation of the play by Eugène Labiche was presented by the Santa Fe Opera. In 2005 his opera Aladino e la lampada magica has been performend in German translation at the Vienna State Opera with Cosmin Ifrim in the title role and released on DVD.

Notable film scores

• Treno Popolare (1933)
• Zazà (1944)
• Vivere in pace (1947)
• Sotto il sole di Roma (1948)
• Fuga in Francia (1948)
• È primavera... (1948)
• Senza pietà (1948)
• The Glass Mountain (1949)
• Obsession (1949)
• Pirates of Capri (1949)
• Valley of Eagles (1951)
• Anna (1951)
• Lo Sceicco Bianco (1952)
• I Vitelloni (1953)
• Fanciulle di lusso (1953)
• La grande speranza 1954)
• La strada (1954)
• Mambo (1954)
• Accadde al penitenziario (1955)
• Un eroe dei nostri tempi (1955)
• '' Il Bidone (1955)
• War & Peace (1956)'
• Le notti bianche (1957)
• Le notti di Cabiria (1957)
• Fortunella (1958)
• La Diga sul Pacifico (1958)
• La Grande Guerra (1959)
• Plein Soleil (1959)
• La Dolce Vita (1960)
• Rocco e i suoi fratelli (1960)
• Fantasmi a Roma (1961)
• ''Il Brigante (1961)
• I due nemici (1962)
• The Reluctant Saint (1962)
• Boccaccio '70 (1962)
• Il Gattopardo (1963)
• 8½ (1963)
• Il Maestro di Vigevano (1963)
• Il Giornalino di Gian Burrasca (1964)
• ''Giulietta degli Spiriti (1965)
• Spara forte, più forte, non capisco (1966)
• The Taming of the Shrew (1967)
• Romeo and Juliet (1968)
• Tre passi nel delirio ( 1968)
• '' Satyricon (1969)
• I Clowns (1970)
• Waterloo (1970)
• Roma (1972)
• The Godfather (1972)
• Hi wa shizumi, hi wa noboru (1973)
• Amarcord (1973)
• Film d'amore e d'anarchia (1973)
• The Godfather Part II (1974)
• The Abdication (1974)
• Il Casanova di Federico Fellini (1976)
• Alle origini della mafia (1976)
• Prova d'orchestra (1978)
• Death on the Nile (1978)
• The Hurricane (1979)

External links

• Nino Rota
• IMDb filmography

1911 births | 1979 deaths | Natives of Milan | Italian film score composers

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