Francesco De Masi

Francesco De Masi (11 January 1930 – 6 November 2005) was an Italian conductor and film score composer.

He studied composition at the San Pietro a Maiella Conservatory in Naples, under the guidance of Achille Longo, his uncle. De Masi became 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 also scored several action films, such as Enzo G. Castellari's Quel maledetto treno blindato (The 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 Palestrina, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Ravel and Shostakovich as his main classical influences.

De Masi died of cancer at the age of 75.

Selected filmography

• Maciste il gladiatore più forte del mondo (Colossus of the Arena, 1962)
• Ercole l'invincibile (Hercules the Invincible, 1963)
• Maciste l'eroe più grande del mondo (Goliath and the Sins of Babylon, 1963)
• Maciste nelle miniere di re Salomone (Maciste in King Solomon's Mines, 1964)
• Il leone di Tebe (The Lion of Thebes, 1964)
• Gli schiavi più forti del mondo (Seven Slaves Against the World, 1964)
• La vendetta di Spartacus (The Revenge of Spartacus, 1965)
• Una bara per lo sceriffo (A Coffin for the Sheriff, 1965)
• Sette contro tutti (Seven Rebel Gladiators, 1965)
• Un angelo per Satana (An Angel for Satan, 1966)
• The Third Eye (Il terzo occhio, 1966)
• Sette dollari sul rosso (Seven Dollars on the Red, 1966)
• Arizona Colt (The Man from Nowhere, 1966)
• The Murder Clinic (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)
• Il momento di uccidere (The Moment To Kill, 1968)
• Ammazzali tutti e torna solo (Kill Them All 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)
• The Weekend Murders (Concerto per pistola solista, 1970)
• Terrible Day of the Big Gundown (Quel maledetto giorno della resa dei conti, 1971)
• The Weapon, the Hour & the Motive (L'arma l'ora il movente, 1972)
• I Familiari delle vittime non saranno avvertiti (Crime Boss, 1972)
• The House of the Doves (1972)
• Hector the Mighty (Ettore lo fusto, 1972)
• The Hanging Woman (La orgía de los muertos, 1973)
• Bawdy Tales (Storie scellerate, 1973)
• The Big Game (1973)
• The Arena (1974)
• Silence the Witness (Il testimone deve tacere, 1974)
• Private Vices, Public Virtues (Vizi privati, pubbliche virtù, Vices and Pleasures, 1975)
• Nazi Love Camp 27 (La svastica nel ventre, 1977)
• Napoli spara (Weapons of Death, 1977)
• it (1977)
• Quel maledetto treno blindato (The Inglorious Bastards, 1978)
• Lo squartatore di New York (The New York Ripper, 1982)
• Invaders of the Lost Gold (1982)
• Rush (1983)
• Thor il conquistatore (Thor the Conqueror, 1983)
• Lone Wolf McQuade (1983)
• Fuga dal Bronx (Escape from the Bronx, 1983)
• Thunder (Thunder Warrior, 1983)
• 7, Hyden Park: la casa maledetta, (Formula for a Murder, 1985)
• Operation Nam (Cobra Mission, 1986)
• Mortacci (Death to You, 1989)

External links

• Francesco De Masi at IMDb