Ennio Morricone: Once Upon a Time in the West

22 August 2014, 15:59 | Updated: 29 August 2014, 11:21

The film that influenced directors such as George Lucas and Martin Scorsese has a score that has left a mark on popular culture every bit as big.

Beautiful and violent, Sergio Leone's 1968 epic marked his first collaboration with an American studio - and regular compadre Ennio Morricone joined him for film score duties. 

At Leone's request, Morricone actually finished the score before filming had even begun so that the music could be played to the actors during shoots. As with ~The Good, The Bad and The Ugly~, Morricone's score plays an integral part to Leone's film, with various leitmotifs relating to each of the main characters. 

'Man with the Harmonica', which is played during scenes involving Charles Bronson's character (aptly named Harmonica), is particularly recognisable and appears regularly in popular culture.