Bruno Nicolai (May 26, 1926 — Aug. 16, 1991) was an Italian composer, conductor, and arranger who amassed more than 600 project credits over a 40-year career, starting in the early 1950s. Between 1969 and 1976, he recorded numerous soundtracks and library albums for Gemelli, RCA, and other labels.
Background
Bruno Nicolai was born May 26, 1926, in Rome, Italy. His parents were printer Giulio Cesare Nicolai and Gina Ottaviani. Nicolai studied piano with Aldo Mantia at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia, where Antonio Ferdinandi and Goffredo Petrassi taught him composition. He studied organ with Ferruccio Vignanelli at the Pontificio Istituto di Musica Sacra. Nicolai met fellow composer Ennio Morricone through the Santa Cecilia conservatory.
Nicolai joined the orchestral circuit in 1950 as a pianist, organist, and harpsichordist with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and the RAI Symphony Orchestra in Rome. He served as maestro sostituto for chamber-opera seasons at Teatro La Cometa. His concert compositions from this period include the 1951 Quattro odi di Orazio, the 1952 Ouverture per orchestra, and the 1959 Sonata per viola, pianoforte e percussioni.
Nicolai served as musical director for the 1952 Luchino Visconti production of Chekhov’s Tre sorelle at Teatro Eliseo in Rome. Director Guido Salvini subsequently brought Nicolai into cinema and credited him with the music for the 1955 historical drama Il conte Aquila. Nicolai wrote the 1960 documentary Il fiume di Roma, the 1961 short Eco nel villaggio, and the 1963 short Chi è di scena. Riccardo Freda engaged Nicolai in 1964 for the musical adaptation on Giulietta e Romeo.
Discography:
- Giulietta e Romeo, Riccardo Freda (1964)
- $100,000 for Ringo, Alberto De Martino (1965)
- Kiss Kiss…Bang Bang, Duccio Tessari (1966)
- Django Shoots First, Alberto De Martino (1966)
- Special Mission Lady Chaplin, Alberto De Martino (1966)
- The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t, Rossano Brazzi (1966)
- I giorni della violenza, Alfonso Brescia (1967)
- Run, Man, Run, Sergio Sollima (1968)
- 99 Women, Jesús Franco (1968)
- Marquis de Sade: Justine, Jesús Franco (1968)
- Land Raiders, Nathan Juran (1969)
- Carnal Circuit, Alberto De Martino (1969)
- Flashback, Raffaele Andreassi (1969)
- Zenabel, Ruggero Deodato (1969)
- Arizona si scatenò… e li fece fuori tutti, Sergio Martino (1970)
- The Bloody Judge, Jesús Franco (1970)
- Cloud of Dust… Cry of Death… Sartana Is Coming, Giuliano Carnimeo (1970)
- Count Dracula, Jesús Franco (1970)
- Adiós, Sabata, Gianfranco Parolini (1971)
- The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail, Sergio Martino (1971)
- Dead Men Ride, Aldo Florio (1971)
- The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, Emilio Miraglia (1971)
- And the Crows Will Dig Your Grave, Juan Bosch (1971)
- The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, Emilio Miraglia (1972)
- The Case of the Bloody Iris, Giuliano Carnimeo (1972)
- All the Colors of the Dark, Sergio Martino (1972)
- The French Sex Murders, Ferdinando Merighi (1972)
- Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, Sergio Martino (1972)
- Ubalda, All Naked and Warm, Mariano Laurenti (1972)
- A Virgin Among the Living Dead, Jesús Franco (1972)
- God in Heaven… Arizona on Earth (1972)
- The Big Family, Tonino Ricci (1973)
- Man Called Invincible, Giuliano Carnimeo (1973)
- My Name Is Shanghai Joe, Mario Caiano (1973)
- And Then There Were None, Peter Collinson (1974)
- Eyeball, Umberto Lenzi (1975)
- Manhunt in the City, Umberto Lenzi (1975)
- Rendez vous (1975)
- Ciao Italia (1976)
- April Orchestra présente RCA Sound Vol. 2 (1976)
- Caligula, (credited as Paul Clemente) Tinto Brass (1979)
- Cammina, cammina, Ermanno Olmi (1982)
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