Who composed the score for 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'?

Ennio Morricone composed the score for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The 1966 Italian epic Western was directed by Sergio Leone and is the concluding film in Leone’s Dollars Trilogy, following A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.

Morricone’s score helped define the film’s unusual sound: traditional orchestral writing is mixed with electric guitar, trumpet, whistling, gunfire, and stylized vocal effects. Its famous two-note main motif evokes a coyote’s howl, while “The Ecstasy of Gold” accompanies Tuco’s frantic search through a vast cemetery.

Morricone and Leone developed important musical themes before filming was complete, allowing Leone to shape scenes and editing around the music. This made the score feel unusually integrated with the film’s pacing. The music is often associated with the entire “spaghetti Western” genre, but the score belongs specifically to Morricone’s long collaboration with Leone.