Ferrio, Gianni

Gianni Ferrio was an Italian composer and conductor. Born in Vincenza, he studied at conservatories in both Vicenza and Venice, and began conducting in the 1940s. He created soundtracks for more than 120 films, mainly spaghetti Westerns and sexy comedies. His best-known score was for Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglorious Basterds”; it was originally written as “One Silver Dollar” for Giorgio Ferroni’s “Le Dollar troué.” He also composed and arranged more than 30 popular songs, starting in 1957 with “Piccolissima serenata.” He arranged and composed for pop singer Mina, with whom he collaborated with several others to create the famous song “Parole, parole.” The song was also recorded by Dallida and by Alain Delon. In 1959 and 1962, he was the official conductor for the Sanremo Festival. In 1965, he was official conductor at the Eurovision song contest for contestants from Austria, Ireland and Italy.