Roberto Nicolosi

Now recognized as one of the masters of Italian jazz, composer Roberto Nicolosi (Genoa, 1914 – Rome, 1989) started out as a dentist. In addition to getting his degree in medicine, he obtained a diploma in composition, piano and double-bass from the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory of Music in Milan.

After several years as a practicing dentist, he decided to devote himself completely to music. He started gaining popularity in the 1940s, first as a jazz musician and then as a conductor and arranger for radio and records. In the early postwar era he was a member of the first editorial board of the magazine Musica Jazz, the music arranger of Radio Milano’s pop orchestra, a writer and host of radio programs, and the conductor of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra.

In the mid-1950s, after moving to Rome, Nicolosi began to work as a film composer. He went on to write several Italian epic scores, including Black Sunday (1960), The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1962) and Black Sabbath (1963) –  all films directed by Mario Bava – as well as Universe by Night (1962, Alessandro Jacovoni), The Reunion (1963, Damiano Damiani) and Eye in the Labyrinth (1972, Mario Caiano).