Biography
Roberto Nicolosi (1914 – 1989) was an Italian composer, started out as a dentist. Born in Genoa, he moved to Milan where he gained both a degree in medicine and then a diploma in composition at the Giuseppe Verdi conservatory. After several years as a practicing dentist, his name in the music milieu began to surface, soon becoming a leading Jazz musician in the 1940s with his multi-instrumentalist talent. He played piano, violin, trumpet, vibraphone and double-bass and also conducted and arranged for radio, orchestra and records. Relocating to Rome, he wrote musical criticism and worked in nightclubs and theatres.
After his movie break-through in 1954 with the score for Folco Quilici’s documentary “Sesto Continente” Nicolosi created a solid production ranging from documentaries to films of different nature, covering Historical, Adventure, Comedy, Giallo and Horror. His Epic Symphonic style turned out to be a signature sound for Cult Horror flicks like Riccardo Freda’s “Caltiki – Il Mostro Immortale” (aka “Caltiki – The Immortal Monster”, 1959), composed together with Maestro Roman Vlad, as well as Mario Bava’s masterpieces “La Maschera Del Demonio” (aka “Black Sunday”, 1960) and “I Tre Volti Della Paura” (aka “Black Sabbath”, 1963). His Jazz background clearly emerges in another Bava’s film “La Ragazza che sapeva troppo” (aka “The Evil Eye”, 1963) but also in Mario Caiano’s “L’Occhio Nel Labirinto” (aka “Eye In The Labytinth”, 1972) which represents Nicolosi’s musical testament.
