[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTu4eRXNJWY]
Nino Rota, an Italian composer who had a fruitful creative partnership with director Federico Fellini (Rota composed the scores for La Strada, Night of Cabiria, 8 1/2), was chosen as The Godfather‘s composer in order to give it a true Italian feeling. His score became an essential piece of the film, and its spare trumpet opening and lush love theme have become two of American cinema’s more famous pieces of music. Though nominated for an Oscar, Rota’s score was subsequently withdrawn, because part of the love theme had previously appeared (albeit in a more jaunty form) in the 1958 Italian comedy Fortunella. (Skip ahead to the 55-second mark in the video below to hear the original.)
[youtube=http://youtu.be/aZgEkHWt58o]