The Mission

Morricone wrote the score for Roland Joffé's The Mission in 1986, layering three separate musical worlds that eventually sound simultaneously: a European liturgical choir, Guaraní drumming and voices, and the solo oboe melody that became known as Gabriel's Oboe. The combination is the film's argument in musical form. It lost the Academy Award to Herbie Hancock's arrangements for Round Midnight, a result Morricone returned to in interviews for the rest of his life. He received an honorary Oscar in 2007 and a competitive one only in 2016.