Biography
Alessandro Cicognini (15 January 1906 – 9 November 1995) was an Italian composer of film scores. Born in Pescara, he graduated in composition from the Milan Conservatory in 1927. He composed an opera, Donna Lombarda, which premiered in Turin in 1933, before turning to cinema in the mid-1930s.
Cicognini scored more than 100 films. He collaborated extensively with Vittorio De Sica from 1946, providing music for Shoeshine (1946), Bicycle Thieves (1948), Miracle in Milan (1951), Umberto D. (1952) and other titles. He also worked with Alessandro Blasetti and contributed to the Don Camillo series. His scores often employed small ensembles.
In 1965 he retired from film composition to teach. One of his soundtracks, for Terminal Station (1953), was reused in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993). He died in Rome.
