The highly-regarded and loved composer Ennio Morricone has died at the age of 91.

It was confirmed that the Italian composer broke his femur after a fall some days ago, and died overnight in a clinic in Rome. His death was confirmed by his lawyer, Giorgio Assumma. In a statement, Assumma said that Morricone "died at dawn on 6 July in Rome with the comfort of faith. He preserved until the final moment full lucidity and great dignity.

"He said goodbye to his beloved wife Maria, who accompanied him with dedication in every moment of his human and professional life and was close to him until his final breath, and thanked his children and grandchildren for the love and care they have given him. He gave a touching remembrance to his audience, whose affectionate support always enabled him to draw strength for his creativity."

While Morricone was most well known globally for his film scores that included The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, The Mission and The Hateful Eight, he was an incredibly prolific writer and arranger responsible for many works spanning the fields of pop, jazz and classical, with a solid reputation in the avant garde.

Despite writing over 400 film scores, that covered spaghetti westerns, horror, sci-fi, and other film genres, Morricone always resisted the lure of Hollywood and spent his entire life in Itlay.