World-renowned Italian composer Ennio Morricone has signed a major new record deal with Decca Records, celebrating his professional 60-year career and 600 compositions. His new album Morricone 60 will be released on October 7 just ahead of his 88th birthday, and marks the start of a unique partnership between Decca and the Morricone family.

Morricone 60 is the first album of Ennio Morricone's greatest hits conducted, recorded and curated by Morricone himself—and aims to create a legacy for his fans to enjoy. It sees the celebrated Maestro performing some of his greatest film music from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly to his recent Academy Award-winning score for Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight (released earlier this year on Decca internationally and Verve in the U.S.). The album marks Ennio Morricone's 60th anniversary as a composer and conductor and features brand new recordings with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, with whom he has collaborated on major international movie scores.

Upon signing the recording contract with Decca, Ennio Morricone commented: "After the success of The Hateful Eight score, I'm delighted to be returning to Decca with my own record deal—an extraordinary moment in my 60th professional anniversary year. It's been a wonderful experience to be able to conduct my scores and to record these with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. The quality of their performance of my work is truly outstanding."