Augusto Martelli (15 March 1940 – 3 November 2014) was an Italian composer, conductor, arranger and television personality. Born in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, the son of conductor and composer Giordano Bruno Martelli, Martelli is probably best known for the song ''Djamballà'', the theme song of the 1970 film ''

Il dio serpente ''Il dio serpente'' (The snake god) is a 1970 Italian erotic fantasy film directed by Piero Vivarelli and featuring Italian-based American actress Nadia Cassini in her first lead role. The film is an earlier example of voodoo (and later zombie) the ...

'', which reached the first position in the Italian charts. He is also well known for his romantic and professional relationship with pop singer Mina, with whom he collaborated as a composer and an arranger and with whom he co-founded the music label PDU. After having been conductor in a number of

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

variety shows, starting from late seventies Martelli was also host of a number of TV programs, mainly for

Canale 5 Canale 5 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel of Mediaset, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It was the first private television network to have a national coverage in Italy in 1980. On 4 December 2012, Mediaset launched Canale 5 HD, a s ...

.Luca Cirillo, Maurizio Mansueti, "Incontro con Augusto Martelli", ''Il Giaguaro'', N° 7, Autumn 2001, Alessandro Casella Editore. He also composed songs and scores for a large number of

Fininvest Finanziaria d'investimento Fininvest S.p.A., known as Fininvest S.p.A., is an Italian holding company controlled by the Berlusconi family and managed by Silvio Berlusconi's eldest daughter Marina Berlusconi. Structure The Fininvest group is co ...

TV programs, including the jazz-fusion instrumental piece "Round D Minor" for the motor racing show "Grand Prix" hosted by

Andrea de Adamich Andrea Lodovico de Adamich (born 3 October 1941) is a former racing driver from Italy. He participated in 34 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, making his debut on 1 January 1968. He scored a total of six championship points. He also p ...

in the 1980s.

Selected filmography

* ''

Pensando a te ''Pensando a te'' (Italian for 'Thinking of you') is a 1969 Italian "musicarello" film directed by Aldo Grimaldi and starring Al Bano and Romina Power.Daniele Magni, ''Cuori matti - Dizionario dei musicarelli anni '60'', Bloodbuster Edizioni, 2012 ...

'' (1969) * '' More Dollars for the MacGregors'' (1970) * ''

'' (1970) * ''

Sartana in the Valley of Death ''Sartana in the Valley of Death'' ( it, Sartana nella valle degli avvoltoi, also known as ''Ballad of Death Valley'') is a 1970 Italian Spaghetti Western film written and directed by Roberto Mauri and starring William Berger. Plot Cast * ...

'' (1970) * ''

The Wind's Fierce ''The Wind's Fierce'' ( es, La cólera del viento, it, La collera del vento, also known as ''Revenge of Trinity'', ''Trinity Sees Red'' and ''The Wind's Anger'') is a 1970 Spanish-Italian western-drama film written and directed by Mario Camus. P ...

'' (1970) * '' We Are All in Temporary Liberty'' (1971)

References

External links

* * * * 1940 births Musicians from Genoa 2014 deaths Italian music arrangers Italian conductors (music) Italian male conductors (music) Italian composers Italian male composers Italian bandleaders Italian pop musicians Italian jazz musicians Italian jazz pianists Italian television presenters 20th-century Italian musicians 20th-century Italian male musicians Mass media people from Genoa {{Italy-composer-stub