If Mudcat had a 'like' button I'd like that comment, Will! That's it in a nutshell really, although by the time Leone is producing (not directing) Il Mio Nome E Messuno (AKA My Name Is Nobody) in 1974 they both have their tongues firmly in their cheeks, so they're sending up their own parodies. Complex, eh? The main theme of this still-classic score ended up as a UK sit-com theme (can't remember what) which was indignity enough for me!

Otherwise Morricone's music is full of grotesque irony & humour - often sublime, often quite twisted, like his ultra-lounge music he did for sexed up Italian thrillers in the sixties. Amazing music which is forged from subverting popular idioms into something entirely surreal and wondrous which then goes on to influence the very pop idioms he's parodying. Try this (very groovy) Youtube playlist:

Morricone Party

Now listen afresh to his classic Western scores....