Greatest Film/TV Composers and their Best Work
by janusminoa | created - 18 Jun 2013 | updated - 10 months ago | PublicThose listed below have left a legacy of unforgettable music.
1. Malcolm Arnold
Composer | The Bridge on the River Kwai
Born in Northampton on 21st October 1921, Malcolm Arnold studied composition with Gordon Jacob and trumpet with Ernest Hall at the Royal College of Music. In 1941 he joined the trumpet section of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, becoming principal by 1943. After two years of war service and one ...
Suite from Trapeze Suite from David Copperfield
2. John Barry
Soundtrack | Out of Africa
John Barry was born in York, England in 1933, and was the youngest of three children. His father, Jack, owned several local cinemas and by the age of fourteen, Barry was capable of running the projection box on his own - in particular, The Rialto in York. As he was brought up in a cinematic ...
Suite from Dances With Wolves Theme from Zulu James Bond Main Theme Theme from From Russia With Love Theme from Goldfinger Theme from The Ipcress File Theme from Thunderball Theme from The Quiller Memorandum Theme from You Only Live Twice Suite from On Her Majesty's Secret Service Theme from The Tamarind Seed Theme from Diamonds Are Forever Theme from Body Heat Theme from Out of Africa 'The Girl With the Sun in Her Hair' (Sunsilk TV ad) Theme from Mercury Rising Theme from The Lion in Winter Theme from The Appointment Theme from The Specialist
3. Elmer Bernstein
Composer | Far from Heaven
Elmer Bernstein was educated at the Walden School and New York University. He served in the US Army Air Corps in World War II, writing scores for the service radio unit. He also wrote and arranged musical numbers for Glenn Miller's Army Air Force Band. A prolific and respected film music composer, ...
Theme from The Magnificent Seven Theme from The Great Escape Theme from The Age of Innocence Theme from The Bridge at Remagen Theme from Sweet Smell of Success Theme from The Man With the Golden Arm Theme from The Buccaneer
4. Danny Elfman
Music_department | The Nightmare Before Christmas
As Danny Elfman was growing up in the Los Angeles area, he was largely unaware of his talent for composing. It wasn't until the early 1970s that Danny and his older brother Richard Elfman started a musical troupe while in Paris; the group "Mystic Knights of Oingo-Boingo" was created for Richard's ...
Theme from Beetlejuice Theme from Mars Attacks Theme from Alice Through the Looking Glass Theme from Sleepy Hollow
5. Jerry Goldsmith
Composer | L.A. Confidential
Born on February 10, 1929, Jerry Goldsmith studied piano with Jakob Gimpel and composition, theory, and counterpoint with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. He also attended classes in film composition given by Miklós Rózsa at the Univeristy of Southern California. In 1950, he was employed as a clerk ...
Theme from Papillon Theme from Gremlins Theme from The Wind and the Lion Theme from Chinatown Theme from Patton Theme from Rio Conchos
6. Bernard Herrmann
Composer | North by Northwest
The man behind the low woodwinds that open Citizen Kane (1941), the shrieking violins of Psycho (1960), and the plaintive saxophone of Taxi Driver (1976) was one of the most original and distinctive composers ever to work in film. He started early, winning a composition prize at the age of 13 and ...
Suite from Vertigo Theme from Cape Fear Prelude from The Wrong Man Theme from The Day the Earth Stood Still Theme from On Dangerous Ground Theme from The Man Who Knew Too Much Theme from North By Northwest Theme from Marnie Theme from Joy in the Morning
7. Maurice Jarre
Composer | Lawrence of Arabia
Unlike many musicians who started to learn music while still in their childhood, Maurice Jarre was already late in his teens when he discovered music and decided to make a career in that field. Against his father's will, he enrolled at Conservatoire de Paris where he studied percussions, ...
Suite from Doctor Zhivago Title from Lawrence of Arabia Theme from The Professionals Theme from Villa Rides 'On the Terrace at Versailles' from The Night of the Generals Theme from 'Jacob's Ladder' Theme from A Passage to India' Theme from The Mcintosh Man
8. Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Composer | The Adventures of Robin Hood
Erich Wolfgang Korngold was the son of a well-known music critic. A child prodigy, he accompanied his father in playing four-handed piano arrangements by the age of five. By the age of eleven he drew his first plaudits from enthusiastic Viennese audiences (including the emperor Franz Josef) with ...
Theme from Captain Blood Suite from The Sea Hawk Suite from The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
9. Henry Mancini
Soundtrack | Breakfast at Tiffany's
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, but brought up in Pennsylvania, where he played the flute in a local band, as a youth, before sending some arrangements to Benny Goodman. Goodman offered him a job and, after serving in WWII, he joined the rearranged Glenn Miller band. In 1952, he was given a two-week ...
Theme from The Pink Panther Theme and 'Moon River' from Breakfast at Tiffany Theme for Peter Gunn Theme for Days of Wine and Roses Theme from Experiment in Terror Theme from Charade Theme from A Shot in the Dark Theme from The Hawaiians
10. Ennio Morricone
Composer | The Hateful Eight
A classmate of director Sergio Leone with whom he would form one of the great director/composer partnerships (right up there with Eisenstein & Prokofiev, Hitchcock & Herrmann, Fellini & Rota), Ennio Morricone studied at Rome's Santa Cecilia Conservatory, where he specialized in trumpet. His first ...
Theme, 'The Ecstasy of Gold' and 'Il Triello' from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Theme from For a Fistful of Dollars Theme from The Mission Theme from Once Upon a Time in the West L'Arena from The Mercenary (and Kill Bill) Theme from Five Man Army Theme and 'Paying off Scores' from For a Few Dollars More
11. Alfred Newman
Music_department | The King and I
Alfred Newman is an American composer, arranger, and conductor of film music.
From his start as a music prodigy, he came to be regarded as a respected figure in the history of film music. He won nine Academy Awards and was nominated 45 times, contributing to the Newmans being the most nominated ...
Theme from Wuthering Heights Suite from The Mark of Zorro Theme from The Bravados Theme from Anastasia Love Theme from The Robe Theme from Nevada Smith
12. Alex North
Music_department | Spartacus
Alex North studied music at the Curtis Institute of Philadelphia, then won a scholarship to Juilliard in New York (1929) and the Moscow Conservatoire (1933), making him the first-ever American to become a member of the Union of Soviet Composers. In Europe, he worked as music director for the ...
Theme from Cleopatra Love Theme from Spartacus Theme from I'll Cry Tomorrow Theme from A Streetcar Named Desire
13. David Raksin
Soundtrack | Captain America: The First Avenger
David Raksin's father Isidore, who both conducted and owned a music store, taught his son to play piano as well as woodwind instruments at an early age. He eventually studied music with Arnold Schönberg, but became by-and-large a self-taught multi-instrumentalist (organ and percussion), as well as ...
Theme from Laura Suite from Forever Amber Suite from The Bad and the Beautiful
14. Miklós Rózsa
Composer | Ben-Hur
A child prodigy, Miklos Rózsa learned to play the violin at the age of five and read music before he was able to read words. In 1926, he began studying at the Leipzig Conservatory where he was considered a brilliant student. He obtained his doctorate in music in 1930. Moving to Paris the following ...
Theme from Double Indemnity Theme from Ivanhoe Theme from Sahara Theme from El Cid Theme from Five Graves to Cairo Love Theme from Quo Vadis Theme from Lust for Life
15. Lalo Schifrin
Music_department | Rush Hour
Immensely talented, Argentinian born pianist, conductor and composer who has written over 100 scores for both television & the cinema including the memorable themes to Mission: Impossible (1966), Mannix (1967), Starsky and Hutch (1975), Cool Hand Luke (1967), and Bullitt (1968). Schifrin has ...
End Credits from The Eagle Has Landed Theme from Mannix Theme from Mission Impossible Theme from Bullitt
16. Max Steiner
Composer | Casablanca
Austrian composer Max Steiner achieved legendary status as the creator of hundreds of classic American film scores. He was born Maximilian Raoul Walter Steiner in Vienna, Austria, the son of Marie Mizzi (Hasiba) and Gabor Steiner, an impresario, and the grandson of actor and theater director and ...
Theme from The Charge of the Light Brigade Suite from Adventures of Don Juan Waltz from Jezebel Suite from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Theme from Key Largo Suite from Gone With the Wind 'Paige's Theme' from Parrish Theme from A Distant Trumpet Theme from Now, Voyager
17. Dimitri Tiomkin
Soundtrack | High Noon
Dimitri Tiomkin was a Russian Jewish composer who emigrated to America and became one of the most distinguished and best-loved music writers of Hollywood. He won a hallowed place in the pantheon of the most successful and productive composers in American film history, earning himself four Oscars ...
Theme from Rawhide Theme from Tension at Table Rock Theme from The High and the Mighty Suite from The Alamo Entr'acte from Duel in the Sun Theme from Wild is the Wind 'The Fall of Love' from The Fall of the Roman Empire
18. Franz Waxman
Composer | Sunset Blvd.
Franz Waxman (Wachsmann) pursued his dream of a career in music despite his family's misgivings. He worked for several years as a bank teller and paid for piano, harmony and composition lessons with his salary. He later moved to Berlin, where he continued his study and progress as a musician. He ...
Theme from The Philadelphia Story Theme from The Two Mrs. Carrolls Theme from Taras Bulba Suite from Rebecca Prelude from Sunset Boulevard Anne of the Indies Suite
19. John Williams
Composer | Jurassic Park
As one of the best known, awarded, and financially successful composers in US history, John Williams is as easy to recall as John Philip Sousa, Aaron Copland or Leonard Bernstein, illustrating why he is "America's composer" time and again. With a massive list of awards that includes over 52 Oscar ...
Theme from Schindler's List Theme from Star Wars Theme from Jurassic Park Theme from Indiana Jones (1-3) Theme from Superman Theme from Empire of the Sun Theme from Jaws
20. Debbie Wiseman
Composer | Lesbian Vampire Killers
One of the UK's most successful female music ambassadors, Debbie is in demand as a composer and conductor.
Over the past 25 years, there are probably few people in the UK who have not heard one of Debbie's film or television scores. Whether watching Stephen Fry bring Oscar Wilde to life on the big ...
Oscar Wilde Suite Theme from Wolf Hall Suite from Arsene Lupin
21. Victor Young
Composer | Around the World in Eighty Days
Violinist and conductor Victor Young was a prolific composer and arranger, who worked on more than 300 film scores over a period of twenty years. He came from an impoverished, but musical background and was trained on the violin at the Warsaw Imperial Conservatory, later studying piano in Paris ...
Theme from Love Letters Theme from Johnny Guitar Theme from Three Coins in the Fountain Theme Hold Back the Dawn Suite from Samson and Delilah
22. Hans Zimmer
Composer | Gladiator
German-born composer Hans Zimmer is recognized as one of Hollywood's most innovative musical talents. He featured in the music video for The Buggles' single "Video Killed the Radio Star", which became a worldwide hit and helped usher in a new era of global entertainment as the first music video to ...
Theme from Das Boot Theme from Sherlock Holmes (1999) Suite from Gladiator Suite Pirates of the Caribbean (with Klaus Badelt) Theme from The Dark Knight Rises Chariot Race from The Prince of Egypt
23. Abel Korzeniowski
Music_department | A Single Man
Born on the 18th of July, 1972, in Cracow, Poland. In 1996 graduated the instrumental studies (specialization: cello), and then in 2000 graduated with merit from the composition class of Krzysztof Penderecki at the Music Academy in Cracow. At the same Academy, in the years 1999-2000, he was an ...
Penny Dreadful Soundtrack
24. Bear McCreary
Composer | The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Bear McCreary is a degreed graduate of the prestigious USC Thornton School of Music (in 'Composition and Recording Arts'). Bear McCreary was one of a small and select group of proteges of the late, many-honored film composer Elmer Bernstein. Although he is now firmly in the mainstream of film ...
Themes for Black Sails and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
25. Ramin Djawadi
Composer | Game of Thrones
Ramin Djawadi is an Iranian-German film score composer known for composing the hit HBO series Game of Thrones and the Marvel films Blade: Trinity, Iron Man and Eternals. He also composed Clash of the Titans, A Wrinkle in Time, Pacific Rim, Westworld, Gears of War 4 and 5, Medal of Honor, Open ...
epic themes from Game of Thrones and Westworld
26. Jerry Goldsmith
Composer | L.A. Confidential
Born on February 10, 1929, Jerry Goldsmith studied piano with Jakob Gimpel and composition, theory, and counterpoint with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. He also attended classes in film composition given by Miklós Rózsa at the Univeristy of Southern California. In 1950, he was employed as a clerk ...
Theme from Papillon Theme from Chinatown Theme from The Wind and the Lion Theme from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Score of The Omen
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