(Some of) My favourite Film Music Composers
by benedam-1 | created - 21 Jul 2014 | updated - 23 Jul 2014 | PublicI am a huge film music aficionado with hundreds of scores in my collection. As you can see, I love both the "classics" - such as Steiner (one of my all-time favs), Korngold (another all-time fav), Rózsa, Friedhofer, Salter, Goldsmith, Williams etc. - as well as the "newer" stuff .. including Hans Zimmer (who is the third of my all-time favs, or maybe should I say: first, when it comes to counting CD´s). My favourite scores are highlighted (F).
1. Angelo Badalamenti
Composer | Mulholland Dr.
Angelo Badalamenti was born on March 22, 1937 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for Mulholland Drive (2001), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) and Lost Highway (1997). He was married to Lonny Irgens. He died on December 11, 2022 in Lincoln Park, New ...
In my collection:
Twin Peaks
The Straight Story (F)
Mulholland Drive
2. Klaus Badelt
Composer | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Composer Klaus Badelt started his musical career writing and producing music for dozens of highly successful movies and commercials in his native Germany. In 1998, Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer invited him to move his musical home to Media Ventures in Santa Monica, CA. Since then, Klaus has ...
In my collection:
The Time Machine (F)
Equilibrium
Premonition (F)
3. 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 ...
In my collection:
James Bond (various samplers)
Out of Africa (F)
Dances With Wolves (F)
4. 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, ...
In my collection:
The Magnificent Seven (F)
To Kill A Mockingbird (F)
Time of Innocence (F)
5. Alexandre Desplat
Composer | The King's Speech
Composer and conductor Alexandre Desplat, Oscar winner and seven-time Academy Award nominated, for his prolific filmography and his collaborations with Stephen Frears, Terrence Malick, Ang Lee, Kathryn Bigelow, Jacques Audiard, Wes Anderson, Roman Polanski, George Clooney or Matteo Garrone is one ...
In my collection:
Girl with a Pearl Earring (F)
The Painted Veil (F)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Carnage
6. Patrick Doyle
Composer | Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Patrick Doyle is a classically trained composer.
His first film score, the acclaimed adaptation of "Henry V" with Kenneth Branagh for Renaissance films was scored in 1989. He has subsequently worked with Kenneth Branagh, a long time collaborator on numerous pictures including "Dead Again", "Much Ado...
In my collection:
Henry V (F)
Needful Things (F)
7. 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 ...
In my collection:
Batman
Dolores (F)
Spider-Man
Wolfman
8. Annette Focks
Composer | Wunderschön
Annette Focks was born on August 28, 1964 in Thuine, Lower Saxony, Germany. She is a composer and actress, known for Wunderschön (2022), The Poll Diaries (2010) and Simon och ekarna (2011).
In my collection:
Krabat (F)
John Rabe
Night Train to Lisbon
9. Michael Giacchino
Composer | Star Trek
Michael Giacchino is an American composer of music for films, television and video games.
Giacchino composed the scores to the television series Lost, Alias and Fringe, the video game series Medal of Honor and Call of Duty and many films such as The Incredibles (2004), Star Trek (2009), Up (2009), ...
In my collection:
Lost (Season 1)
10. Nick Glennie-Smith
Music_department | The Rock
Nick Glennie-Smith was born on October 3, 1951 in London, England, UK. He is a composer, known for The Rock (1996), We Were Soldiers (2002) and The Man in the Iron Mask (1998). He is married to Jan Glennie-Smith. They have four children.
In my collection:
The Man in the Iron Mask (F)
11. Elliot Goldenthal
Music_department | Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Elliot Goldenthal is an Academy Award-winning composer best known for his original music scores for such films as Frida (2002) and Across the Universe (2007), among his other works.
He was born on May 2, 1954, in Brooklyn, New York. His father was a house-painter, and his mother was a seamstress. ...
In my collection:
Pet Sematary
Interview With A Vampire (F)
Final Fantasy (F)
12. 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 ...
In my collection:
Planet of the Apes (F)
Papillon
The Omen (F)
Alien (F)
Poltergeist (F)
Rambo
Basic Instinct (F)
Star Trek - First Contact
L.A. Confidential
13. Harry Gregson-Williams
Composer | Shrek
Harry Gregson-Williams is one of Hollywood's most sought-after and prolific composers whose long list of film and television credits underscore the diverse range of his talents. He most recently wrote the music for "The Last Duel" and "House of Gucci" both directed by Ridley Scott. In addition, he ...
In my collection:
Spy Game
Kingdom of Heaven
14. 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 ...
In my collection (* to be found on various "samplers"):
Citizen Kane (F)
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Egyptian
Vertigo (F)
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad *
North by Northwest (F)
Journey to the Center of the Earth *
Psycho *
The 3 Worlds of Gulliver *
Jason and the Argonauts *
Fahrenheit 451 (F)
15. James Horner
Music_department | Titanic
James Horner began studying piano at the age of five, and trained at the Royal College of Music in London, England, before moving to California in the 1970s. After receiving a bachelor's degree in music at USC, he would go on to earn his master's degree at UCLA and teach music theory there. He ...
In my collection:
Aliens
Willow (F)
Legends of the Fall
Braveheart (F)
Titanic (F)
Deep Impact
The Mask of Zorro
A Beautiful Mind
House of Sand and Fog
Apocalypto (F)
Avatar
16. 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, ...
In my collection:
Laurence of Arabia (F)
Witness (F)
17. Ron Jones
Music_department | Family Guy
Ron Jones was born on July 7, 1954 in Kansas City, Kansas, USA. He is a composer and producer, known for Family Guy (1999), Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) and The Fairly OddParents (2001).
In my collection:
Star Trek - The Next Generation (F) (Sampler)
18. Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
Composer | Finding Neverland
Jan A. P. Kaczmarek is a composer with a tremendous international reputation that continues to grow. As a successful recording artist and touring musician, Jan turned to composing film scores as his primary occupation. Jan's first success in the United States came in theater. After composing ...
In my collection:
Finding Neverland
War & Peace (F)
19. Bronislau Kaper
Composer | Mutiny on the Bounty
Born: February 5, 1902 in Warsaw, Poland Died: April 25, 1983 in Los Angeles, California, USA Kaper displayed musical talent as early as the age of seven when his family acquired a piano. His inclination to music led him to study both piano and composition, while also taking courses in law to ...
In my collection:
Mutiny on the Bounty (F)
20. Wojciech Kilar
Composer | Bram Stoker's Dracula
Wojciech Kilar was born on July 17, 1932 in Lwów, Lwowskie, Poland [now Lviv, Ukraine]. He was a composer, known for Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), The Ninth Gate (1999) and The Pianist (2002). He was married to Barbara Pomianowska. He died on December 29, 2013 in Katowice, Slaskie, Poland.
In my collection:
Dracula (F)
The Pianist
21. 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 ...
In my collection:
Captain Blood
Robin Hood (F)
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
The Sea Hawk (F)
Kings Row
22. Dennis McCarthy
Composer | Star Trek: Generations
Dennis McCarthy was born in 1945. He is a composer, known for Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: Enterprise (2001) and Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987). He has been married to Patty since 1965. They have three children.
In my collection:
Star Trek - The Next Generation (F) (Sampler)
Star Trek - Generations (F)
23. 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 ...
In my collection:
Once Upon a Time in the West
Once Upon a Time in America (F)
Hamlet
Mission to Mars (F)
24. Mario Nascimbene
Soundtrack | The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun
Mario Nascimbene was born on November 28, 1913 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. He was a composer and actor, known for The French Dispatch (2021), Matchstick Men (2003) and Violent Summer (1959). He was married to Mara Caterina Ripari and Tamara Adrian. He died on January 6, 2002 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.
In my collection:
The Vikings (F)
25. Javier Navarrete
Composer | El laberinto del fauno
Javier Navarrete was born in 1956 in Teruel, Aragón, Spain. He is a composer, known for Pan's Labyrinth (2006), Wrath of the Titans (2012) and Byzantium (2012).
In my collection:
Pan´s Labyrinth (F)
26. 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 ...
In my collection:
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (F)
All About Eve (F)
27. Thomas Newman
Music_department | Skyfall
Thomas Newman is an American film score composer. He was born in Los Angeles. His father was notable film score composer Alfred Newman (1900-1970). The Newman family is of Russian-Jewish descent, and includes several other well-known musicians. Thomas' mother Martha Louis Montgomery (1920-2005) ...
In my collection:
The Shawshank Redemption
The Horse Whisperer
Meet Joe Black
American Beauty (F)
The Green Mile (F)
In the Bedroom (F)
Finding Nemo
28. James Newton Howard
Composer | King Kong
James Newton Howard attended the University of Southern California's music school, but dropped out to tour with Elton John, and eventually compose music for film and television. He started with Head Office (1985) in 1985. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards. He currently is a songwriter, ...
In my collection:
King Kong (F)
Blood Diamond (F)
Defiance (F)
29. 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 ...
In my collection:
Cleopatra (F)
2001 (F)
In the Shoes of the Fisherman (F)
30. Michael Nyman
Composer | The Piano
Michael Nyman studied piano, harpsichord and music history with Alan Bush at the Royal Academy of Music, and musicology with Thurston Dart at King's College, London. Between 1968 and 1978 he worked as a music critic and in 1977 he founded the Campiello Band, later renamed the Michael Nyman Band. ...
In my collection:
The Piano (F)
31. John Ottman
Editor | Bohemian Rhapsody
John Ottman holds dual distinctions as a leading film composer and an award winning film editor. Ottman has often completed both monumental tasks on the same films. Such remarkable double duties have included The Usual Suspects, X-Men 2, Superman Returns, Valkyrie, and Jack the Giant Killer. He has...
In my collection:
Valkyrie (F)
32. Basil Poledouris
Composer | RoboCop
Basil Poledouris was born on August 21, 1945 in Kansas City. He started taking piano lessons when he was 7 years old. Eventually, he went on to become a student at USC, where he studied the arts of directing, cinematography, editing, sound and, of course, music. It was also at USC he met John Milius...
In my collection:
Conan the Barbarian (F)
It´s my Party
33. Rachel Portman
Composer | Never Let Me Go
Rachel Portman, Composer
British composer Rachel Portman became the first female composer to win an Academy Award, which she received for the score of Emma. She was also the first female composer to win a Primetime Emmy Award, which she received for the film, Bessie. She has received two further ...
In my collection:
The Cider House Rules (F)
34. Nino Rota
Composer | The Godfather
Born in Milan in 1911 into a family of musicians, Nino Rota was first a student of Orefice and Pizzetti. Then, still a child, he moved to Rome where he completed his studies at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in 1929 with Alfredo Casella. In the meantime, he had become an 'enfant prodige', famous...
In my collection:
The Godfather Trilogy (F)
35. 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 ...
In my collection:
Quo Vadis
Ben Hur (F)
El Cid (F)
36. Hans J. Salter
Soundtrack | Happy Death Day 2 U
Hans J. Salter was born on January 14, 1896 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. He was a composer, known for Happy Death Day 2U (2019), Hubie Halloween (2020) and Detroit Rock City (1999). He was married to Gutzman. He died on July 23, 1994 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
In my collection:
House of Frankenstein
37. Howard Shore
Music_department | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Howard Shore is a Canadian composer, born in Toronto. He was born in a Jewish family. He started studying music when 8-years-old, and played as a member of bands by the time he was 13-years-old. He was interested in a professional career in music as a teenager. He studied music at the Berklee ...
In my collection:
The Silence of the Lambs
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (F)
38. Alan Silvestri
Composer | The Polar Express
In his ongoing, decades-long career as a composer, Alan Silvestri has blazed an innovative trail with his exciting and melodic scores, winning the applause of Hollywood and movie audiences the world over. With a credit list of over 100 films Silvestri has composed some of the most recognizable and ...
In my collection:
Bodyguard
Forrest Gump (F)
Contact (F)
39. 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 ...
In my collection:
King Kong (F)
She
Gone With the Wind (F)
Casablanca (F)
The Adventures of Mark Twain (F)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
40. 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 ...
In my collection:
High Noon (F)
The Fall of the Roman Empire (F)
41. Tom Tykwer
Writer | Lola rennt
Director, writer, producer and composer Tom Tykwer was born in 1965 in Wuppertal, Germany. He showed an interest in film-making from childhood, making super 8 films from the age of 11. Among his first jobs was working at a local art-house cinema. Tykwer eventually relocated to Berlin, first working...
In my collection:
Perfume
Cloud Atlas (F)
42. Vangelis
Composer | Blade Runner
Vangelis was a composer and performer who worked almost exclusively with electronic instruments. With Jean-Michel Jarre and Mike Oldfield in the 1970s, Vangelis was a pioneer in the instrumental music and a main influence in the creation of the musical genre "new age," a style related to spiritual,...
In my collection:
Chariots of Fire (F)
Blade Runner (F)
The Bounty
1492 - Conquest of Paradise (F)
Alexander
43. 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 ...
In my collection (* to be found on a "sampler"):
Rebecca (F)
Sunset Boulevard (F)
Prince Valiant *
Return to Peyton Place *
Taras Bulba *
44. 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 ...
In my collection:
Jaws (F)
Family Plot (F)
Star Wars (1-6) (F)
Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind
Indiana Jones (1-4)
E.T. (F)
Far and Away
Jurassic Park (F)
Schindler´s List (F)
Seven Years in Tibet
Amistad
A.I. (F)
Harry Potter (1-3) (F)
Minority Report
The Geisha (F)
45. Christopher Young
Composer | Sinister
Composer Christopher Young was born in Red Bank, New Jersey. After graduating from Hampshire College in Massachusetts with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music, Young went on to pursue his post-graduate studies at North Texas State University. After college Christopher moved to Los Angeles, ...
In my collection:
Hellraiser
Stark (F)
Shipping News (F)
46. 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 ...
In my collection:
K2
Crimson Tide
Peacemaker
The Thin Red Line (F)
Gladiator
Hannibal
Pirates of the Caribbean (1-3)
Last Samurai (F)
King Arthur
Laura´s Star
Batman Begins
The Da Vinci Code (F)
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Illuminati
Sherlock Holmes (F)
Inception
Sherlock Holmes 2 (F)
Man of Steel (F)
Tell Your Friends