Musical film scores are among the most integral and often overlooked aspects of moviemaking. When composed with the utmost excellence, film music sets the tone and establishes the mood of a movie in ways that dialogue alone could never achieve. Some of the most classic movies are often associated with their iconic film score, be it Hitchcock’s Psycho, Lucas’s Star Wars, or Leone’s The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
While some composers also write original songs for movies, the instrumental score is what often sustains the ambient tenor of the story.
Rachel Portman
Four women in cinematic history have won Academy Awards for Best Original Score: Marilyn Bergman for Yentl, Rachel Portman for Emma, Ann Dudley for The Full Monty, and Hildur Guonadottir for Joker.
Of the four, Portman’s filmography slightly trumps the others in terms of quantity and quality. Portman has scored films for Mike Leigh, Wayne Wang, John Madden, Jonathan Demme, Robert Redford, Lasse Halstrom, and more. In addition to Emma, Portman earned Oscar nods for Chocolat and The Cider House Rules.
Elmer Bernstein
With due deference to Howard Shore, Phillip Glass, Alexandre Desplat, and other worthy contenders, Elmer Bernstein has over 250 credits as a film composer. With a legendary career spanning from 1951 to 2004, Bernstein earned 11 Oscar nominations and one win for Thoroughly Modern Millie in 1967.
Bernstein also composed indelible film scores for To Kill a Mockingbird, The Magnificent Seven, Trading Places, The Age of Innocence, Far From Heaven, and countless others.
Jerry Goldsmith
With over 250 credits amassed from 1953 until his death in 2004, Jerry Goldsmith is responsible for some of the most memorable film music of all time. Goldsmith was nominated for 17 Academy Awards, including his sole victory for The Omen in 1976.
Goldsmith composed the scores to such landmark movies as Planet of the Apes, Chinatown, Alien, L.A. Confidential, and far too many others to mention. He’s worked with every great filmmaker and essayed every genre under the sun en route to becoming one of the most well-respected composers in the industry.
Hans Zimmer
German composer Hans Zimmer earned his first Oscar nomination for Rain Man in 1989. Five years later, he won the Academy Award for scoring The Lion King. In the intervening 27 years, Zimmer has added another eight nominations.
Zimmer has worked with the best directors in Hollywood, including frequent collaborations with Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Ron Howard, Christopher Nolan, and more. Known for his sweeping operatic scores for big-budget movie spectacles, Zimmer has accrued over 300 credits since 1984.
John Barry
Five-time Oscar-winning composer John Barry is one of the most esteemed musicians in Hollywood history. In addition to working with the most talented filmmakers in the industry, Barry earned a reputation for scoring such cinematic epics as The Lion in Winter, Out of Africa, Dances With Wolves, Chaplin, and others.
Barry also became famous for conducting the music for several James Bond movies (12 total), working closely with Francis Ford Coppola, and influencing a new generation of film composers.
Bernard Herrmann
While he won his lone Oscar for scoring All That Money Can Buy, in 1964, Bernard Herrmann is responsible for such all-time great movie music as heard in Citizen Kane (his first film), Psycho, Taxi Driver, and many more.
As Alfred Hitchcock’s most frequent musical collaborator, Herrmann also composed multiple scores for Hitchcock’s acolyte, Brian De Palma. In addition to composing, Herrmann also orchestrated his film scores, giving him ownership like few others who proliferated in his shadow. In 1977, Herrmann earned two posthumous Oscar nods for Taxi Driver and Obsession.
Ennio Morricone
With due respect to fellow Italian composers Nino Rota, Pino Donaggio, and others, none can eclipse the influence of monumental composer, Ennio Morricone.
With over 500 credits dating back to 1960, Morricone finally won an Oscar in 2016 for his original score for The Hateful Eight. Morricone’s score for Sergio Leone’s The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is one often hailed as a watershed moment in movie music and made him one of the most sought-after film composers by the best directors in the world.
Max Steiner
With 20 Oscar nominations logged from 1935 to 1956, three-time winner Max Steiner scored some of the most famous movies in cinematic history. Steiner wrote music for Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and many more.
As one of the earliest composers to work on talkies, Steiner was instrumental in creating the language of movie music at a time when the process was brand new and his impact cannot be overstated.
Henry Mancini
Legendary film composer Henry Mancini was just as adept at writing original songs as he was original movie scores. He won four Oscars, including Best Original Score for Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Victor Victoria.
With over 350 musical credits, Mancini’s iconic works include the scores for The Pink Panther, Charade, Touch of Evil, Days of Wine and Roses, and countless others. His work is still being recycled to this day, nearly 30 years after his death in 1994.
John Williams
John Williams is the man behind the music to Jaws, Star Wars, Superman, and several of the most popular movies ever made. With a staggering 38 Academy Award nominations to date, Williams won the golden statuette five times so far.
Williams has become synonymous with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, two of the most successful filmmakers of all time. He has over 450 soundtrack credits, more than 250 music department credits, and over 150 credits as a composer. His reach in the realm of movie and TV music cannot be eclipsed.
