10 Amazing Film Composers You Should Check Out

The legendary composer Ennio Morricone (right), with the equally legendary director Brian De Palma, during the scoring of 'Casualties Of War' (1989).

In a documentary on the making of Jaws, David Brown, one of the producers of the film, describes the first screening of the movie. The movie was largely finished, except for one major exception: John Williams hadn't scored the film yet. The studio executives filed into the screening room and sat alongside David Brown, Richard Zanuck, and Steven Spielberg. The lights in the room dimmed, and the movie filled the screen. The tension in the room was palpable; Jaws had had a troubled production, and the film had gone wildly over-budget and over schedule. This screening was a crucial one.

Unfortunately, the film didn't seem to be working. The scenes were well-shot and well-acted, but they didn't pack the punch they were meant to. After the screening, one of the executives looked to Zanuck, Brown, and Spielberg and said,"Go get the rest of the movie." The three filmmakers knew exactly what that meant. They immediately went to John Williams and got started scoring the movie. After the soundtrack was completed, another screening was held. This time, the mood after the screening was far different; the executives left excited about the film's chances. Of course, the rest is history; Jaws went on to become the first summer blockbuster.

I love that story, because it gives credit to one of the most under-appreciated groups of people in the film industry: the composer. I don't know about you guys, but, to me, a movie doesn't feel complete without the music. Every part of a movie is vital, including good acting, well-rounded characters, striking cinematography, and a well-structured plot. However, the score is an integral part of all this; music can convey emotion in a special way that no other part of a movie can equal.

I'm no expert on film scores or composers, but I do love music. Therefore, to express that love, I thought I'd list my 10 favorite film composers, along with a few words about why I admire their work. If I've left off one of your favorites, let me know!

(Oh, and the entries aren't ranked in any way; all these composers are equally great!)

Jerry Goldsmith

Jerry Goldsmith is the first composer I was truly aware of. For a long time, I had been vaguely aware that movies featured music, but I hadn't thought much of it. This all changed when I saw Rudy for the first time. I loved everything about the film, but I was particularly moved by the beautiful, stirring music (especially during the "Tryouts" montage). I went to IMDb, looked up Rudy, and scrolled down to where the composer was listed. There the name sat: Jerry Goldsmith.

The thing I love most about Goldsmith's work is how easily he shifts between different genres and musical styles; the man was a chameleon! It's fun to scroll down his credit list and see how diverse his body of work is; it ranges everywhere from minimalist and weird (the 1968 film version of Planet of the Apes) to warm and quietly beautiful (Rudy) to majestic and bold (Patton) to light and airy (I.Q.) to everywhere in between. It's really cool!

My Top Three Goldsmith Scores:

Rudy (1993)
Patton (1970)

I.Q. (1995)

Elmer Bernstein

Elmer Bernstein definitely didn't range around the musical spectrum like Goldsmith did; he knew what he did well, and, for the most part, he stayed in that niche. And what did he do well? I can tell you in three words: BIG AND BOLD!

Most of Bernstein's music booms out of the speakers at you, and that's why I love it! I feel like a big part of why Bernstein's scores are so fondly-remembered is because he knew exactly what genres lent themselves to his signature style: Westerns, war movies, action films, and, later, blockbuster comedies. Bernstein settled into those genres and got to work, and he did a lot of great stuff!

I think Bernstein had a little more range than he gave himself credit for, though. He would occasionally wander out of his niche and do some jazz (Sweet Smell Of Success) or some quieter, more emotional scores (like for To Kill A Mockingbird or The Great Santini). In my opinion, these more gentle scores are just as wonderful as Bernstein's brassier, louder work. He was just a great all-around composer!

My Top Three Bernstein Scores:

The Silencers (1966)
The Great Santini (1979)
The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Ennio Morricone

What I love most about Ennio Morricone is how otherworldly and dream-like his work is; it sounds completely different from anything else I've ever heard from any other composer! It seems like, just like Elmer Bernstein, Morricone found the places where his unique sound would fit most. Fortunately, Morricone met a director who fit his sensibilities perfectly: Sergio Leone. Leone was about to embark on his series of epic, over-the-top, masterful spaghetti westerns, and he asked Morricone to contribute the scores for the films. Morricone came through amazingly; his unique, strange scores for each film perfectly complement the archetypal, otherworldly Wild West that Leone constructed. 

Later, after Leone retired, Morricone found other directors whose style worked well with his musical style, people like Brian De Palma, John Carpenter, and, now Quentin Tarantino. Less than a week ago (as of this writing), it was announced that Morricone will be coming out of semi-retirement to score Tarantino's next film, The Hateful Eight. I'm REALLY excited about this; it'll be nice to have a new Morricone score!


My Top Three Morricone Scores:

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly (1966)
Once Upon A Time In The West (1969)
My Name Is Nobody (1976)

Bruce Broughton

Bruce Broughton wasn't a composer I was consciously aware of until I started really looking into movie scores. I think I had heard his name once on the DVD audio commentary for Home Alone (he was to be the composer for the film, until scheduling problems intervened and John Williams took over), but other than that, the name meant nothing to me. I was surprised, therefore, when I looked up Broughton's credit list and discovered that I'd been a fan of his music all my life!

Broughton's scores move me emotionally in a way that few other film scores do (in fact, in this category, he's probably tied with the next composer on the list). I'm not quite sure why Broughton's music touches me so deeply, to tell you the truth. It might be because he does a lot of work with Walt Disney Pictures, and I've got a lot of admiration, love, and nostalgia tied up in Disney. It also may be because he scores a lot of westerns and comedies, and those are among my favorite film genres. Heck, it may even be because Broughton uses a lot of Aaron Copland-esque instrumentation & arrangement techniques, and Copland's music always moves me.

Whatever the reason, though, there's one thing I know for sure: whenever I hear a Broughton score, I'm filled with a sense of warmth, exhilaration, and hope. That's what I love most about his work!

My Top Three Broughton Scores:

Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1989)
Silverado (1985)

The Rescuers Down Under (1990)

James Horner

Confession time: for a long time, I wasn't a big fan of James Horner. Oh, I thought his scores sounded nice enough, but I felt like he borrowed from his prior work a little too much. I was young and stupid back then, so I didn't really take the time to investigate my claims. I conveniently ignored scores that didn't support my case, like the one for The Mask Of Zorro, which is different from Horner's usual work in a lot of ways. I assumed my opinion was law, and I went on my merry way.

I actually didn't come to change my tune until recently. Here's how it happened: when I'm not writing here, I'm writing for Rotoscopers.com, an animation website. This website is the home of the Animation Addicts Podcast, which you really should be listening to, if you aren't already (and I'm not saying that just because I write for the site). One of the co-hosts of the show & curators of the site is a lovely lady who knows far more about music and film scores than I do. During the podcast episode focusing on The Land Before Time, this lady took care to mention Horner's score and how much it contributes to the emotional mood of the film. Her passion was contagious! I went to go re-listen to Horner's score for the film.

I listened, and the score clicked in my mind in a way that a Horner score never had before. I went and listened to more of Horner's work, and I was pleased to discover that, suddenly, ALL of it was clicking for me! I guess it's just another classic example of developing good taste as one grows older!

Unfortunately, a little less than a year after I made this discovery, Horner died in a plane crash outside of Santa Barbara, California. He will be missed, but his music will live on.

My Top Three Horner Scores:

Field Of Dreams (1989)
The Land Before Time (1988)
The Mask Of Zorro (1998)

Lalo Schifrin

I'm extremely lucky to have parents who introduced me to classic pop culture all throughout my childhood. My dad was particularly good about this; when I started showing an interest in music, he brought home Beach Boys and Beatles cassettes (yes, cassettes were still popular when I was a kid), and I'm so grateful! When I expressed an equally strong interest in movies, my dad started feeding me a steady diet of classic films (thank you to TCM and AMC, back when AMC actually showed classic movies, for helping this!). Since I watched a TON of classic movies as a kid, I was introduced to Lalo Schifrin at a tender age. Looking back now, I think that he may have been my first favorite composer (not that I knew his name)!

If you're watching a movie that came out in the 1960s or '70s and it has a jazzy soundtrack, there's a really good chance that it was scored by Schifrin. Schifrin had a great knack for cool, modern-sounding music, and it was apparently a sound that pretty much every action-movie director was craving in the '60s and '70s. Schifrin's jazzy music was pretty much THE sound of the action movie during that period, and that's probably how he's best known. However, he could get emotional and a little more spare with his scoring, too, and nowhere did he do that better than in Cool Hand Luke, one of my personal favorite scores. I do love his jazzy work, though!

My Top Three Schifrin Scores:

Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Enter The Dragon (1973)
Bullitt (1968)

John Barry

I'm a James Bond fan, and have been since my dad weaned me on the early Sean Connery movies. I'm not entirely sure what it is about the Bond movies I love so much; I guess it's partly a case of being a guy who likes action, a little bit of Connery's brilliant portrayal (he's still the best 007, in my opinion), and I think nostalgia plays a big part. 

However, I think that, more than anything else, John Barry's scores for the early Bond films are what seared the films into my memory. The bold, striking music perfectly evokes the mood of the movies; whenever I hear Barry's "James Bond Theme," I'm immediately transported to a special mind-space in the corner of my brain, and I'm totally ready to follow James Bond on another wild adventure. Even if Barry had done nothing more than the scores for the James Bond movies, he would still be a shoo-in for a spot on this list. 

Barry did lots of other good work, though, and that's why I've limited myself to one Bond score in my three favorites. After all, I had to leave room for Somewhere In Time, my favorite of Barry's non-Bond scores. The 1980 movie the score comes from is a little spotty (the time-travel elements are clever and unique, but the romance is really sappy), but Barry's score is heart-wrenching in all the best ways. The string sections are really great, but the best moments in the soundtrack are the quieter, more tender, piano-driven moments. Those quiet tunes are enough to bring tears to my eyes!

My Top Three Barry Scores:

Goldfinger (1964)

Somewhere In Time (1980)
Dances With Wolves (1990)

Alan Silvestri

Alan Silvestri was one of the few names I actually did notice before I got into movie scores. After all, his name is hard to ignore, since it's EVERYWHERE! I just gave his IMDb list a scroll, and as I was looking, I was thinking, "Dang, man! You've done everything!"

Okay, he hasn't done everything, but he has done a ton, including a bunch of my favorite scores. He's worked in about every genre that there is, from comedy to action to horror to everything in between, and he does a great job of adapting his musical style to whatever the story is suggesting. No two Silvestri scores are alike, and I admire him for that. He's also very much in demand, judging by his credits; he's worked with a bunch of big-name directors, usually more than once. He's also done a bunch of animated films, which wins him a big place in my heart!

What I love most about Silvestri, though, is that he is, in my opinion, the king of the hummable score. Every time I hear a Silvestri soundtrack, it goes into my long-term memory, popping up at random times and causing me to hum a few bars to myself. That's one of my biggest measuring sticks when I want to decide if a composer's great; if their music sticks in my mind, I consider them a master. Silvestri's music certainly sticks in my mind!

My Top Three Silvestri Scores:
Back To The Future (1985)
Father Of The Bride (1991)

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

John Williams

All I need to do is hear the name John Williams, and I start to smile. Williams's name carries threads of a lot of cinematic memories for me. Williams provided the music for so many of my favorite movies: Jaws, Superman: The Movie, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Home Alone, and so on. That's not even mentioning his work on the Star Wars and Harry Potter movies!

In many ways, it's a lot harder for me to choose favorites from Williams's credits than it has been from any other composer's list (so far, anyway). I feel such a strong nostalgic connection to so many of them, and then there are the others that I think are just great, even without the nostalgia factor. The list below may not be the definitive list of the top three Williams scores, but then, none of these lists are definitive. They're all based on how the soundtracks make me feel. And, ultimately, I feel like that's the best way to judge music.

My Top Three Williams Scores:

The Cowboys (1972)

Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)

The Adventures Of Tintin (2012)

Danny Elfman

I think Danny Elfman is awesome for a lot of reasons! I love the fact that he started his musical career playing in a rock band with an awesome name (The Mystic Knights Of The Oingo Boingo; the band later shortened their name to simply Oingo Boingo). I love the fact that, for a brief time, Elfman was a film composer AND a rock star at the same time (can you imagine how much work that would be?!). Most of all, though, I love his credits list. It tells you so much about his personality!

I love how Elfman takes every project and makes it personal & unique. For instance, with Midnight Run (one of my favorite Elfman scores), Elfman opted not to go with an orchestra. Instead, Elfman turned to his rock n' roll friends and formed a country/blues rock ensemble, which he used to score the film. The resulting score is something unlike anything I've ever heard on any other movie, and I love it! 

I also love how, with every project he chooses, Elfman reveals something new about his sensibilities, whether it's a statement about his sense of humor, his tastes when it comes to genres, or what genuinely moves him emotionally. I love it when you can get to know a composer through his or her work, and Elfman is a prime example of that!

My Top Three Elfman Scores:

Midnight Run (1988)

The Family Man (2000)

Batman (1989)

And Here's A Slew Of Honorable Mentions (Read: Those That Almost Made The List):

Jerry Fielding, Miklos Rozsa, Alfred Newman, Harold Faltermeyer, Patrick Doyle, Hans Zimmer, Michael Giacchino, James Newton Howard, Max Steiner, Vangelis, Maurice Jarre, Ernest Gold, Bernard Herrmann, Henry Mancini, John Ottman

And how about you?  Who are your favorite film composers?