# Top five movie composers



## Cortision

I would like to know what Movie Composer's are people's favourites. Because I don't have a huge knowledge of movie music, I have limited myself to five, but if you want to include ten, by all means do. My Five, in no particular order, are:

John Williams
Howard Shore
Maurice Jarre
Michael Nyman
Nigel Westlake


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## Aramis

Wojciech Kilar
Jan A. P. Kaczmarek
Zbigniew Preisner
Ennio Morricone
John Williams


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## LvB

These, in no special order, are my favorites, though I'd also consider Herrmann and Korngold as deserving a place on any shortlist of the _best_ film composers.

1) Erich Wolfgang Korngold
2) Gottfried Huppertz
3) Bernard Herrmann
4) Jerry Goldsmith
5) (tie) Dmitri Tiomkin/Miklos Rosza


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## Rondo

It's hard to make a good Top 5, here. However, for over a decade now I have gathered a plethora of film score albums and these 5 have _never_ disappointed me (even when, on many occasions, the actual films did ):

(as before, no particular ranking)

John Williams
Bernard Herrmann
Bruce Broughton
Basil Poledouris
Jerry Goldsmith


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## Weston

Rondo said:


> John Williams
> Bernard Herrmann
> Bruce Broughton
> Basil Poledouris
> Jerry Goldsmith


Yay! Another Poledouris fan.

Here are mine -- leaving out composers who are better known for other things such as Prokofiev. I'll mention my favorite scores too.

Bernard Herrmann - _The Day the Earth Stood Still / North By Northwest _
Basil Poledouris - _Conan, the Barbarian_
Miklos Rosza - _Ben Hur / King of Kings_
Mario Nascimbene - _One Million Years BC_ (silly movie - AMAZING score.)
John Barry -_ The Lion in Winter_

Well, I'm not so sure about the last one. I might have put James Horner for _Brainstorm_ instead.


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## Rondo

Weston said:


> Yay! Another Poledouris fan.
> 
> Basil Poledouris - _Conan, the Barbarian_


That's a good one. Some other good ones that come to mind are Robocop, Starship Troopers and...Cherry 2000---but, to reiterate:


Rondo said:


> ..._never_ disappointed me (even when, on many occasions, the *actual films* did ):


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## Weston

[Chuckles] Let it be duly noted that Rondo's tastes do not normally run to cheesy sci-fi flicks.

I haven't seen Cherry 2000, but Wikipedia does state it is best known for the Poledouris score and the limited press CD once brought US$2500 on eBay! I may have to give that a try on some lazy Sunday afternoon.


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## Somnifer

1. Danny Elfman
2. John Williams
3. Hans Zimmer
4. Thomas Newman
5. Undecided

And favourite score of all time goes to LOTR: Return of the King


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## PartisanRanger

John Williams
Bernard Herrmann
Howard Shore
Ennio Morricone

I can't think of a good 5th composer.


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## Rondo

PartisanRanger said:


> ...
> Ennio Morricone


At first, I recognized this name but couldn't figure out what films he composed for. Then a quick search revealed. He composed one of the most popular segments of film music ever written (you'll know it when you hear it).


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## shsherm

I would like to point out that Alfred Newman won nine Oscars and was nominated more than 40 times. These are more nominations and wins than anybody else regardless of category.


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## purple99

http://www.talkclassical.com/6414-can-you-help-me.html


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## chillowack

I am surprised no one has yet mentioned the brilliant *Laurence Rosenthal*, whose score for _Clash of the Titans_ is one of the all-time great heroic movie themes.

But John Williams is the film score composer _par excellence_, and IMHO deserves a place among the greatest composers. Absolute genius!


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## tahnak

Elmer Bernstein
Miklos Rozsa
Maurice Jarre
Oscar Hammerstein
John Williams


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## Chi_townPhilly

chillowack said:


> I am surprised no one has yet mentioned the brilliant *Laurence Rosenthal*


Well, imagine MY surprise at the fact that no-one has mentioned...

1. *Serge Prokofiev*!
2. Erich Korngold
3. Ennio Morricone
4. John Williams
5. Miklós Rózsa(?)


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## Library Bob

1: Miklos Rosza
2: Franz Waxman
3: Bernard Herrmann
4: James Horner
5: Henry Mancini


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## Fergus

John Williams
Vangelis
Michael Nyman
Wendy Carlos
Danny Elfman


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## anephric

Jerry Goldsmith
Elliot Goldenthal
Miklos Rozsa
Bernard Herrmann
Shirley Walker

(I'd also like to mention Ray Cook - but he only wrote one score!)


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## cultchas

Ennio Morricone
Erich Korngold 
Dimitri Tiomkin
Maurice Jarre
Henry Mancini 
John Barry


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## Edward Elgar

John Williams
Joe Hisaishi
Ennio Morricone
Bernard Herrman
Hans Zimmer


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## The Cosmos

Mine would be -

1. Jerry Goldsmith
2. Bernard Herrmann 
3. Clint Mansell/Kronos Quartet
4. Wendy Carlos
5. Thomas Newman


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## Sid James

Nino Rota was also a great film composer.


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## handlebar

Korngold,Hermann,Williams,Thomas Newman and James Horner.


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## audiophilia

1. Herrmann
2. Korngold
3. Friedhofer
4. Morricone
5. 'Prokofiev'


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## shsherm

I must correct an error I made in a previous post. It turns out that Walt Disney was nominated most and won the most Oscars.


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## Sieglinde

Ennio Morricone
Nino Rota
John Williams
Jerry Goldsmith
Boban Markovic & his band


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## Sid James

I've remembered to add Honegger, Vaughan Williams & Shostakovich...


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## Magnum_Opus

Does the composers for 2001: A Space Odyssey:s music count?

Otherwise i would say:

Klaus Doldinger
Jerry Goldsmith
Hans Zimmer
Ennio Morricone
Nino Rota


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## altiusdirectory

*Re-Top five movie composers*

Top Five Hollywood Movies i feel that more movies competitive this stage i think all of top movies but i need info about Hollywood Movies if you want that visit below website


Hollywood Movies


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## Nix

Bernard Herrmann 
Jerry Goldsmith
John Williams
Alex North
Thomas Newman 

Film composers are interesting, and when listening to their music you really have to listen (and in this case look) for different things. Writing music to images is very different business then just writing music... especially when you're crunched for time.


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## SalieriIsInnocent

John Williams
Ennio Morricone
Elmer Bernstein
Howard Shore
Alan Silvestri


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## Sebastien Melmoth

*Debbie Wiseman* - _Wilde_, _Tom & Viv_

*Carter Burwell* - _Rob Roy_, _Hamlet_, _The Spanish Prisoner_, _Before the Devil Knows You're Dead_, _Twilight_, _Where The Wild Things Are_

*Angelo Badalamenti* - _A Very Long Engagement_, _Mulholland Drive_, _Lost Highway_, _Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me_, _Wild at Heart_, _Blue Velvet_

*Alexander Balanescu* - _Angels and Insects_


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## afterpostjack

Well, I like William T. Stromberg, his soundtrack for Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie is awesome. Then Jerry Goldsmith, Basil Pouledoris and John Williams are known movie composers that I like.


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## Dulcamara

My top movie composers are (in approximate order):

1. John Williams
He seems to pop up on a lot of other folks' lists, which isn't very surprising due to his popularity and the popularity of his films. Of all his classic works, I'd pick the _Indiana Jones_ theme as my favorite single piece of a movie music.

2. Carter Burwell
I was surprised his name hasn't been mentioned more. _Miller's Crossing_ might not be the most famous movie ever made, but it certainly is one of the best. At any rate, it's by far my favorite Burwell film score, which is saying quite a bit.

3. Howard Shore
His _Lord of the Rings_ score is wonderful, but I'm also a big fan of his music for _Ed Wood_.

4. and 5.
There are so many other composers who have contributed quite a bit of excellent movie music, but I can't choose any two more in particular.


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## World Violist

Joe Hisaishi
Miklós Rózsa
Howard Shore
Toru Takemitsu
somebody else whose name is not John Williams.


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## Huilunsoittaja

I second Howard Shore


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## dmg

Rondo said:


> That's a good one. Some other good ones that come to mind are Robocop, Starship Troopers and...Cherry 2000---but, to reiterate:


And my favorite: Quigley Down Under. 

John Williams
Max Steiner
Basil Poledouris
Henry Mancini
Bernard Hermann


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## TWhite

I'm pretty much a Classic movie buff, so my picks are indicative of the era whose films I enjoy the most. 
Among my favorites (and representative films) are:
Eric Wolfgang Korngold: THE SEA HAWK/ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD/ELIZABETH AND ESSEX
Alfred Newman: HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME/DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS/CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE
Max Steiner: JEZEBEL/CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE/ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN
Franz Waxman: EDGE OF DARKNESS/THE FURIES/TARAS BULBA
Miklos Rosza: DOUBLE INDEMNITY/MADAME BOVARY/EL CID
Jerry Moross: THE BIG COUNTRY
and a terrific score to a really LOUSY movie, at least IMO:
George Antheil: THE PRIDE AND THE PASSION

Tom


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## Guest

Only ones that really stand out for me are Thomas Newman (Shawshank) and Maurice Jarre (LoA and Dr. Zhivago).


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## Argus

World Violist said:


> Joe Hisaishi
> Miklós Rózsa
> Howard Shore
> Toru Takemitsu
> somebody else whose name is not John Williams.


Sorry, but

John Williams > Howard Shore

Looking at a list of films Shore has composed music for, I can say I like a lot of the films but I can't say I took much notice of the music in them. Williams, on the other hand, has produced scores that I can instantly recollect and associate with a film, or even a particular scene in a film. In Shore's defence, I guess you could say his music is unobtrusive.

My five:

Ennio Morricone
Bernard Herrmann
Elmer Bernstein
Philip Glass
John Carpenter

Notable mentions:

Mark Mothersbaugh
Danny Elfman
Popol Vuh (Florian Fricke)
Henry Mancini
Alan Menken
Jerry Goldsmith



Jeff N said:


> Only ones that really stand out for me are Thomas Newman (Shawshank) and Maurice Jarre (LoA and Dr. Zhivago).


Jarre's score for Witness is also great even though it's heavy use of synthesizers means it sounds quite dated and cheesy to modern ears. I actually thought it was the work of his son, Jean Michel.


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## World Violist

Argus said:


> Sorry, but
> 
> John Williams > Howard Shore
> 
> Looking at a list of films Shore has composed music for, I can say I like a lot of the films but I can't say I took much notice of the music in them. Williams, on the other hand, has produced scores that I can instantly recollect and associate with a film, or even a particular scene in a film. In Shore's defence, I guess you could say his music is unobtrusive.


I just don't like being reminded of Holst every time I try to watch Star Wars or Harry Potter. Or E.T. And I'm actually remarkably annoyed by the Indiana Jones theme.


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## franz

I'm not an avid watcher of films, but from the ones I've seen John Barry stands out by a clear mile!


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## Air

World Violist said:


> I just don't like being reminded of Holst every time I try to watch Star Wars.


Or Bruckner, for that matter. Yes, I'm looking at you, 8th symphony scherzo. You have been severely ripped off of.


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## Guest

I always thought that Williams ripped off Dvorak when he wrote the score for Jaws (last mvmt. of new world symphony).


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## World Violist

And there's always that one part in one of the original Star Wars movies in which one particular moment in the first movement of Mahler 2 is plagarized almost verbatim.


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## dmg

Eh. You can find pieces of other composers in just about every work. As has often been said: 'All music is borrowed.'


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## Argus

World Violist said:


> And there's always that one part in one of the original Star Wars movies in which one particular moment in the first movement of Mahler 2 is plagarized almost verbatim.


There's a part near the start of The Empire Strikes back that is decidedly Stravinskian. Give him some credit though, he steals from the best.:tiphat:

Whichever way you look at it, those main themes are still world class. I'm playing the Indiana Jones theme in my head as I'm typing this and it sounds awesome.



dmg said:


> Eh. You can find pieces of other composers in just about every work. As has often been said: 'All music is borrowed.'


Exacterino. I'll cite an example I can remember. There's a bit in Mendelssohn's Op 61 that is very reminiscient of the start of Wagner's Ring cycle. It's a common arpeggio/scalar passage that I'm sure had been done before Mendelssohn so I'd hardly call it ripping off.

To-may-to, to-mah-to. Homage, rip-off. (Works better in actual speech)



Jeff N said:


> I always thought that Williams ripped off Dvorak when he wrote the score for Jaws (last mvmt. of new world symphony).


Dead men don't sue.


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## Cookiefication

Shinji Miyazaki is definitely my favorite composer. His work on the Pokemon movies/anime is amazing. It's a shame that not too many people know about him.


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## Sarabande

Max Steiner - too many movies 
Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky
Bernard Herrman - Psycho
Shostakovich- October
Hans Erdmann- Nosferatu's original score


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## Astrognash

1. John Williams
2. Danny Elfman
3. Bernard Herrman
4. Hans Zimmer
5. Howard Shore


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## Falstaft

For "New Hollywood" (post 1970s), I'd say

1) Williams (by quite a margin)
2) Goldsmith
3) Elfman
4) Newton-Howard
5) Shire, Shore, Horner, Walker, Newman (T), etc.


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## gr8gunz

Jerry Goldsmith
John Williams
Howard Shore
Max Steiner


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## Delicious Manager

For what it's worth at this late stage, I would say the top five would have to be (for me):

1. Erich Korngold (he inspired so many who came after him)
2. Bernard Herrmann
3. John Williams (despite his predilection for 'borrowing' other composers' music)
4. Max Steiner
5. Nino Rota

Very close 'also rans' would be:

Danny Elfman
Jerry Goldsmith
Maurice Jarre
Ennio Morricone
Lalo Schifrin
Howard Shore


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## Art Rock

Takemitsu
Prokofiev
Arnold
Alwyn
Williams


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## Delicious Manager

Art Rock said:


> Takemitsu
> Prokofiev
> Arnold
> Alwyn
> Williams


As a list of CLASSICAL film composers, this is interesting (although John Williams isn't a classical composer, of course). Other 'classical' composers who made an important contribution to film music would be:

Auric
Bliss
Corigliano
Frankel
Honegger
Ibert
Shostakovich (composer of more than 20 film scores over nearly 40 years)
Vaughan Williams
Walton


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## Art Rock

If I recall correctly, Schnittke too.


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## Delicious Manager

Art Rock said:


> If I recall correctly, Schnittke too.


I have actually never heard any film music by Schnittke.


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## billoflavorsia

In no particular order:

Hans Zimmer
John Williams
Danny Elfman
James Horner
Jerry Goldsmith

I want to give honorable mention to Klaus Badelt purely based on the score he did for "The Time Machine". It was a horrible movie, but a wonderful and memorable score.


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## myaskovsky2002

*Ok!*

Pancho Lopez
Sancho Panza
Don Quijote
Françoise Sagan
Arthur Miller

This is a great thread!

Martin


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## dmg

Delicious Manager said:


> As a list of CLASSICAL film composers, this is interesting (although John Williams isn't a classical composer, of course). Other 'classical' composers who made an important contribution to film music would be:
> 
> Auric
> Bliss
> Corigliano
> Frankel
> Honegger
> Ibert
> Shostakovich (composer of more than 20 film scores over nearly 40 years)
> Vaughan Williams
> Walton


Even if you don't consider film scores to be classical, John Williams has composed a collection of concerti, a symphony, and a number of other non-program works...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_williams#Concerti


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## the_emptier

even though John Williams has taken a lot of music...he'd be up there for sure

terence blanchard is my favorite right now, an amazing jazz trumpeter/bandleader as well as a prolific film composer who has done 50+ films including almost every spike lee joint. GREAT stuff

not in any order, but these are my favorites as well 

hans zimmer
john williams
alex north
aaron copeland
vangelis
ennio morricone

if I get into the Berklee College of Music I will most likely major in film scoring, also my dad has been in the movie industry all of his life so i know a lot about it and have lots of experience on set.


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## musicfan

> I'm not an avid watcher of films, but from the ones I've seen John Barry stands out by a clear mile!


I agree. The greatest film composer of all time is John Barry and by a fair margin, I reckon.

John Barry - We Have All The Time In The World (instrumental)






JOHN BARRY 'Alice's Adventures In Wonderland' Suite






John Barry Somewhere in time - Theme






James Bond - Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang






He created so much more iconic Bond music, won five Oscars! I don't think any other composer in human history as written cooler, more stylish music than Barry. Barry helped orchestrate this:






The most stylish movie theme ever. Seriously. Whatever you think is the greatest classical piece ever recorded, this is the film equivalent.

I don't think some people realize how great Barry was. A film composer genius. Perhaps the greatest composer in human history (and that's not something you want to say without meaning it). A total legend. RIP


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## Rob

1. John Williams
2. Bernard Herrmann
3. Jerry Goldsmith
4. Shirley Walker
5. Ennio Morricone

Honorable mention: Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Miklós Rózsa, John Barry, Sergei Prokofiev


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## Moraviac

1. Tony Banks (sorry, I'm a prog rock lover; Tony wrote for The Fugitive, Lorca And The Outlaws and The Wicked Lady)
2. John Williams 
3. Michael Nyman
4. Ennio Morricone
5. Patrick Doyle

Zbiniew Preisner (La Double Vie de Veronique; Trois Couleurs) is interesting too.

I haven't heard Prokofiev's film scores yet, but they are on my list of music-to-check-out!


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## Delicious Manager

Mine (in no particular order apart from alphabetical):

Elmer Bernstein
Danny Elfman
Bernard Herrmann
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (the daddy of them all!)
Ennio Morricone

Honourable mentions to:

Malcolm Arnold
Maurice Jarre
Sergei Prokofiev
Nino Rota
Howard Shore


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## Argus

Delicious Manager said:


> Harold Shore


Would he happen to be related to Howard Shore?


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## Delicious Manager

Argus said:


> Would he happen to be related to Howard Shore?


Related more to my stupidity, I'd say 

Now corrected, thank you.


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## tdc

Admittedly film scores are an area I haven't explored thoroughly, though I've really enjoyed different pieces I've heard from all the following:

John Williams
Hans Zimmer
Danny Elfman
Takemitsu


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## Aramis

I'm tending to consider Nino Rota greatest of all famous movie composers. Rota adapted his music to the role it plays in movies and it has soundtrack qualities much diffrent from those that other composers represent. His music in context of a movie seems to me as subtle, refined component effluent from the idea of movie while music of Williams or Shore often seems to me as component effluent from the idea of classical music but impoverished in confrontation with rules of movie music.


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## Argus

Delicious Manager said:


> Related more to my stupidity, I'd say
> 
> Now corrected, thank you.


Well, you got it right in your earlier post in the thread (post #53). John Williams and Max Steiner appear to have been relegated from your favourites though.

I'm amazed at how a few composers seem to dominate the big Hollywood movies in the past 20 or so years. Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard, Howard Shore, Jerry Goldsmith, Alan Silvestri, James Horner and a few others.


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## Tapkaara

Top 5 as in top 5 of all time or top 5 favorites? I'll opt to answer this as favorites.

Ifukube (you guessed it)
Claudio Gizzi
Wolfgang Zeller
Gottfried Huppertz
Wojciech Kilar

And better make it 6...

Fumio Hayasaka

OK, 7...

Masaru Sato


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## Sid James

Aramis said:


> I'm tending to consider Nino Rota greatest of all famous movie composers. Rota adapted his music to the role it plays in movies and it has soundtrack qualities much diffrent from those that other composers represent. His music in context of a movie seems to me as subtle, refined component effluent from the idea of movie while music of Williams or Shore often seems to me as component effluent from the idea of classical music but impoverished in confrontation with rules of movie music.


Agree about the greatness of Rota - his score for _La Strada_ has to be one of the greatest pieces of film music of all time. He was kind of unfairly stereotyped as a conservative (the usual bullsh*t accusation by the avant-garde clique) but in reality (as you say) his music synthesises styles/approaches of the past & combines them with the more modern techniques of his time. Listening to his film music I can't help but think of him as kind of doing what Tchaikovsky or Mahler would maybe have done if they'd have lived into the film era. & Rota's concert works are replete with imagery and ideas that would make it into his film music. I remember hearing his _Trio for clarinet, piano and cello_ last year at a recital, & I was struck by the similarity of the carnival/circus atmosphere in particular the final movement of that with the corresponding theme in _La Strada_. The way that Rota twists that theme & explores it's darker side - suggesting the underbelly of circus life, if you like - is just pure genius, imo. Both of his concert and film musics are getting a fair airing in concert halls today, which speaks to their high quality and ability to "speak" to people independent of any visual accompaniment. This also speaks to the overall strength of the man's music, it's definitely not dependent on the "cheap tricks" & effects of the cinema, or anything like that. As with the best of the best of film music, his music can easily stand on it's own two feet, listening to it in concert or on disc is no less visceral than hearing it as part of a film...


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## Vesteralen

I don't know enough about movie music to nominate five composers. I've always assumed Bernard Herrmann and Erich Korngold are right up there.

But, my three favorite movie scores are:

*Scott of the Antarctic * - Ralph Vaughan Williams
*Superman* - John Williams (much better than Star Wars for me - less derivative)
*Out of Africa* - John Barry

Hey...I guess that's five after all...


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## Guest

My list: (and I'm ignoring classical composers who ALSO wrote for cinema - Prokofiev, Vaughn-Williams, Walton, Shostakovich, Leonard Bernstein, etc. etc.)

Bernard Herrmann (He's number one!!)
Elmer Bernstein (everything is different and wonderful - compare "Age of Innocence" with "Magnificent 7" and "To Kill a Mockingbird"!!
Eric Wolfgang Korngold (the swashbuckling films)
Henry Mancini (his brilliant scores for 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' and 'Hatari!'!)
Dimitri Tiomkin ('Rio Bravo' - subtle, haunting and plangent main title)
Miklas Rosza ("Ben Hur")
Leonard Rosenmann ("East of Eden")
Victor Young ("Rio Grande")
Max Steiner (nearly everything he wrote)
Hugo Friedhoffer ('The Best Years of Our Lives' - simply stunning title music for the best film of all time, IMO!)
Howard Shore ("Ed Wood" - unbelievable!)
John Williams ('Catch me if you can' - Brilliant!!)
Quincy Jones (most he wrote)
John Barry (so many, and "Out of Africa")
Maurice Jarre ("Lawrence of Arabia" - poetry)
Joseph Kosma ("Les Enfants du paradis" - masterful score)
Ennio Morricone
.
..so many!


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## Delicious Manager

*Vaughan Williams [no hyphen, 'a' between 'h' and 'n')(why do so many people have so much difficulty getting this name right?).

My top 5 (as of today - tomorrow will probably be different)

Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Bernard Herrmann
Max Steiner
Elmer Bernstein
Nino Rota


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## Guest

Well, Delicious Manager, the reason some of us get R Vaughan Williams' name wrong is that we just aren't perfect!! I can only profusely apologize for my decreptitudes. 

Which reminds me: YOU should worry about the world wide Depression which is just around the corner instead of the spelling of a composer's name. That will be mere bagatelle when the big bang comes, sooner rather than later - and you heard it first here on Talk Classical. (Ben Bernanke, eat your heart out). For my part, I'm going down with the ship....


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## Delicious Manager

CountenanceAnglaise said:


> Well, Delicious Manager, the reason some of us get R Vaughan Williams' name wrong is that we just aren't perfect!! I can only profusely apologize for my decreptitudes.
> 
> Which reminds me: YOU should worry about the world wide Depression which is just around the corner instead of the spelling of a composer's name. That will be mere bagatelle when the big bang comes, sooner rather than later - and you heard it first here on Talk Classical. (Ben Bernanke, eat your heart out). For my part, I'm going down with the ship....


No need to bend yourself out of shape over this. I just think it's important to show enough respect to these musicians to bother to spell their names correctly, that's all. And while your attestation about the depression might be true (and I fear it could be!), one could argue that we should ALL stop posting here and do something more useful.


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## Guest

I'm not "bent out of shape" over this. I simply think "priorities"!! Do something more useful? Like I said, I'll go down with the ship and didn't one of the classic maritime disasters have something to do with music being played on the deck? It's more useful that the deck-chair arranging which is going on in Berlin as we speak. And, BTW, I do have immense respect for composers - having amassed a huge library of classical CDs, scores, books and a music degree! I think this will 'save' me *when* the aforesaid economic catastrophe occurs. Not like the dissonant warblings of Ben Bernanke and his ilk!!


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## jdavid

1. James Newton Howard ('Snow Falling on Cedars')
2. Rachel Portman - (Chocolat' etc.,)
3. Hans Zimmer ('The Thin Red Line')
4. Howard Shore ('LOTR' and many others)
5. Danny Elfman - ('Nightmare Before Christmas')


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## Eviticus

1. John Williams (to many films to note)
2. Hans Zimmer ('Gladiator', 'The Da Vinci code', 'Hannibal' and lots of great tracks that appear on lesser scores)
3. James Horner (Just for 'Braveheart' alone! but also 'Apollo 13' and nods to 'Titanic')
4. Patrick Doyle ('HP: GOF', 'Sense and sensibility')
5. Steve Jablonski (definately one to watch after his great 'Transformers' scores)


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## Rasa

I really liked the music to Sense and Sensibility, it's good faux-classical.


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## opium

There was a real lack of Ennio Morricone in this thread 

I must have watched _Once Upon A Time In The West_ about 20 times and every time I still get goosebumps at the Harmonica motif.


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## thehadi

1. Thomas Newman
2. Philip Glass
3. Alexandre Desplat
4. Howard Shore
5. James Horner


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## appoggiatura

1. Hans Zimmer
2. Harry Gregson-Williams
3. Ennio Morricone 
4. James Horner
5. John Williams


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## bigshot

Egad! There are some horrible picks there! I would list John "the theif" Williams and Danny "job it out" Elfman at the bottom of the list.

1 Max Steiner
2 Nino Rota
3 Franz Waxman
4 Ennio Morricone
5 Bernard Hermann

Korngold and Elmer Ernstein are up there too. Maybe Korngold is better than Hermann... I love Mancini too, but for some reason I don't think of him as a film composer.


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## bigshot

John Barry (another great composer of film scores) was on the Carson show. He was playing bits of his greatest hits and when he finished Born Free, he said, "many people don't know this but I wrote the theme for Star Wars." He took the sheet music for Born Free and played the theme with one finger. Then he turned the music upside down and played it backwards... Star Wars. Johnny laughed. Barry didn't.


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## Eviticus

@bigshot 
Every composition ever made is inspired by other people's work whether consciously on unconsciously; whether obvious or ideas sewn together. Film composers are often approached by directors who say "i want it to sound like this" or "I really like this - can we do something like it". Playing a piece upside down and back to front returns a different theme so is that so bad? If Barry had done that in the first place - he would have been remembered for it.

Some classical composers have directly taken themes from other's works and used them to their own advantage.


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## mleghorn

Erich Korngold
Jerry Goldsmith
Henri Mancini
John Williams
Danny Elfman
Hans Zimmer
Leonard Bernstein
Bernard Hermann


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## bigshot

Everyone keeps listing Danny Elfman, but he has a crew of anonymous composers who write "in the Elfman style" for him. Do you think he share the royalties with them? Hmmmm... Don't think so!



Eviticus said:


> Every composition ever made is inspired by other people's work whether consciously on unconsciously; whether obvious or ideas sewn together. Film composers are often approached by directors who say "i want it to sound like this" or "I really like this - can we do something like it". Playing a piece upside down and back to front returns a different theme so is that so bad? If Barry had done that in the first place - he would have been remembered for it.


If you listen to Franz Waxman, you'll hear echos of Stravinsky. But he synthesized that influence through his own aesthetic and created his own unique music. He didn't just lift bits from existing works and stitch them together into a musical crazy quilt. If a director wants Stravinsky in that spot and Strauss in this spot and Holst over there, he doesn't need to hire John Williams. He can simply license a performance and cut it in, or hire an arranger to write transitions for him. When a classical composer uses themes from other composers, he acknowledges it and does his own variations on it. Williams is xeroxing scores, cashing checks and keeping mum about it.

John Barry is a film composer. He knows better than any of us what a film composer is up against. He certainly seemed to think that Williams was a thief for simply reversing "Born Free". I'll take his word for it.


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## Eviticus

I think Barry is not amused because he knows just how much money Williams made from the score and it probably pee'd him off.

No-one can really deny the most incredible run of scores that dates from the mid 70's to the mid 80's when everything else was beginning to be annoyingly synth:

*Jaws (75)
Star Wars (77)*
Close encounters (77)
*Superman (78)
Empire Strikes Back (80)*
Raiders of the lost ark (81)
ET (82)
Return of the jedi (83)
Temple of Doom (84)
*Empire of the sun (87)*

and later notably
Home alone (1990)
Schindlers list (94)
Saving private ryan (98)
*HP: Philosophers stone (01)*
HP: Chambers of secrets (02)
*HP: Prisoner of Azkhaban (04)*

The bold comfortably sitting amongst the greatest scores of all time.

In this genre -Williams is King-ding-a-ling. No question, when he came along he de-throned Barry and Morricone and set the bar for the future with some brilliant pieces. Spielberg practically owes half his success to Williams and that type of thing is just unheard of.

PS it doesn't always work to just use existing excerpts from previous works because its all about timings, edits and in film music is mostly secondary. Not only this it has to be consistent. Kubrik and the likes may have done this successfully but it often can sound disjointed.


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## RandallPeterListens

Thank you, thehadi! I was despairing that Alexandre Desplat was not mentioned at all. 

"Girl with the Pearl Earring", "The Painted Veil", "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "The Luzhin Defense" are all beautiful.

They are some of the few soundtracks which you don't need to have seen the movie or know the plot. Symphonically, they stand on their own as complete, coherent works.

John Williams has written many beautiful movie scores - and he can write well in many different styles.

Also, it shouldn't be forgotten that Dmitri Shostakovich wrote many scores for Soviet movies - many of them very, very good. "Shostakovich: The Film Album" with Riccardo Chailly conducting is a wonderful set of movie scores.

Also Nino Rota; his score for "Juliet of the Spirits" is one of his best: dreamy and creepy at the same time.


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## Eviticus

I don't think i can ever forgive Desplat for ruining the amazing run of Harry Potter film scores with an unmemorable pile of tosh.

"Obliviate", "Lilys theme" and "Snape to Malfoy Manor" are the only good original tracks in 2 scores!! And to think i used to like him! I think he was out of his depth - they should brought back Doyle or Hooper.


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## bigshot

It's interesting that on a discussion board for classical music and opera the taste in movies and movie soundtracks should lean towards the juvenile.


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## Eviticus

bigshot said:


> It's interesting that on a discussion board for classical music and opera the taste in movies and movie soundtracks should lean towards the juvenile.


Not sure what exactly you mean by this post but juvenile concepts produce the most vivid colours. Its why as infants the world is an exciting adventurous place. Music that reflects this therefore yields the greatest of escapes and unveils the boldest of dreams. John Williams in particular epitomises this which is why he is so popular.

Maturity is for the old but immaturity in music is ageless.


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## bigshot

I was watching Hitchcock's Rebecca the other night and happened to think about this thread. Waxman followed (and often set) the mood in ways that Zimmer and Williams have never evern begun to approach. Why then when you mention movie scores do most people, even classical music fans, immediately think of Williams? Perhaps it's because it's difficult to think of Waxman's music as something separate from what's happening on the screen. It weaves itself through the film so thoroghly, it is all one seamless unit. Williams, on the other hand writes Wagnerian Sousa marches that are wallpapered over space ships and rubber puppets. His music sits on top of the picture, so it's easier to peel that layer off, slap it on a CD and listen to it as its own thing. Morricone's Good Bad and Ugly theme is like that, as is Mancini's Pink Panther and some of Rota's music for Fellini films too. But they all wrote more effective underscore than Williams too. They weren't just treading water like Williams when the spotlight was off the music.

Waxman's music draws attention to the movie. Williams' music draws attention to itself.

Perhaps it has something to do with the way movies are made now. In the 40s, perhaps Waxman had more time to be able to compose a score wall to wall. Modern composers might not have that luxury, so they spot a few key sections to hit and write library underscore for the rest.

In any case, it's not as easy to isolate film scores from the 40s. I have a pile of CDs of recent recreations of Steiner and Waxman film scores and they are a revelation. Much more sophisticated in arrangement and mood than anything being done today. It's like te difference between Stravinsky and Montovani.


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## Eviticus

It all depends really what you want from a score. Music that is so subtle it can only work with the picture, or music that can work on it's own without the picture. Personally, i want the latter. In fact, if a movie score works really well you never even have to see or like the actual movie. I wouldn't really say Williams movie sits on top of a picture but i can see where you are coming from. His thematic material is synonymous with the images on screen. You can no longer think of the ocean or great whites without thinking of "der-dum, der-dum" etc. It's literally instilled in the public consciousnessa and is so strong the fear of a shark actually has a theme!

I've said it before on here (although i think it has been met with some snobbery) that the tastes of the masses has changed and that classical music is now only like by the tiny minority. Basically - people are generally less educated or interested in music theory so are not interested in the symphony. They want shorter, catchier and less sophisticated works like classical pop songs if you will. This is generally why film compositions these days are far less complex works. I seem to remember Hans Zimmer being told by Ridley Scott - "I don't want a symphony for my films". Any why would he?

It's also one of the reasons i strongly believe Tchaikovsky was a very modern composer as his unique melodic style quite literally pointed toward the tastes of the modern era and so it's no surprise he remains one of the most popular composers ever.


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## Cnote11

I'm going to throw Ryuichi Sakamoto into the pot. After that I would probably say John Williams, Bernard Herrmann, Max Ricther, Nino Rota, Philip Glass, Joe Hisaishi, and Ennio. Something like that, but this is all off the top of my head without thinking about it. I should check out Miklos Rozsa, as Double Indemnity is one of my favorite movies. I don't listen to very much film music so I'm not expert opinion over here.


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## bigshot

Eviticus said:


> Basically - people are generally less educated or interested in music theory so are not interested in the symphony. They want shorter, catchier and less sophisticated works like classical pop songs if you will.


I would take that a but further. People today are stupid and the creative industry is playing a game of intellectual limbo- how low can we go?- trying to keep up with them. It's a vicious circle, and feeds on itself. As people get dumber and music and movies get dumber to cater to them, the people get even dumber still.

When Star Wars is the greatest movie of all time and John Williams is the greatest composer of film music, you can be sure that the tastes of the average person has sunk to ore adolescent levels. It's interesting though that people in a classical music forum can talk about Mahler and Haydn and then turn around and say that music that is scored to picture is too "subtle". I can see Ridley Scott saying that though. He's a mediocre director at best.

I don't know how a classical music fan could get into the mindset where one is able to shift critical thinking about aesthetics on and off like that. But it's clear that there is a different set of criteria for film music than classical music.

Miklos Rozsa is an excellent composer, Cnote11.

Last night, I watched Hitchcock's Notorious and there was a scene where the heroine is being poisoned and begins to faint. The music and sound swells into an amazing crescendo that portrays the feeling precisely. Hitchcock's visuals and sound like that creates a powerful (and not at all subtle) emotional emphasis.


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## Eviticus

bigshot said:


> When Star Wars is the greatest movie of all time and John Williams is the greatest composer of film music, you can be sure that the tastes of the average person has sunk to ore adolescent levels. It's interesting though that people in a classical music forum can talk about Mahler and Haydn and then turn around and say that music that is scored to picture is too "subtle". I can see Ridley Scott saying that though. He's a mediocre director at best.
> 
> I don't know how a classical music fan could get into the mindset where one is able to shift critical thinking about aesthetics on and off like that. But it's clear that there is a different set of criteria for film music than classical music.


I can shift my critical thinking because because i am too diverse to be pigeon holed and too prudent for snobbery. Liking classical music does not mean i _only_ have to like classical music. I have a vast breadth of taste in music as i do in film and other things but this breadth does not limit my love or taste in anything in particular (only my knowledge of which music is possibly my strongest). Critical thinking about aesthetics suggests i should be analysing everything i ever hear and applying some rules but it's just not that easy when it comes to taste. To me a complex piece does not make it a superior piece - there is perfect beauty in simplicity and if the music serves its intention or more than it's done a wonderful job - even better if it's infectious and memorable too

Movies are an escape so why is it soo bad that the most popular movies and popular scores seemed derived from adolescent themes? Do you really think there is some intellectual superiority in people who like a film such as say 'The Godfather?'



bigshot said:


> Miklos Rozsa is an excellent composer, Cnote11.
> 
> Last night, I watched Hitchcock's Notorious and there was a scene where the heroine is being poisoned and begins to faint. The music and sound swells into an amazing crescendo that portrays the feeling precisely. Hitchcock's visuals and sound like that creates a powerful (and not at all subtle) emotional emphasis.


I have about 20 hitchcock films (2 box sets) but Rebecca and Notorious are not amongst them so i cannot comment on this but by the same token Hammer Horror productions hit the right feelings but the music was to 'over done'. Score's to Hitchcock films appear considerably more subtle (although aside from North by North West and Psycho very unmemorable).

PS i disagree about Ridley Scott


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## Cnote11

If you haven't seen Notorious you must. It is a great, great movie. I love Hitchcock movies with everything I have. He released gem after gem. Best one is Rear Window in my opinion. Last year I picked up a boxset for only five dollars that has a bunch of his early British releases on it, even the silent ones, and includes the wonderful 39 steps, which was a lovely deal I was happy to pick up.

On that note, I love Star Wars. It is a really fun world and I enjoyed it immensely as a child, and I can still really enjoy it now, but honestly it clearly isn't the greatest film achievement. I'd also agree that Ridley Scott isn't anything at all and that I get tired of the praise Christopher Nolan gets. Also, I don't care for Hans Zimmer or a lot of other really popular film composers. I do enjoy John Williams very much though, but would I say he's the best? No, and like I said in my post I really don't know enough film compositions to really give an opinion because I know I'm clearly ignorant on the subject. The only definitive thing I can say is that Nino Rota composed for some of the greatest films ever. :tiphat:


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## Eviticus

Cnote11 said:


> If you haven't seen Notorious you must. It is a great, great movie. I love Hitchcock movies with everything I have. He released gem after gem. Best one is Rear Window in my opinion.


I shall have to check them out at some point. I agree with you about the latter. Another favourite of mine is 'Rope'.



Cnote11 said:


> On that note, I love Star Wars. It is a really fun world and I enjoyed it immensely as a child, and I can still really enjoy it now, but honestly it clearly isn't the greatest film achievement.


Oh i agree about this too. In terms of score - i think it is at the top of ALFI's film scores (although for me Empire Strikes Back is considerably better). My point (and you can never be too sure how it's taken on here) is that it's a good score in it's own right. It's not a symphony nor does it try to be and it is Wagnerian, catchy and adolescent but that should not take away from it. It's clearly very loved and to me that's understandable. There are those that turn their nose up at film scores, and those that love film scores and hate classical. I sit on the fence here because i love both but don't think there should be snobbery either way.



Cnote11 said:


> I'd also agree that Ridley Scott isn't anything at all and that I get tired of the praise Christopher Nolan gets. Also, I don't care for Hans Zimmer or a lot of other really popular film composers. I do enjoy John Williams very much though, but would I say he's the best? No, and like I said in my post I really don't know enough film compositions to really give an opinion because I know I'm clearly ignorant on the subject. The only definitive thing I can say is that Nino Rota composed for some of the greatest films ever. :tiphat:


I enjoy Ridley Scott at the helm. I really like Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, Hannibal and Black Hawk Down and think they are really well made.

Nino Rota is highly regarded for sure and i can see why. The difference between Bigshot and I is he seems to prefer older film scores whereas i am more drawn to scores from the last 30 years.


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## ValseLente

Bernard Herrmann
John Barry
Jerry Goldsmith
Pino Donaggio
John Williams


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## bigshot

Eviticus said:


> Do you really think there is some intellectual superiority in people who like a film such as say 'The Godfather?'


I think Nino Rota's brilliant score for The Godfather is one of his greatest achievements, and I think it leaves the one dimensional patchwork scores of John Williams in the dust. I think you intended to make a point about serious films vs non-serious ones, but the example you chose happened to be one of the greatest film scores of recent times. I'll give you a better example... Max Steiner's score for King Kong is one of the greatest movie scores ever composed, yet it's for an "effects movie". (What an effects movie, though!)

I think I understand now. If you haven't had time yet in life to fully explore classic movies, it's only natural that your tastes would lean to the experience from the first three quarters of your life. You've got another three quarters ahead, so there's plenty of time if you search out better things than you already know.

As an old man, I'll offer a little breadcrumb... The best movie scores are the ones you don't notice as "songs". They're the ones that make the movie look good and put across powerful moods. Hitchcock films are full of scores like that. As a director, he paid as much attention to sound as he did the visuals. You've just noticed the music in North by Northwest and Psycho, but the others have music that is just as great, if not better.


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## bigshot

ValseLente said:


> Pino Donaggio


I just saw Don't Look Now recently, and the music was quite good. I absolutely despise the music in a lot of giallo... That awful video game synth music ruins the movies for me, so I've been reluctant to dive too deep in the genre. Can you recommend any good ones with Donaggio orchestral scores like Don't Look Now?

By the way, no one has mentioned Angelo Badalamente, but I think his lush, hyper emotional scores are great.


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## Cnote11

Now that I revisit this thread I noticed I left off composers of some of my favorite scores, such as Amelie (Yann Tiersen) and Un Homme et Une Femme (Francis Lai), along with a lot of other foreign scores I really enjoy. I don't think there is anything wrong with popular scores or popular movies, as long as they have some merit to them. Majority of what is in theaters now is clearly a cash grab and I feel has a direct negative impact on culture. There seems to be no real thought behind them and rely heavily on a formula that makes money. I like to watch a lot of French and Italian films that are heavy handed on philosophy or exploring aesthetics. It is something you definitely don't get in mainstream American film culture very often. I find most mainstream American movies to actually not be an escape, but instead a reminder of what is wrong with our culture. Not to mention the banality of it all stops me from getting caught up in it in anyway. This doesn't mean that I don't enjoy a handful of low-brow movies that would never be considered art masterpieces, but an escape to me isn't something where I can tune-out from thinking and go into mindless indulgence mode. Rope is an amazing movie though, I definitely agree to that.

I saw that bigshot mentioned Waxman and I'm curious to what he thinks is his best work. Sunset Boulevard always has seemed to be the general consensus. Amazing movie if nothing else.


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## bigshot

It's hard to pick a best Waxman score. But I guess it would be one of his scores for Hitchcock. They are incredibly well integrated into the movie. Sunset Bl is great and so is Bride of Frankenstein. I love the later Universal horror scores. They are like "Stravinsky goes to a haunted house".


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## bigshot

By the way, I totally agree with your theories on culture cnote. Hard not to be depressed.


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## Cnote11

Well I say, I do love Stravinsky and that description definitely grabs my attention. I'll have to check that out over the weekend. As for me, I can't say I'm too depressed, for I'm too busy living! Although I attribute much of this to my wonderful companion or I'd probably be busy brooding behind my headphones half the time! I've never had a problem getting on with people but I had never known anybody who shared my common interests until her. It definitely helps with keeping the blues away. Where as most people I've met never introduce me to anything new or help me grow as a person, we are constantly sharing new things and bouncing ideas off of each other. I feel too often that most people do not have much to say or much to share besides basic commonalities. In a culture that supposedly encourages individuality - or so they say in my field - I find a distinct lack of it. Mind you, I'm only twenty-two and the majority of my peers are university-aged students from 17-22. Still, I find no sharp break or large division for age groups onward, and according to leading analysts in my field there isn't enough dissimilarity which justifies the over-reliance of university-aged students in studies. (or so they say) It doesn't surprise me one bit that the behavior that we allow to go on in our politics is a reflection of the country at its heart. Definitely one that relies on conformity, poor reasoning skills, emotional manipulation, blind patriotism, and "home grown" wisdom that needs no justification


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## Eviticus

Bigshot,

Thanks for your post. I'd be really grateful if you could either post or PM me some older scores that you highly recommend that i could access fairly easy and i will check them out.

On another note, I'd be happy to talk Hitchcock or Hammer with either you or Cnote.


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## bigshot

The thing about older movies is that their scores were never intended to be heard separate from the movie. But there are a few CD labels that have been releasing modern recordings of recreated film scores that are fantastic. I really like the ones on Marco Polo like Salter's "House of Frankenstein" (lousy movie, great soundtrack), Steiner's "King Kong" (astoundingly good- one of my favorite CDs), Waxman's "Mr Skeffington" and "Rebecca"... just search "marco polo soundtrack" at Amazon. They have a great Erroll Flynn soundtrack too. I think it's "The Sea Wolf" Steiner? Can't remember right now.

I'm just getting into Hammer films. I always thought they were cheezy because I had only seen the very late horror films. But I saw "Cash on Demand" the other night and it was fantastic. One of my favorite films is "Quartermass and the Pit". That was Hammer, right? What's the deal with Amacus? Are they as good as Hammer? I liked "The Skull" with Cushing. It has the best props of any horror film I've ever seen. I lusted after a million weird and strange objects scattered around the set on that picture! I run into duds too though. I saw "Horror Express" and it totally sucked.


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## Eviticus

bigshot said:


> The thing about older movies is that their scores were never intended to be heard separate from the movie. But there are a few CD labels that have been releasing modern recordings of recreated film scores that are fantastic. I really like the ones on Marco Polo like Salter's "House of Frankenstein" (lousy movie, great soundtrack), Steiner's "King Kong" (astoundingly good- one of my favorite CDs), Waxman's "Mr Skeffington" and "Rebecca"... just search "marco polo soundtrack" at Amazon. They have a great Erroll Flynn soundtrack too. I think it's "The Sea Wolf" Steiner? Can't remember right now.
> 
> I'm just getting into Hammer films. I always thought they were cheezy because I had only seen the very late horror films. But I saw "Cash on Demand" the other night and it was fantastic. One of my favorite films is "Quartermass and the Pit". That was Hammer, right? What's the deal with Amacus? Are they as good as Hammer? I liked "The Skull" with Cushing. It has the best props of any horror film I've ever seen. I lusted after a million weird and strange objects scattered around the set on that picture! I run into duds too though. I saw "Horror Express" and it totally sucked.


Thanks for the recommendations.

"Quatermass and the Pitt" is a fantastic Hammer. It's one of a trilogy but i think this one is particularly good at building tension. It's no Hitchcock sure, but for Hammer it's really good. Tastes differ but if i was to recommend Hammer films i'd start with the likes of; "The devil rides out", "Straight on until morning", "Dracula" (1958), and "The Nanny" is a must too. I'm also a sucker for some of the Frankenstein movies too. "Frankenstein must be destroyed", "Frankenstein" (1959?), and "The evil of Frankenstein" (awful monster but i am very fond of the movie).

Amacus are not Hammer - i think they had Hammer writers but different producers but made similar style films.


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## Prodromides

Being an avid soundtrack collector, I have about a hundred favorites.
Attempting to narrow down the selection to only 5 entries will leave off many other film composers whose names I'd like to mention.

I don't want Hollywood to dominate on my list, and I try to acknowledge the cinema of countries outside USA as well:

1. Richard Rodney Bennett (Britain)
2. Alex North (Hollywood)
3. Jerry Goldsmith (Hollywood)
4. Pierre Jansen (France)
5. Toru Takemitsu (Japan)

the next ones following my favorite 5:
[6. Jerry Fielding (USA), 7. Piero Piccioni (Italy), 8. Leonard Rosenman (USA)]


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## Prodromides

Eviticus said:


> Thanks for the recommendations.
> 
> "Quatermass and the Pitt" is a fantastic Hammer. It's one of a trilogy but i think this one is particularly good at building tension. It's no Hitchcock sure, but for Hammer it's really good. Tastes differ but if i was to recommend Hammer films i'd start with the likes of; "The devil rides out", "Straight on until morning", "Dracula" (1958), and "The Nanny" is a must too. I'm also a sucker for some of the Frankenstein movies too. "Frankenstein must be destroyed", "Frankenstein" (1959?), and "The evil of Frankenstein" (awful monster but i am very fond of the movie).
> 
> Amacus are not Hammer - i think they had Hammer writers but different producers but made similar style films.


Both Amicus & Hammer were veritable portals allowing contemporary music techniques to enter the filmmaking arena.

Some titles mentioned above have scores by many composers whose work I follow: Richard Rodney Bennett, Tristram Cary, Wilfred Josephs, Elisabeth Lutyens, Gerard Schurmann, etc.

All these names are deserving to appear on "top 5" lists except that other composers beat them to the post!


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## Guest

Love your list, "Prody". I think Alex North is the greatest composer on that list of yours. Richard Rodney Bennett's score for "Far From the Madding Crowd" (Dir: Frankenheimer) was just beautiful. But North is consistently beautiful, varied and never the same. Though his music is modal in flavour it also has a lovely dissonant gentleness which appeals to me. I have his "Cleopatra" to hand and the soundtrack is far superior to the film itself.

Actually I think Leonard Rosenmann was influenced by Alex North. I love his score for "East of Eden". Another very interesting composer.

My Top Composers: Benny Herrmann, E.W. Korngold, Alex North, Elmer Bernstein and Ennio Morricone.


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## Prodromides

CountenanceAnglaise said:


> Love your list, "Prody". I think Alex North is the greatest composer on that list of yours. Richard Rodney Bennett's score for "Far From the Madding Crowd" (Dir: Frankenheimer) was just beautiful. But North is consistently beautiful, varied and never the same. Though his music is modal in flavour it also has a lovely dissonant gentleness which appeals to me. I have his "Cleopatra" to hand and the soundtrack is far superior to the film itself.
> 
> Actually I think Leonard Rosenmann was influenced by Alex North. I love his score for "East of Eden". Another very interesting composer.
> 
> My Top Composers: Benny Herrmann, E.W. Korngold, Alex North, Elmer Bernstein and Ennio Morricone.


Thanks for liking my list, "Count Ang".

Alex North is indeed my favorite American composer to have written film scores.
North only wrote about 60 scores, so his quantity pales alongside the 400+ catalogue of Ennio Morricone.
But it's the _quality_ of North's music which has me coming back for more - I own about 37 soundtracks by North (well over half his output) and I have only around 4 disappointments out of his entire discography! That, to me, is a better track record than any other composer whom I collect.
My least favorite North is "Somebody Killer Her Husband", which was released on Japanese vinyl as "Charade '79".
"The Racers" and "Desriee" both rank poorly by me, but that doesn't mean they have poor music - just the least appealing to my sensibilities. The other North title that doesn't do much for me is his music for that Cinerama traveloque "South Seas Adventure", probably because there was no emotional material for North to psychologically underscore.

Every other North soundtrack I have enraptures me. My no.1 North is his music for "Africa". Next are "The Bad Seed", "Les Miserables", the rejected 2001, "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?", "The Children's Hour", & "The Outrage". After these, I then like his 'epic's "Cleopatra", "Agony And The Ecstacy" & "Spartacus".

If you love North's "Cleopatra" on Varese Sarabande, then I am sure, CA, you are already aware of Varese's Club CDs?
Varese has done good by releasing previously unavailable North, and I'd recommend acquiring copies (if you haven't already) of "Wonderful Country", "Pony Soldier", & "The 13th Letter" while they're still in print.


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## Guest

Thank you so much, "Prody". You obviously have a fabulous knowledge of film music and hat's off to you - mine pales into insignificance by comparison. I haven't heard of some of these films North composed for and suspect some of them were lesser films. Wasn't terribly mad about "Spartacus" with all that brass and military sound but the 'love theme' was quite beautiful. I love the orchestration and instruments in "Cleopatra" and think it a cut above a great number of films scores. What did you think of Joseph Kosma's score for "Les Enfants du Paradis"? That's quite wonderful - and the film starts in the 'theatre', which is where the action is set. Bernstein: love his varied scores, "To Kill a Mockingbird", "Magnificent 7" and "Age of Innocence" and, of course, his reworking of "Cape Fear". A wonderful composer - just wonderful.

Oh, an afterthought....one of the most evocative scores EVER is Hugo Friedhofer's music for "The Best Years of Our Lives". My favourite film OF ALL TIME. I adore every single frame and this is thanks to Myrna Loy, Frederic March, Dana Andrews, William Wyler and not forgetting the miraculous images of GREGG TOLAND (ACS). I've included the music - the only sample I can find on the net - from the opening titles: not the soundtrack, unfortunately. Just listening to it again makes me start to cry - I love this film so much.


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## Prodromides

Hi, CountenanceAnglaise.

Your compliments upon my fabulous knowledge might spring a leak when you learn that I've never watched Carne's "Les Enfants du Paradis"! 
My exposure to "golden age" French cinema prior to the Nouvelle Vague has not been very wide - for me, the films by Chabrol, Godard, Resnais, Rivette, Vadim etc are my cup of tea. I love the French film music of Antoine Duhamel, Jean Prodromides & Pierre Jansen. I'm afraid I have no Kosma in my collection, & only very little Jean Yatove, Roman Vlad, Paul Misraki, Rene Cloerec plus others from 1950s France.

On the other hand, you should be delighted to learn that I have about 80 (!) soundtracks by Elmer Bernstein. So much of Bernstein's music has become available that I collect most of it. However, Elmer is not one of my "top 10" favorites despite my having so many of his soundtracks. I like Elmer's music very much - but up to a point because his music can get _too_ life-affirming and extroverted for my disposition. As a result, only 6 Bernstein soundtracks appear on my overall favorites list.
They are: "Summer And Smoke" (my no.1 Elmer), "Desire Under The Elms", "Drango", "Men In War", "Birdman Of Alcatraz", & "The Field". As you can see, I prefer early Elmer. Anything Bernstein wrote between 1957 & 1962 is an automatic purchase for me ; however, after "The Great Escape" I feel Bernstein's output underwent some changes and all his later music sounds thinner to me (maybe it was the films, too). If you haven't already checked out the Kritzerland label, please do yourself a favor and treat yourself to Kritzerland's remarkable Elmer Bernstein discs (in 2011 alone, Kritzerland released about 10 albums of vintage Elmer B.)

Of all the Golden Age Hollywood composers, Hugo Friedhofer would be my favorite.
Whilst "The Best Years Of Our Lives" is on my Friedhofer top 10, I must say that Hugo's 1952 score for "Above And Beyond" is my favorite of his. Following next, I rank "The Barbarian And The Geisha", "One Eyed Jacks" , "Boy On A Dolphin" & "The Rains Of Ranchipur" as my Friedhofer top 5.
If you thought some of Alex North's titles were obscure, then the bulk of Friedhofer's output probably suffers the same fate.

Speaking for myself, I don't let unfamiliarity with the films deter me from acquiring soundtracks written by composers whose music I am already fond of.

You may be different and wish to see any given film before deciding to get its soundtrack, but after you've seen so many routine pictures (like me) you might very well give up and say to yourself "what the h*ll, let me get the album and forget about the move".


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## Guest

All those movies!! "Rains of Ranchipur" - OMG I didn't think ANYBODY KNEW about these!! Wonderful, Prody. You are obviously a person of great taste and inquisitiveness when it comes to film. Those French films - I know little about these, concentrating mostly on Hitchcock, Hawks, Ford, Wyler, Cukor, Sturges, Wilder (the biggy) Lubitsch, Renoir, Pabst and Murnau. There's not a day in my life when I don't think about one of these directors and their films, and watch as many as I can. Are you young, or a senior like me? My uncle, a retired doctor, died recently. He was, like myself, a film nut - especially the music. He used to shut his practice in a small town and put up a sign saying he was 'unavailable - called to an emergency' because "Pride and Prejudice" (1939, MGM, Hunt Stromberg/Robert Z. Leonard) was showing on TV. That was decades ago!! 
That score was from Herbert (Queen Christina) Stothardt (spelling). I remember the funny little clarinet motif to announce the presence (and undercut the importance of) Mr. Collins. Such a wonderful film, despite anachronistic costuming. I could wax lyrical about this all day.


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## Guest

All those movies!! "Rains of Ranchipur" - OMG I didn't think ANYBODY KNEW about these!! Wonderful, Prody. You are obviously a person of great taste and inquisitiveness when it comes to film. Those French films - I know little about these, concentrating mostly on Hitchcock, Hawks, Ford, Wyler, Cukor, Sturges, Wilder (the biggy) Lubitsch, Renoir, Pabst and Murnau. There's not a day in my life when I don't think about one of these directors and their films, and watch as many as I can. Are you young, or a senior like me? My uncle, a retired doctor, died recently. He was, like myself, a film nut - especially the music. He used to shut his practice in a small town and put up a sign saying he was 'unavailable - called to an emergency' because "Pride and Prejudice" (1939, MGM, Hunt Stromberg/Robert Z. Leonard) was showing on TV. That was decades ago!! 
That score was from Herbert (Queen Christina) Stothardt (spelling). I remember the funny little clarinet motif to announce the presence (and undercut the importance of) Mr. Collins. Such a wonderful film, despite anachronistic costuming. I could wax lyrical about this all day.


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## Guest

Also, Prody, I see you are from Kate Hepburn territory in PA. One of my all-time favourite films is "Adam's Rib". Love that Cole Porter song, "Farewell Amanda"!! Absolute class.


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## Prodromides

CountenanceAnglaise said:


> All those movies!! "Rains of Ranchipur" - OMG I didn't think ANYBODY KNEW about these!! Wonderful, Prody. You are obviously a person of great taste and inquisitiveness when it comes to film...Are you young, or a senior like me?


Thank you very much for these kind words.

Actually, I'm currently age 44. So I'm not young and I'm not a senior.

I know how you feel about vintage films being forgotten. Being a registered member on other film music message boards myself, I'm constantly struck as to how so many people are unaquainted with films and music that were created before they were born.

Even though I have never seen "The Rains Of Ranchipur", I am certainly aware of its existence and have what little exists on disc of Hugo Friedhofer's score.

I'll carry the torch of older films onwards, but how many 30-somethings & 20-somethings will do this after me?


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## Guest

You must, Prody, because you love all of these things so much. But remember, great film-makers like Scorsese and Brian de Palma and the Coen Brothers all love those films too and constantly honour them by making their own references to them in their films. (You are what is called "film literate" and ought celebrate that every day!) 

At a mere 44 years you have many wonderful years of discovery ahead of you and may I recommend the glorious and elegant films of Ernst Lubitsch ("Ninotchka", "Trouble in Paradise" etc.) and the extraordinary films of the great, great, great Billy Wilder. His favourite of mine is "The Seven Year Itch", which he and Izzy Diamond adapted from the play be George Axelrod. The opening scene from that film is pure magic too!! If you like Wilder's piquance may I recommend a harsher version of that sensibility in Alexander Mackendrik and Clifford Odett's "Sweet Smell of Success". Wilder was pushing in that direction with "Ace in the Hole" - a harsh look at human nature.

BTW, I've never yet come across a film forum where there is serious discussion - mainly 'fans' and that sort of thing. There's a Benny Herrmann site, which is good, but if you DO know of a serious forum where people talk about vintage film, even going back to the silents, please send me a PM. I'm not interested in montages of 'stars' etc., as I've studied film as a Post-graduate and have read lots of stunning biographies: Hitchcock, Hawks, Ford, Cukor, Renoir, Kazan, Minnelli etc.


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## Prodromides

CountenanceAnglaise said:


> If you like Wilder's piquance may I recommend a harsher version of that sensibility in Alexander Mackendrik and Clifford Odett's "Sweet Smell of Success". Wilder was pushing in that direction with "Ace in the Hole" - a harsh look at human nature.


Oh yes! "Sweet Smell Of Success" has been with me for many years, and it's on my top 20 favorite films.
I've only watched "Ace In The Hole" once so far, but I have it on home video so one of these days I'll be watching it again. (incidently, that's another Hugo Friedhofer score!)


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## Guest

Better and better, Prody!!


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## DeepR

1. Ennio Morricone
2. John Williams
3. Jerry Goldsmith
4. Danny Elfman
5. Vangelis


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## QuietGuy

No particular order:

John Williams
James Newton Howard
Elmer Bernstein
Alfred Newman
Max Steiner


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## Marschallin Blair

Herrmann
Rozsa
Korngold 
Waxman
Steiner


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## Morrelli

My top five in no particular order :

Daniel Pemberton
Craig Armstrong
Max Richter
John Barry
Georges Delerue


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## TudorMihai

A little difficult but here goes:

1. James Horner
2. John Williams
3. Jerry Goldsmith
4. Erich Wolfgang Korngold
5. Henry Mancini

I would also mention Max Steiner, Alfred Newman, Victor Young, Mikos Rozsa, Alan Menken and Thomas Newman.


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## TomDickson

Bernard Herrmann
Jerry Goldsmith
Danny Elfman
John Williams
Don Davis


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