Film score

A film score is the background music in a film, generally specially written for the film and often used to heighten emotions provoked by the imagery on the screen or by the dialogue.

Notable film score composers

• David Amram: The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
• David Arnold: Independence Day, Stargate, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day
• John Barry: several James Bond films, Dances With Wolves, Zulu, Out of Africa, Born Free
• Elmer Bernstein: The Magnificent Seven, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Escape
• Roy Budd: Get Carter, The Wild Geese
• Rahul Dev Burman
• Aaron Copland Our Town
• Carl Davis
• Don Davis: The Matrix
• John Debney: The Passion of the Christ
• Patrick Doyle: Carlito's Way, Gosford Park, Bridget Jones' Diary, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Kenneth Branagh films such as Henry V (1989 film)
• Randy Edelman: The Last of the Mohicans, ', Gettysburg
• Ludovico Einaudi
• Danny Elfman: The Simpsons (theme), Beetlejuice, Batman, Big Fish, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Sleepy Hollow, Red Dragon, Edward Scissorhands and Spider-Man
• Brad Fiedel: The Terminator, ', True Lies
• Hugo Friedhofer: The Best Years of Our Lives, The Bishop's Wife, One-Eyed Jacks
• Philip Glass: The Fog of War, the Qatsi trilogy (Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, Naqoyqatsi) Truman Show and Thin Blue Line
• Elliot Goldenthal: Heat, A Time to Kill, Frida
• Jerry Goldsmith: many Star Trek scores, both film and TV; The Omen, Patton, Planet of the Apes
• Ron Goodwin: Where Eagles Dare, 633 Squadron, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
• Harry Gregson-Williams (occasionally with John Powell): The Rock, Armageddon, Shrek, Man on Fire, ', '
• Bernard Herrmann: Citizen Kane, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Mysterious Island, and many Alfred Hitchcock films, most famously Psycho, Vertigo and North by Northwest'
• Joe Hisaishi: Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, Princess Mononoke, Sonatine, Hanabi, Spirited Away
• James Horner: Titanic, Legends of the Fall, Braveheart
• Ilayaraja: Mouna Raagam, Hey Ram, Aboorva Sahodhargal
• Mark Isham: A River Runs Through It, Kiss the Girls
• Maurice Jarre: Lawrence of Arabia, Dr Zhivago
• Trevor Jones: Cliffhanger, Deep Blue Sea, Mississippi Burning
• Michael Kamen: Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, Band of Brothers (TV), X-Men, Lethal Weapon, Licence To Kill
• Bernhard Kaun: Frankenstein (1931), Return of Dr. X
• Erich Wolfgang Korngold: The Sea Hawk, The Adventures of Robin Hood
• Michel Legrand: Les parapluies de Cherbourg
• Albert Hay Malotte: Disney animations, The Big Fisherman
• Mark Mancina: Speed, Twister, Con Air, Training Day, Tarzan, Brother Bear
• Henry Mancini: Breakfast at Tiffany'sand the The Pink Panther movies
• Cliff Martinez: Solaris, Traffic
• Ennio Morricone: Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Peur sur la ville, The Untouchables, The Mission, The Thing, Once Upon a Time in the West
• Alfred Newman: Wuthering Heights, How the West Was Won, The Greatest Story Ever Told, The King and I
• Thomas Newman: The Shawshank Redemption, American Beauty
• Randy Newman: The Natural, Toy Story
• James Newton Howard
• Jack Nitzsche: The Exorcist, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Starman, Stand By Me
• Michael Nyman: The Piano, Gattaca
• John Ottman: The Usual Suspects
• Basil Poledouris: Conan the Barbarian, RoboCop
• Rachel Portman: The Cider House Rules, Emma
• John Powell: Face/Off, Paycheck
• Sergei Prokofiev:Alexander Nevsky, Lieutenant Kije, Ivan the Terrible
• Trevor Rabin: Armageddon
• A.R. Rahman: Roja, Rangeela, '
• Graeme Revell
• Heinz Roemheld: The Black Cat, Yankee Doodle Dandy (songs by George M. Cohan), Ruby Gentry
• Nino Rota: The Godfather, Romeo and Juliet, Otto e Mezzo
• Miklós Rózsa: Spellbound, Quo Vadis, Ben-Hur
• Camille Saint-Saëns, the first renowned classical composer to write for films
• Ryuichi Sakamoto: The Last Emperor, Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
• Lalo Schifrin: Bullitt, Dirty Harry, Rush Hour, Tango, '
• Eric Serra: The Fifth Element, GoldenEye
• Howard Shore: The Lord of the Rings, Philadelphia, Se7en
• Dmitri Shostakovitch
• Alan Silvestri: Back To The Future, Forrest Gump
• Max Steiner: Gone with the Wind, King Kong
• Leith Stevens: Destination Moon, War of the Worlds (1953), The Wild One
• Herbert Stothart: Wizard of Oz (songs by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg), Random Harvest
• Gil Talmi
• Shigeru Umebayashi: Yumeji, In the Mood for Love, House of Flying Daggers, 2046
• Vangelis: Chariots of Fire, Blade Runner, '
• Franz Waxman: The Bride of Frankenstein, Objective Burma, Spirit of St. Louis
• John Williams: Star Wars series, Superman, Schindler's List, Indiana Jones series, Jaws series, Hook, Harry Potter series
• Ralph Vaughan Williams: Scott of the Antarctic
• Debbie Wiseman: Wilde
• Gabriel Yared
• Hans Zimmer: The Rock, The Lion King, Driving Miss Daisy, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, ', Crimson Tide, Hannibal, The Last Samurai
• Fariborz Lachini