Film Composers

Here we list some of the many composers who have contributed significantly to the development of film music, often called "film score composers". At the current time this list has 160 composers, and it excludes a few composers which we have categorised as "classical composers" even though they may have written a substantial number of film scores. We also have a large "to do" list of composers that we want to cover in due course. So if your favourite composer is not yet listed, they are almost certainly on the "to do" list.

• Richard Addinsell - Dangerous Moonlight (with Warsaw Concerto), Goodbye Mr. Chips, Scrooge
• Craig Armstrong - Moulin Rouge, Romeo+Juliet, The Quiet American, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
• David Arnold - Independence Day, Stargate, James Bond, Shaken and Stirred, Amazing Grace
• Malcolm Arnold - Battle of Britain, St. Trinians films, Bridge over the River Kwai, Inn of the Sixth Happiness
• Georges Auric - one of "Les Six", The Lavender Hill Mob, The Titfield Thunderbolt, Roman Holiday
• Luis Bacalov - Il Postino, Django, The Love Letter
• Burt Bacharach - famous song-writer, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Casino Royale, What's New Pussycat
• Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, Arlington Road, A Very Long Engagement
• Klaus Badelt - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Equilibrium
• John Barry - James Bond, Dances with Wolves, The Ipcress File, The Lion in Winter, Out of Africa, Midnight Cowboy
• Mike Batt - the Wombles, Watership Down, Katie Melua
• Marco Beltrami - Scream, Mimic, Resident Evil, Hellboy, The Faculty, 3:10 to Yuma
• Richard Rodney Bennett - Murder on the Orient Express, Far from the Madding Crowd, Gormenghast
• James Bernard - Hammer Horror, Dracula (1958), The Devil Rides Out, The Quatermass Experiment, The Hound of the Baskervilles
• Elmer Bernstein - The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, To Kill a Mocking Bird, The Man with the Golden Arm, Far from Heaven
• Leonard Bernstein - West Side Story, Candide, On The Town, On The Waterfront
• Howard Blake - The Snowman, Flash Gordon, Grandpa, The Bear
• Bruce Broughton - Silverado, Young Sherlock Holmes, Narrow Margin, Lost in Space
• Roy Budd - Get Carter, Black Windmill, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, The Wild Geese, Who Dares Wins
• Geoffrey Burgon - Brideshead Revisited, Monty Python's Life of Brian, The Forsyte Saga
• Carter Burwell - Coen Brothers films, Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, The Big Lebowski, A Knight's Tale
• Wendy Carlos - Switched On Bach, Moog Synthesisers, A Clockwork Orange, Tron, The Shining
• John Carpenter - composer/director, Halloween, Assault on Precinct 13, Dark Star, Escape from New York
• Kristopher Carter - Dance of the Dead, Batman Beyond, Teen Titans, Yesterday was a Lie
• Eric Coates - The Dambusters March, By the Sleepy Lagoon, Calling All Workers, British Light Music
• Bill Conti - The Rocky films, The Right Stuff, The Karate Kid, TV Themes, Dynasty, Falcon Crest
• Ry Cooder - Guitarist, The Long Riders, Paris Texas, Buena Vista Social Club
• Aaron Copland - American Ballets, Appalachian Spring, El Salon Mexico, Billy the Kid, Rodeo, Fanfare for the Common Man
• John Corigliano - the Red Violin, Altered States, Concert Music, Fantasia on an Ostinato
• Jane Antonia Cornish - Five Children and It, Island of the Lost Souls, Solstice
• Jeff Danna - Cold Comfort, Green Dragon, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Beverly Hills 90210
• Mychael Danna - Ride with the Devil, The Ice Storm, Monsoon Wedding, Little Miss Sunshine
• Carl Davis - Topsy Turvy, The French Lieutenant's Woman, Frankenstein Unbound, Cranford, Napoléon
• Don Davis - The Matrix, Reloaded and Revolutions, Beauty and the Beast TV Series, SeaQuest DSV
• John Debney - The Passion of the Christ, Zathura, Idlewild, Bruce Almighty, The Scorpion King
• Georges Delerue - Jules et Jim, Women in Love, Day of the Jackal, A Little Romance, Viva Maria
• Alexandre Desplat - Girl with a Pearl Earring, Birth, Syriana, The Queen, The Painted Veil
• Pino Donaggio - Don't Look Now, Carrie, Piranha, Dressed to Kill
• Patrick Doyle - Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Sense and Sensibility, Bridget Jones' Diary, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Anne Dudley - The Full Monty, Buster, The Crying Game, TV: Jeeves and Wooster, Kavanagh QC
• Tan Dun - Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Hero, The Banquet, China Olympics 2008, YouTube Symphony
• Randy Edelman - Kindergarten Cop, Beethoven, The Mask, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
• Cliff Eidelman - Star Trek 6: The undiscovered Country, Free Willy 3, He's Just Not That Into You
• Ludovico Einaudi - This is England, Doctor Zhivago, Alexandria, Aprile
• Danny Elfman - Batman, Edward Scissorhands, The Simpsons, Men in Black, Spiderman
• Brian Eno - Composer and Producer, "Roxy Music" synth player, Dune, experimental and generative music
• Robert Farnon - composer and conductor, radio and TV, Captain Horatio Hornblower, Panorama, Colditz
• Harold Faltermeyer - Beverley Hills Cop, Fletch, Tango & Cash, Top Gun
• George Fenton - Gandhi, Dangerous Liaisons, The Blue Planet, Groundhog Day, Anna and the King
• Brad Fiedel - Terminator, The Big Easy, Mystic Pizza, True Lies
• Jerry Fielding - The Wild Bunch, Chato's Land, The Outlaw Jose Wales, Straw Dogs
• Ben Foster - orchestrator conductor composer, Torchwood, Doctor Who
• Hugo Friedhofer - The Best Years of Our Lives, Broken Arrow, An Affair to Remember
• Lisa Gerrard - composer with incredible voice. Ali, Gladiator, Layer Cake, A Thousand Roads
• Michael Giacchino - Lost, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Medal of Honor, Star Trek
• Paul Giovanni - The Wicker Man
• Philip Glass - Koyannisqatsi, The Hours, Candyman, Kundun, The Illusionist
• Murray Gold - Doctor Who, Alien Autopsy, Death at a Funeral, Queer as Folk, Blue Peter
• Elliot Goldenthal - Alien 3, Demolition Man, Interview with the Vampire, Frida, Final Fantasy
• Jerry Goldsmith - Planet of the Apes, The Omen, Chinatown, Alien, Star Trek, Gremlins, Rambo
• Howard Goodall - TV Presenter, Blackadder, The Vicar of Dibley, Red Dwarf, Bean
• Ron Goodwin - The Battle of Britain, 633 Squadron, Where Eagles Dare, The Spaceman and King Arthur
• Harry Gregson-Williams - Shrek, The Chicken Run, Team America: World Polic, Narnia
• Dave Grusin - The Graduate, Heaven Can Wait, The Firm, Tequila Sunrise, The Fabulous Baker Boy
• Christopher Gunning - La Vie en Rose, Firelight, Agatha Christie's Poirot, Rosemary & Thyme
• Marvin Hamlisch - The Way We Were, The Spy Who Loved Me, The Sting, Ordinary People
• Neal Hefti - The Odd Couple, Batman theme, Sex and the Single Girl, Barefoot in the Park
• Bernard Herrmann - Psycho, Vertico, North by Northwest, The Birds, Taxi Driver, Marnie
• Nigel Hess - Ladies in Lavender, television themes, Maigret, A Woman of Substance, Campion
• David Hirschfelder - Elizabeth, Shine, Strictly Ballroom, Sliding Doors
• Joe Hisaishi - Spirited Away, Kikujiro, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, Departures, Ni No Kuni
• James Horner - Star Trek 2 & 3, Cocoon, Aliens, Legends of the Fall, The Rocketeer, Apollo 13
• James Newton Howard Wyatt Earp, The Sixth Sense, King Kong, Batman Begins, Hidalgo
• Eric Idle - Python songs, Spamalot, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, One Foot in the Grave
• Alberto Iglesias - Bad Education, Talk to Her, The Kite Runner, Constant Gardener, Volver, Che
• Ilaiyaraaja - prolific Tamil composer, Thiruvasagam, How to Name it?, Nothing but Wind, Shiva
• iZLER - guitarist and composer, Humboldt County
• Mark Isham - A River Runs Through It, The Cooler, Crash, Next, The Net, Fly Away Home
• Henry Jackman - Monsters vs. Aliens, Gulliver's Travels, Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class, Henri 4
• Maurice Jarre - Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, A Passage to India, Fatal Attraction, Ghost
• Laurie Johnson - The Avengers, The Professionals, The First Men in the Moon, Doctor Strangelove
• Trevor Jones - Excalibur, Time Bandits, The Dark Crystal, Brassed Off, From Hell
• Quincy Jones - In the Heat of the Night, The Italian Job, The Colour Purple, The Wiz
• Jan A. P. Kaczmarek - Finding Neverland, Lost Souls, Unfaithful
• Michael Kamen - Brazil, Highlander, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Die Hard, X-Men
• Bronislau Kaper - The Glass Slipper, The Brothers Karamazov, Lili, Mutiny on the Bounty
• Rolfe Kent - Sideways, About Schmidt, Legally Blonde, Wedding Crashers, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
• Wojciech Kilar - Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Pianist, The Ninth Gate, Death and the Maiden
• Mark Knopfler - Dire Straits, Local Hero, Cal, Wag the Dog
• Erich Wolfgang Korngold - The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk, Captain Blood, Elizabeth and Essex
• Michel Legrand - Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, Ice Station Zebra, Summer of '42, Never Say Never Again
• Joe LoDuca - Evil Dead films, Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules
• Henry Mancini - The Pink Panther, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Touch of Evil, Hatari!, Peter Gunn
• Clint Mansell - Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, Sahara, Pi, Definitely Maybe
• Dario Marianelli - Pride and Prejudice, The Brothers Grimm, V for Vendetta, Atonement
• George Martin - Beatles producer, Live and Let Die, Yellow Submarine, Ferry Cross the Mersey
• Bear McCreary - Battlestar Gallactica, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Eureka, Wrong Turn: Dead End 2
• Mark McKenzie - The Ultimate Gift, The Last Sin Eater, The Great Miracle, Blizzard, Durango
• Joel McNeely - The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, The Avengers, Terminal Velocity
• Alan Menken - Little Shop of Horrors, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Hunchback of Notre Dame
• Vic Mizzy - Television themes and Song Writer, The Addams Family, Green Acres
• John Morris - The Producers, The Elephant Man, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein
• Giorgio Moroder - Song-Writer and Record Producer, Flashdance, Midnight Express
• Jerome Moross - The Big Country, Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
• Ennio Morricone - Fistful of Dollars, Cinema Paradiso, The Mission, Once upon a Time in America
• Javier Navarrete - Pan's Labyrinth, The Life: What's Your Pleasure?, The Devil's Backbone
• Ira Newborn - The Naked Gun, My Blue Heaven, Dragnet, Weird Science
• Alfred Newman - The Mark of Zorro, The Song of Bernadette, The Robe, The King and I, Airport
• David Newman - Critters, Serenity, Matilda, The Nutty Professor, Galaxy Quest, Ice Age
• Lionel Newman - musical director, There's No Business Like Show Busines, Doctor Dolittle, Hello Dolly!
• Randy Newman - song-writer, Toy Story, Pleasantville, Monsters Inc, Parenthood, A Bug's Life
• Thomas Newman - American Beauty, Wall-E, Shawshank Redemption, Horse Whisperer, The Good German
• Jack Nitzsche - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Starman, An Officer and a Gentleman, The Razor's Edge
• Alex North - A Streetcar Named Desire, Viva Zapata!, Spartacus, Cleopatra, The Agony and the Ecstasy
• Michael Nyman - The Piano, The Draughtsman's Contract, Gattaca, Drowning by Numbers
• John Ottman - X-Men 2, The Usual Suspects, Superman Returns, The Fantastic Four
• Jean-Claude Petit - Jean de Florette, Manon des Sources, Cyrano de Bergerac
• Barrington Pheloung - Hilary and Jackie, Inspector Morse, Truly Madly Deeply
• Basil Poledouris - Conan the Barbarian, Robocop, Hunt for Red October, Starship Troopers
• Jocelyn Pook - Eyes Wide Shut, The Merchant of Venice, Brick Lane
• Rachel Portman - Emma, Oliver Twist, The Cider House Rules, Living with Dinosours
• Mike Post - The A-Team, Rockford Files, Hill Street Blues, Greatest American Hero, Quantum Leap
• John Powell - Face/Off, Shrek, The Bourne Identity, Happy Feet, Bolt, Hancock, How to Train Your Dragon
• Zbigniew Preisner - Three Colours Trilogy Blue/White/Red, Dekalog, Radetzky March, The Secret Garden
• Andre Previn - Jazz Classical Pianist, Musical Director, Kiss Me Kate, Elmer Gantry, Paint Your Wagon
• A. R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire, Water, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Guru, Bombay Dreams
• David Raksin - Laura, Forever Amber, Separate Tables, Al Capone
• Max Richter - Waltz with Bashir, Stranger than Fiction
• Jeff Rona - White Squall, A Thousand Roads, Chicago Hope, Traffic
• Leonard Rosenman - East of Eden, Rebel without a Cause, Star Trek IV The Voyage Home
• Laurence Rosenthal - The Comedians, Man of La Mancha, Meteor, Clash of the Titans
• Nino Rota - The Godfather, Romeo and Juliet, La Dolce Vita, La Strada, Death on the Nile
• Miklos Rozsa - Spellbound, Ben Hur, El Cid, Time after Time, King of Kings, The Lost Weekend
• Ryuichi Sakamoto - The Last Emperor, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, Little Buddha, Silk
• Gustavo Santaolalla - Brokeback Mountain, Babel, The Motorcycle Diaries
• Lalo Schifrin - Mission Impossible, Bullitt, Dirty Harry, THX 1138, Rush Hour, Enter the Dragon
• Eric Serra - The Fifth Element, Goldeneye, Leon, Nikita, The Big Blue
• Marc Shaiman - The Addams Family, City Slickers, The American President, South Park
• Edward Shearmur - Miss Congeniality, Johnny English, Charlie's Angels, Sky Captain
• David Shire - The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Short Circuit, Monkey Shines, The Conversation
• Howard Shore - The Lord of the Rings, Scanners, The Fly, Silence of the Lambs, The Aviator
• Alan Silvestri - Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, Roger Rabbit, The Abyss, The Polar Express
• Michael Small - Klute, The Stepford Wives, Marathon Man, Pumping Iron
• Mark Snow - film and television, The X-Files, Born to be Wild, Hart to Hart, Smallville
• Stephen Sondheim - stage musicals, West Side Story, Company, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, Dick Tracy
• Max Steiner - Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, King Kong, Now Voyager, A Summer Place
• Mikis Theodorakis - composer and politician, Zorba the Greek, Serpico, Elektra
• Yann Tiersen - Amelie, Good Bye Lenin!, albums Le Phare, L'Absente
• Dimitri Tiomkin - The Alamo, Guns of Navarone, High Noon, Dial M for Murder, Gunfight at the OK Corral
• Brian Tyler - Constantine, Bubba Ho-Tep, Timeline, Children of Dune, The Hunted
• Vangelis - Bladerunner, Chariots of Fire, Alexander, 1492 Conquest of Paradise, Missing
• Shirley Walker - Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Escape from LA, Final Destination, animated Batman
• Stephen Warbeck - Shakespeare in Love, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Billy Elliot, Mrs Brown
• Franz Waxman - Bride of Frankenstein, Rebecca, Rear Window, Sunset Boulevard, Taras Bulba, Peyton Place
• Jeff Wayne - War of the Worlds musical, David Essex albums, Rock On
• Andrew Lloyd Webber - Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Joseph
• Marco Werba - Zoo, Il Conte di Melissa, Anita, Darkness Surrounds Roberta, Colour from the Dark, Giallo
• Nigel Westlake - Miss Potter, Babe, Pig in the City, Wild Australia, Solarmax
• John Williams - Jaws, Star Wars, ET, CE3K, Schindler's List, Harry Potter, AI, Jurassic Park
• Debbie Wiseman - Wilde, Lesbian Vampire Killers, Lighthouse, TV Jekyll, Judge John Deed
• Alex Wurman - March of the Penguins, Run Fatboy Run, Confession of a Dangerous Mind
• Gabriel Yared - The English Patient, Cold Mountain, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Betty Blue
• Christopher Young - Hellraiser, Species, Entrapment, Spiderman 3, The Shipping News
• Victor Young - Shane, The Quiet Man, Rio Grande, Around the World in 80 Days, 3 Coins in a Fountain
• Hans Zimmer - Gladiator, Rain Man, Driving Miss Daisy, The Da Vinci Code, Hannibal, Thelma and Louise

Articles about Film Composers

We have also published a number of articles about film composers, which look in detail at these composers and focus on certain aspects of their life and work.

• Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann: Torn Curtain - Steve Vertlieb explores the relationship between composer and director, and the landmark films they created
• Franz Waxman: an overview by Jeffrey Dane looking at the composer's life and work
• Elmer Bernstein: an overview by Jeffrey Dane with a focus on the film "The Ten Commandments"