50 best soundtrack composers

1. Ennio Morricone

A classmate of director Sergio Leone with whom he would form one of the great director/composer partnerships (right up there with Eisenstein & Prokofiev, Hitchcock & Herrmann, Fellini & Rota), Ennio Morricone studied at Rome's Santa Cecilia Conservatory, where he specialized in trumpet. His first ...

2. Elmer Bernstein

Composer | Far from Heaven

Elmer Bernstein was educated at the Walden School and New York University. He served in the US Army Air Corps in World War II, writing scores for the service radio unit. He also wrote and arranged musical numbers for Glenn Miller's Army Air Force Band. A prolific and respected film music composer, ...

3. Bernard Herrmann

Composer | North by Northwest

The man behind the low woodwinds that open Citizen Kane (1941), the shrieking violins of Psycho (1960), and the plaintive saxophone of Taxi Driver (1976) was one of the most original and distinctive composers ever to work in film. He started early, winning a composition prize at the age of 13 and ...

4. Riz Ortolani

Composer | I giorni dell'ira

Riz Ortolani was born on March 25, 1926 in Pesaro, Marche, Italy. He was a composer and actor, known for Day of Anger (1967), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Festa di laurea (1985). He was married to Katina Ranieri. He died on January 23, 2014 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

5. Lalo Schifrin

Music_department | Rush Hour

Immensely talented, Argentinian born pianist, conductor and composer who has written over 100 scores for both television & the cinema including the memorable themes to Mission: Impossible (1966), Mannix (1967), Starsky and Hutch (1975), Cool Hand Luke (1967), and Bullitt (1968). Schifrin has ...

6. Roy Budd

Music_department | Get Carter

Born on the 14th March, 1947, Roy Budd the musician was entirely self-taught, and was hailed as a child prodigy. At the age of four he began to play the piano, initially by ear and then by copying various melodies he heard by listening to the radio. By the age of six he had appeared in public at ...

7. Piero Umiliani

Soundtrack | The Spectacular Now

Piero Umiliani was born on July 17, 1926 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. He was a composer, known for The Spectacular Now (2013), Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958) and The Muppets (2011). He died on February 14, 2001 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

8. Franz Waxman

Composer | Sunset Blvd.

Franz Waxman (Wachsmann) pursued his dream of a career in music despite his family's misgivings. He worked for several years as a bank teller and paid for piano, harmony and composition lessons with his salary. He later moved to Berlin, where he continued his study and progress as a musician. He ...

9. Michel Legrand

Composer | The Thomas Crown Affair

Michel Legrand is a three-time Academy Award-winning French composer, conductor and pianist who composed over 200 film and television scores as well as recorded over a hundred albums of jazz, popular and classical music.

He was born on February 24, 1932, in Becon-les-Bruyeres, in the Paris suburbs, ...

10. Philip Glass

Soundtrack | The Truman Show

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Glass worked in his father's radio store and discovered music listening to the offbeat Western classical records customers didn't seem to want. He studied the violin and flute, and obtained early admission to the University of Chicago. After graduating in mathematics ...

11. Sven Libaek

Soundtrack | The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Sven Libaek was born on September 20, 1938 in Norway. He is a composer and actor, known for The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), Saving Silverman (2001) and The Year of Living Dangerously (1982).

12. Vince Guaraldi

Soundtrack | Cast Away

Born in San Francisco on July 17, 1928, Vince Guaraldi graduated from Lincoln High School and then San Francisco State College. Guaraldi was already performing while in college in such venues as the Black Hawk and Jackson's Nook, sometimes with the Chubby Jackson/Bill Harris band, other times in ...

13. Piero Piccioni

Soundtrack | The Big Lebowski

Piero Piccioni was born in Turin (Italy) on the 6th December 1921. Son of a pure Turinese mother (her maiden name was Marengo), and from here the pseudonym Piero Morgan, which he adopted until 1957. He had played on the radio with his historic Big Band "013" in 1938, to then return, after the ...

14. Keith Mansfield

Soundtrack | X: First Class

Keith Mansfield was born in June 1940 in Slough, Berkshire, England, UK. He is a composer, known for X: First Class (2011), Death Proof (2007) and The Fighter (2010).

15. Francis Lai

Composer | Love Story

Francis Lai was born on April 26, 1932 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France. He was a composer and actor, known for Love Story (1970), Stranger Than Fiction (2006) and Kingpin (1996). He was married to Dagmar Puetz. He died on November 7, 2018 in Paris, France.

16. John Barry

Soundtrack | Out of Africa

John Barry was born in York, England in 1933, and was the youngest of three children. His father, Jack, owned several local cinemas and by the age of fourteen, Barry was capable of running the projection box on his own - in particular, The Rialto in York. As he was brought up in a cinematic ...

17. Maurizio De Angelis

Soundtrack | Il mondo di Yor

Maurizio De Angelis was born on February 22, 1947 in Rocca di Papa, Lazio, Italy. He is a composer and producer, known for Yor: The Hunter from the Future (1983), Death Proof (2007) and All the Way Boys (1972).

18. Alan Hawkshaw

Soundtrack | Colombiana

In a long and distinguished career as a composer, Alan Hawkshaw has written the music for more than 35 films and countless television programmes including The Outsider, The Silent Witness, Dreams Lost Dreams Found, Magic Moments and the classic television themes for The New Statesman, Grange Hill, ...

19. Johnny Hawksworth

Soundtrack | Europa Report

Johnny Hawksworth was born on February 2, 1924 in London, England, UK. He was a composer and actor, known for Europa Report (2013), Last Night (2010) and Censor (2021). He died on February 13, 2009 in Australia.

20. John Williams

Composer | Jurassic Park

As one of the best known, awarded, and financially successful composers in US history, John Williams is as easy to recall as John Philip Sousa, Aaron Copland or Leonard Bernstein, illustrating why he is "America's composer" time and again. With a massive list of awards that includes over 52 Oscar ...

21. Bruno Nicolai

Music_department | Romeo and Juliet

Bruno Nicolai was born on May 26, 1926 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a composer, known for Romeo and Juliet (1968), Django (1966) and Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019). He died on August 16, 1991 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

22. Jerry Goldsmith

Composer | L.A. Confidential

Born on February 10, 1929, Jerry Goldsmith studied piano with Jakob Gimpel and composition, theory, and counterpoint with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. He also attended classes in film composition given by Miklós Rózsa at the Univeristy of Southern California. In 1950, he was employed as a clerk ...

23. Alan Tew

Soundtrack | August: Osage County

British composer and arranger Alan Stanley Tew got his start in the 1950's as a pianist and arranger for The Len Turner Band in London, England. Tew later became the leader of his own orchestra which has recorded dozens of soundtrack and library music albums. In addition, Alan has also collaborated...

24. Bill Conti

Soundtrack | Rocky

Bill Conti was born on April 13, 1942 in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. He is a composer and actor, known for Rocky (1976), For Your Eyes Only (1981) and The Karate Kid Part II (1986). He is married to Shelby Cox. They have two children.

25. Danny Elfman

Music_department | The Nightmare Before Christmas

As Danny Elfman was growing up in the Los Angeles area, he was largely unaware of his talent for composing. It wasn't until the early 1970s that Danny and his older brother Richard Elfman started a musical troupe while in Paris; the group "Mystic Knights of Oingo-Boingo" was created for Richard's ...

26. Karl-Heinz Schäfer

Composer | Street of No Return

Karl-Heinz Schäfer was born on March 17, 1932 in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany. He was a composer and actor, known for Street of No Return (1989), Cross (1987) and L'empreinte des géants (1980). He died on October 12, 1996 in Paris, France.

27. Howard Shore

Music_department | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Howard Shore is a Canadian composer, born in Toronto. He was born in a Jewish family. He started studying music when 8-years-old, and played as a member of bands by the time he was 13-years-old. He was interested in a professional career in music as a teenager. He studied music at the Berklee ...

28. Alan Silvestri

Composer | The Polar Express

In his ongoing, decades-long career as a composer, Alan Silvestri has blazed an innovative trail with his exciting and melodic scores, winning the applause of Hollywood and movie audiences the world over. With a credit list of over 100 films Silvestri has composed some of the most recognizable and ...

29. Armando Trovajoli

Soundtrack | Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Armando Trovajoli was born on September 2, 1917 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a composer and actor, known for Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), A Special Day (1977) and Get Smart (2008). He was married to Maria Paola Trovajoli and Pier Angeli. He died on March 1, 2013 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

30. Tangerine Dream

Composer | Thief

The pioneering German collective Tangerine Dream has been delivering their distinctive style of ambient music for nearly three decades, laying down a foundation of sound textures and sonic imagery that has influenced many of today's electronic musicians. Founded in 1967 by fine art aficinado Edgar ...

31. John Cameron

Soundtrack | Dude, Where's My Car?

John Cameron was born on March 20, 1944 in Woodford, Essex, England, UK. He is a composer, known for Dude, Where's My Car? (2000), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) and Les Misérables (2012).

32. Thomas Newman

Music_department | Skyfall

Thomas Newman is an American film score composer. He was born in Los Angeles. His father was notable film score composer Alfred Newman (1900-1970). The Newman family is of Russian-Jewish descent, and includes several other well-known musicians. Thomas' mother Martha Louis Montgomery (1920-2005) ...

33. Alessandro Alessandroni

Soundtrack | C'era una volta il West

Alessandro Alessandroni was born in Rome. He came to fame for playing the guitar and "the whistle" theme on Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars (1964) on music composed by Ennio Morricone. Alessandroni started playing at age 11. When still a teenager, he formed a band playing in several venues in ...

34. Goblin

Soundtrack | Shaun of the Dead

For 25 years, Goblin has been scoring soundtracks for Italian films, mainly Giallo-style films directed by Dario Argento. The group consisted of keyboardist Claudio Simonetti, percussionist Walter Martino, bassist Fabio Pignatelli, guitarist Massimo Morante, percussionist Agostino Marangolo, and ...

35. Al Kooper

Soundtrack | Sneakers

Al Kooper was born on February 5, 1944 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is a composer and actor, known for Sneakers (1992), Cry-Baby (1990) and The Stand (1994).

36. Gert Wilden

Soundtrack | Mom and Dad

German film and TV show composer Gert Wilden was born as Gert Wychodil on April 15, 1917 in Moravska Trebova, Czechoslovakia. Wilden studied conduction and composition at the Prague Conservatorium under the expert tutelage of George Szell, Fritz Rieger, and Fidelio Fincke. In the late 1940's Gert ...

37. Claude Bolling

Soundtrack | The Holiday

Claude Bolling was born on April 10, 1930 in Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France. He was a composer and actor, known for The Holiday (2006), Joker (2019) and He Died with His Eyes Open (1985). He was married to Irène Dervize-Sadyker. He died on December 29, 2020 in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, France.

38. Stu Phillips

Composer | Knight Rider

Stu Phillips was born on September 9, 1929 in the USA. He is a composer and actor, known for Knight Rider (1982), Argo (2012) and X-Men: Apocalypse (2016).

39. Nico Fidenco

Soundtrack | Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Prolific singer, songwriter and composer Nico Fidenco was born in Rome as Domenico Colarossi on January 24, 1933. Signed to RCA in Rome in 1960, he had his first major hit as a singer with Legata ad un granello di sabbia. This became the first single to sell over a million copies in Italy. Soon ...

40. Mark Isham

Composer | Crash

From his days as one of the pioneering icons of electronic music to his current status as a world-renowned legendary film composer, Mark Isham continues to be one of the most prolific and provocative artists on the scene. His gift for creating unforgettable melodies and his love of fresh, ...

41. Henry Mancini

Soundtrack | Breakfast at Tiffany's

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, but brought up in Pennsylvania, where he played the flute in a local band, as a youth, before sending some arrangements to Benny Goodman. Goodman offered him a job and, after serving in WWII, he joined the rearranged Glenn Miller band. In 1952, he was given a two-week ...

42. Stelvio Cipriani

Soundtrack | Never Let Me Go

He studied piano and harmony at Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome. In 1957 he started playing light music, being the pianist of important singers such as Rita Pavone. In USA he studied jazz with Dave Brubeck. In 1966 he was called by Cam to compose his first soundtrack: The Bounty Killer, a film ...

43. Michael Nyman

Composer | The Piano

Michael Nyman studied piano, harpsichord and music history with Alan Bush at the Royal Academy of Music, and musicology with Thurston Dart at King's College, London. Between 1968 and 1978 he worked as a music critic and in 1977 he founded the Campiello Band, later renamed the Michael Nyman Band. ...

44. Dominic Frontiere

Music_department | Color of Night

Dominic Carmen Frontiere, 86, Emmy and Golden Globe winning film and television composer, former head of music at Paramount Pictures, passed away in Tesuque, New Mexico on 21 December 2017. He is survived by his wife Robin and their children Emily, Joseph, Nicholas and Sofia, as well as daughter ...

45. Hans Zimmer

Composer | Gladiator

German-born composer Hans Zimmer is recognized as one of Hollywood's most innovative musical talents. He featured in the music video for The Buggles' single "Video Killed the Radio Star", which became a worldwide hit and helped usher in a new era of global entertainment as the first music video to ...

46. Mike Post

Composer | NYPD Blue

Mike Post - musician, composer, arranger and producer - has long been considered the most successful composer in television history. His career in television started in 1970. Over the years, he's written the music for seven thousand hours of TV including: Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & ...

47. Vangelis

Composer | Blade Runner

Vangelis was a composer and performer who worked almost exclusively with electronic instruments. With Jean-Michel Jarre and Mike Oldfield in the 1970s, Vangelis was a pioneer in the instrumental music and a main influence in the creation of the musical genre "new age," a style related to spiritual,...

48. Syd Dale

Soundtrack | The Sixth Sense

Syd Dale was born on May 20, 1924 in York, England, UK. Syd was a composer, known for The Sixth Sense (1999), The Love Guru (2008) and All About Steve (2009). Syd died on August 15, 1994 in England, UK.

49. Heinz Kiessling

Soundtrack | It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Heinz Kiessling was born on March 11, 1926 in Nuremberg, Germany. He was a composer and actor, known for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005), Whatever Works (2009) and Fractured (2019). He died on December 27, 2003 in Starnberg, Germany.

50. Randy Newman

Soundtrack | The Princess and the Frog

Randy Newman is an American film composer and singer who is well-known for composing The Princess and the Frog, Meet the Parents and various Pixar films including the Toy Story, Monsters, Inc and Cars franchises as well as A Bug's Life. He wrote iconic songs such as "Short People", "You've Got A ...