A movie’s musical score is as important as any other component in its arsenal, and the world undoubtedly recognizes John Williams, Hans Zimmer, and the late James Horner as leading practitioners of this medium. However, there are plenty of others who deserve that same sort of regard, and this list will help you get acquainted with their names and their works!
Michael Giacchino
Starting off as the composer for video games like Medal of Honor, Michael Giacchino soon jumped to TV and film with the respective scores for J.J. Abrams’ Alias and The Incredibles. Also known for his work in the Jurassic World trilogy, as well as the later sequels for Caesar’s Planet of the Apes Trilogy, Giacchino’s resume is wide-spanning and impressive.
Wendy Carlos
Primarily known for her work on The Shining and A Clockwork Orange, Wendy Carlos helped push the soundscape of movie scores through electronic elements. Delivering some of the most unconventional film scores ever, Carlos is also well known for her work on Disney’s cult classic Tron.
Alan Silvestri
With noble horns and jarring motifs on percussion and piano, Alan Silvestri is a name you’d recognize if you’re a fan of director Robert Zemeckis. Frequent collaborators on films such as the Back to the Future Trilogy and Forrest Gump, you could pick his themes out of a lineup very easily. Though let’s not forget, this is also the man who delivered not only the iconic MCU theme from The Avengers but also the double album that is Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
Laura Karpman
Composer Laura Karpman is another versatile music maker who runs the gamut of projects. Looking at her credits one can easily spot her score for The Marvels, as well as her 2024 Oscar nomination for her work on American Fiction. Those projects couldn’t be further apart, as the former is a rollicking adventure score that tips its baton to Jerry Goldsmith, while the latter is a low-key jazzy affair that matches the tone of Cord Jefferson’s well-tuned comedy.
Jerry Goldsmith
One of the legends of film scoring, composer Jerry Goldsmith can always use some more love behind his name. Whether it’s his work tacking franchises like Planet of the Apes and Star Trek, as well as the classic 1999 remake of The Mummy, the “Cult of Jerry” is always ready to praise his genre-spanning works that combine lush traditional orchestrations with elements of electronic experimentation.
Natalie Holt
Time and the Multiverse are hard concepts to create musical themes to, but composer Natalie Holt did just that with her work on the Disney+ subscription driver Loki. Other notable works from Holt’s catalog are the score to the limited series Obi-Wan Kenobi, as well as the Hulu original film The Princess; each of which has allowed Holt to go big, and sometimes weird, with her musical gifts.
John Barry
Composer John Barry’s work on the bulk of the Bond scores, up to and including The Living Daylights, is arguably his most notable contribution to the world of film music. However, it shouldn’t be forgotten that Barry also lent his talents to sweeping dramas like Out of Africa, as well as deep-cut genre favorites like Disney’s sci-fi mind-bender The Black Hole. While the late Monty Norman’s “James Bond Theme” is still 007’s calling card, John’s influence is still a driving force through those earlier eras.
Bear McCreary
SyFy’s Battlestar Galactica is the project that put Bear McCreary’s music on the map, and if his run ended there it’d be enough to celebrate his works. Thankfully, we have everything from 10 Cloverfield Lane and Godzilla: King of the Monsters and his work on the God of War reboot games to hammer home just how awesome Bear’s ability to lock in on uniquely novel angles for scoring truly is.
David Arnold
David Arnold’s work throughout Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond movies, as well as the first couple of Daniel Craig entries, have made him indispensable in the 007 canon. Combine that claim to fame with scores on Stargate, Independence Day, and even Prime Video’s Good Omens, and you’ve got a tableau of sonic wonder that’s a pretty adventurous deep dive.
Ludwig Goransson
Much like the Russo Brothers’ rise from sitcoms and rom-coms to MCU helmers, composer Ludwig Goransson’s transition from scoring duties on Community into the worlds of movies like Black Panther, Tenet, and Oppenheimer is something that still takes people’s breath away.
Joseph Trapanese
Collaborating on Daft Punk’s score to Tron: Legacy was all Joseph Trapanese needed to put himself into the canon of modern composing greats. Reprising his duties with the Tron: Uprising series, and the Disney World variant of Tron Lightcycle/Run, that reputation only grew. Along the way credits for the TV series The Witcher and Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, as well as continued collaboration with director Joseph Kosinski, have kept Trapanese busy in the best ways possible.
Hildur Guðnadóttir
Hildur Guðnadóttir is a composer who lives and breathes the avant-garde. Nowhere does she better show those skills than in her film work for Joker (which netted her an Academy Award win) and A Haunting in Venice, as well as her haunting score for HBO’s Chernobyl miniseries. Hildur’s soundscapes are atypical of traditional scoring, resulting in music that puts a premium on atmosphere.
Terence Blanchard
A jazz musician by trade, trumpeter Terence Blanchard is the musical force behind several of Spike Lee’s most iconic films. Adding even more flavor to his body of work is the fact that Blanchard has given projects like Disney’s The Princess and The Frog and HBO’s Perry Mason reboot lush soundscapes with his jazzy sensibilities. The latter in particular saw him deliver a tremendous modern spin to Fred Steiner’s classic theme tune.
John Powell
What do Ben Affleck’s memory loss, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s action-comedy marriage story, and Toothless the Dragon have in common? The fact that Paycheck, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy are all just a handful of composer John Powell’s stellar sonic works. Chances are if you’re a fan of some of the best action movies ever seen, Mr. Powell’s propulsive compositions have made their way to your ears quite often.
Marco Beltrami
Horror is a genre that composer Marco Beltrami is very comfortable in, thanks to composing for the first four Scream movies, as well as 2004’s Hellboy. Outside of that profile, Beltrami’s collaborations with director James Mangold and co-composer Buck Sanders have netted him a varied array of musical genius outside of that realm, especially through efforts composed for Ford v. Ferrari and Logan.
Joe Hisaishi
Employing sweeping melodies that heavily engage both the strings and the piano, composer Joe Hisaishi is best known for his works in the world of director Hayao Miyazaki. His themes for projects such as Howl’s Moving Castle have become trend-worthy hits, with his other works from Spirited Away and The Boy and the Heron, among others, continuing to build his reputation.
Ramin Djawadi
Where does a composer like Ramin Djawadi go after kickstarting their career as the first musical voice of the MCU in Iron Man? Apparently, the answer is “everywhere” in this case. Ramin’s collected works include long-term series like Game of Thrones, The Strain, and Westworld to films such as
Thomas Newman
Composer Thomas Newman comes from a family that’s steeped in Hollywood musical history; most notably father Alfred and cousin Randy. The American composer has tackled everything from The Shawshank Redemption to Wall-E, with two James Bond films to his credit thanks to Skyfall and Spectre. With a healthy appreciation for electronic elements present alongside traditional orchestrations, Thomas’ work spans eras of sonic history.
Howard Shore
A former Saturday Night Live musical director, composer Howard Shore eventually jumped into cinematic music through his collaborations with director David Cronenberg. Running the table with chilling scores like the one for Cronenberg’s remake of The Fly to lighter comedic fare like That Thing You Do!, Howard has had a career of great versatility. But of course, his greatest claim to fame would be the Wagnerian efforts he put into Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogy scores.
Trent Reznor And Atticus Ross
Some people are probably still surprised to hear Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ names attached to film music. However, the Nine Inch Nails stalwarts continue to make headway in the world of film music, after an impressive debut with 2010’s The Social Network. Throughout their collective body of work, collaborations like their work on Soul with Jon Baptiste, as well as the very danceable score to Challengers, have further developed their reputation for intrepid exploration in the world of sound.
Danny Elfman
Going from pop icon to cinematic music master seems to be a fun pipeline to travel if you can handle the jump. Composer Danny Elfman had a huge helping hand through his work with frequent collaborator Tim Burton, who selected the Oingo Boingo frontman to score his directorial debut Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. Getting his foot in the door, Elfman would eventually become a trusted musical voice for director Sam Raimi, tackling two-thirds of his Spider-Man trilogy with his trademark mix of kitchen sink weirdness and memorable, traditional melodies.
Nami Melumad
A collaborator of composer Michael Giacchino, Nami Melumad has netted experience in the Medal of Honor video game series, as well as a co-composer on Thor: Love and Thunder. Melumad has also made a name for herself in Television, as the composer for both Strange New Worlds and Prodigy in the Star Trek legacy.
John Debney
A seasonal heavy hitter, every Halloween and Christmas happen to be the perfect showcases of John Debney’s music. Through both Hocus Pocus films and the Jon Favreau Christmas classic Elf, Debney has a hold on shaping so many memories when it comes to those holidays in particular. John’s history with Disney is also fun to reflect on, as it produced the insanely catchy “Run Llama Run” on The Emperor’s New Groove soundtrack.
Brian Tyler
One of the early musical voices in the MCU, composer Brian Tyler actually gave Marvel Studios its initial opening fanfare. Strangely enough, that happened after Tyler delivered notable contributions with the score to Timeline, as well as kicking off his Fast Saga history with 2006’s The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Delivering the musical madness of The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s score as well, Brian knows how to bring an epic home on the music sheet.
Rachel Portman
As the first female composer to win an Oscar, Rachel Portman’s career has already been enshrined in the history of Hollywood. That fact only enhances the wealth of her musical contributions, as Portman has lent her pen to the music for the films Emma, The Cider House Rules, and Chocolat.
Mica Levi
An expert on non-traditional film scoring, Mica Levi has made their career creating melodies for equally unique films. Levi’s best known for their scores to Jackie and Zola, as well as frequent collaborator Jonathan Glazer’s films Under the Skin and The Zone of Interest.
Pinar Toprak
Captain Marvel and PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie composer Pinar Toprak has some pretty super credits in her career. At the same time, romantic comedies like The Lost City and Shotgun Wedding, as well as whimsical adventures like Slumberland, have helped Toprak vary the musical stylings that she’s experimented with. Pinar even wrote the fanfare used for Skydance Production’s logo animation.
Sarah Schachner
As an arranger/programmer for composer Brian Tyler, Sarah Schachner started her career lending a hand on films like Iron Man 3. So it only made sense for Sarah to branch out into her own composing career, which saw her skills put to the test when scoring 2022’s smash hit in the Predator saga, Prey!
Shirley Walker
Though Shirley Walker may be best known for her abilities shown in scoring both Batman: The Animated Series and its companion Superman series, her film career also netted some sparkling gems. The late composer was the woman behind scoring the first three Final Destination films, as well as the Chevy Chase sci-fi comedy Memoirs of the Invisible Man. And true to form, Shirley also scored Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, complimenting her work on the animated series.
John Carpenter
Not only is John Carpenter a master of horror, he’s also a musical whiz! Creating the score and theme for his original 1978 hit Halloween, Carpenter was known to score his own films from time to time, which resulted in memorably gritty scores like the ones for They Live and Christine.
Anne Dudley
The Art of Noise’s Anne Dudley rocketed to movie music stardom through her Oscar win for The Full Monty, but that was only the beginning. Working with director Paul Verhoeven on later films such as Elle and Bendetta, as well as providing the score to the cinematic oddity Monkeybone, Dudley’s kept her resume in exciting form for some time.
Quincy Jones
When you hear the name Quincy Jones, music hit-making is certainly the first image that’s conjured. But what you may not know is that his scores on the original Italian Job and The Color Purple are another level of variety in his iconic career. Also, if you count giving the Austin Powers series its opening theme, that’s another credit to keep in mind.
Bernard Herrmann
Directors and composers can be quite inseparable, as seen in the case of the mythical pairing of Bernard Herrmann and Alfred Hitchcock. Herrmann’s pen gave us the infamous “shower theme” from Psycho, Vertigo’s hypnotic opening tune, and the musical suspense that is The Man Who Knew Too Much’s “Storm Clouds Cantata.”
Now that we’ve run through some of the best composers you may not have known by name, feel free to adjust your playlists accordingly. You never know what epic and/or moving cues you’ve been missing from your life until you truly look.
