Top 5 Film Score Composers
From Avatar to Harry Potter to The Dark Knight Rises, these composers have created awe-inspiring scores to many, many amazing movies.
1. John Williams
He was born in 1932 in New York, and attended UCLA and the Los Angeles City College. He is the recipient of an outstanding amount of awards, including Oscars, Golden Globes and Emmys. among many others, such as the Saturn and BAFTA awards.
He is best known for his scores for Jaws, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Jurassic Park and Schindler's List.
2. Hans Zimmer
He was born in 1957 in West Germany. The turning point of his career was in 1988 when he composed the score for Rain Man, which was nominated for 'Best Original Score' at the 1989 Oscars. Since then, he has become internationally renowned for his 'innovative' arrangements. Hans was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010, and has won over 100 other awards.
He is best known for his music for Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion King, Sherlock Holmes, Gladiator and Crimson Tide.
3. James Horner
James Horner was born in 1953 in LA, California and completed a PhD in Music Composition and Theory at UCLA. He won over 50 awards for his scores, including two Oscars for Titanic, in the categories 'Best Original Song' and 'Best Original Dramatic Score'.
He was killed in a plane crash in 2015.
His most notable scores include Titanic, Avatar, Braveheart, A Beautiful Mind and The Mask of Zorro.
4. Howard Shore
Howard Shore was born in 1946 in Toronto and studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. One of his first credits was Saturday Night Live. He has won 3 Oscars (all for the Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) and over 75 other awards.
He is best known for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies, The Aviator, Hugo, Mrs. Doubtfire and The Silence of the Lambs.
5. Danny Elfman
Danny was born in 1953 in LA, California. He created a band with his older brother, called Oingo Boingo. His first orchestral score was for Tim Burton's film 'Pee-wee's Big Adventure' in 1985,the first of many collaborations. He has won numerous awards, including Primetime Emmys, among many others.
He is best known for Corpse Bride, Good Will Hunting, Alice in Wonderland, Charlotte's Web and Spider-Man.
Honourable mentions: John Powell, Alan Silvestri and Ramin Djawadi.
You can find these soundtracks on Apple Music and Spotify.
