Edwin Black's Top Ten Composers (Currently Scoring)

by Edwin Black

Who are my favorite Top Ten composers currently scoring for the movies? Certainly my list would not be the same as my all-time favorites, which would include Bernard Hermann and Henry Mancini, two giants no longer with us. And of course my list is a mere July 1998 snapshot. It will change soon constantly. That's why I call it my Temporary Top Ten. Everyone has their own Temporary Top Ten. These are my personal favorite. And yes--it's hard to cut it off at ten.

1. Jerry Goldsmith. After more than 150 movies, America's most prolific and talented composer, Jerry Goldsmith has virtually defined much of the soundtrack milieu. He led the way in scoring compelling music in the style or instrumentation of the film topic. Hence Under Fire used Andes pipes, Omen innovated the use of a satanic choir, and Ghost and the Darkness employed tribal vocalizing. AMONG HIS BEST: Papillon, Planet of the Apes, Patton.

2. John Williams. America's link to the European masters, John Williams' movie scores have emphasized the big orchestral sound. His Star Wars scores single-handedly returned sci-fi music from the ethereal far-out sound to the bombastic Wagnerian treatments popularized by Flash Gordon. Williams also scores in the style of the movie topic, hence Seven Years in Tibet employs great monastic horns, and Schindler's List features Itzak Perlman's solo violin. AMONG HIS BEST: Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T.

3. Hans Zimmer. A relative newcomer, Hans Zimmer has taken film music by storm first by combining syncopated pop-rock with orchestral composition as he did in Black Rain, and then with wondrous thematic offerings as he did in Driving Miss Daisy. The composer told me he counts the haunting Soviet chorales of Crimson Tide as a turning point in his work. Zimmer has parlayed his public and movie industry popularity into a multi-composer soundtrack company called Media Ventures, sometimes accused of cloning the Zimmer sound. AMONG HIS BEST: Black Rain, Lion King, Drop Zone.

4. John Barry. Responsible back in the sixties for a quantum leap in soundtrack appreciation, John Barry invented the James Bond sound that spawned thousands of imitators and gave us such gems as Midnight Cowboy and Zulu. But even his loyal fans admit his works began losing their distinctiveness in the eighties. Most of his soundtracks now sound the same, soft and elegant, rich in thematic material, but in an oh-too-predictable structure. AMONG HIS BEST: Goldfinger, Lion In Winter, Across the Sea of Time.

5. Ennio Morricone. In a soundtrack world dominated by Americans, only one Italian stands out, with nearly 350 film scores to his credit. Ennio Morricone first achieved fame when he virtually defined the spaghetti Western with such scores as Fistful of Dollars and Once Upon a Time in America. He long ago abandoned his signature mule brays and desert yelps, and now favors intense strings and horns to create his musical images. AMONG HIS BEST: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Two Mules for Sister Sara, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion.

6. Danny Elfman. Since he dazzled the film world with Batman, Danny Elfman has been in demand. Transducing hackneyed motifs into compelling movie music, as he did in Dick Tracy and Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, was becoming a stereotype for Elfman. But he broke away successfully with Good Will Hunting. AMONG HIS BEST: Batman, Edward Scissorshands, Beetlejuice.

7. James Horner. The world's bestselling composer of Titanic is the immensely skilled James Horner. A master of scoring in such films as Star Trek: the Wrath of Khan and Clear and Present Danger, Horner has also been exposed for continually cloning his own good works and periodically lifting whole sections from other great composers, such as Dimitri Shostokovich and Jerry Goldsmith. Despite these serious flaws, Horner remains one of the greats, capable of moving us to tears and excitement. AMONG HIS BEST: Cocoon, Legends of the Fall, Braveheart.

8. Elmer Bernstein. Among the film music giants is Elmer Bernstein, who gave us such thrilling scores as Magnificent Seven, Ten Commandments and To Kill a Mockingbird. Unfortunately, at some point, much of his work became for me unmemorable, and often just caricature exercises. After a string of such work, including Meatballs, Ghostbusters and Three Amigos!, clearly, the fabled composer needs better film projects to devote himself to. AMONG HIS BEST: Man with the Golden Arm, Walk on the Wild Side, Great Escape.

9. David Arnold. The newest comer to the ranks of film score greatness is David Arnold. Although he has fewer than a half dozen movie credits, I feel Arnold has mastered fire, tears, and excitement on several high profile projects, such as Stargate and Tomorrow Never Dies. His challenge now is to avoid the blah scoring we heard in Independence Day, and will probably hear again in Godzilla. AMONG HIS BEST: Stargate, Last of the Dogman, Tomorrow Never Dies.

10. James Newton Howard. A powerful composer willing to stir our senses, James Newton Howard is not as well known as he should be. But he has proved himself over and over again in such movies The Package, Eye for an Eye and the Postman. The immensely popular Space Jam soundtrack was a turning point for Howard, and much bigger things are in store. AMONG HIS BEST: Fugitive, Waterworld, Outbreak.

This list does not necessarily reflect the views of Film Score Monthly or its editors.

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