Top Ten Favorite Composers

Compiled by Lukas Kendall

Adding onto the column from last week, here are more great reader picks. Send your list of ten favorites, but please keep your comments brief, due to the number of lists we already have on hand.

(Seriously, please do not make your list as long as some of the ones we're printing today, which date from a few months ago.)

Number One: JOHN WILLIAMS

Consistently expanding his musical palette - from Tibetan chants ( Seven Years In Tibet ), to blues ( Rosewood ) - and coming up with the stirring melodies. His scores will always reflect the tone of the film appropiately. Highlights: Jaws, Star Wars, Close Encounters, Raiders, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, E.T., Empire of the Sun, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Schindler's List, Seven Years in Tibet, and even Summon The Heroes (Atlanta Olympics).

Number Two: DANNY ELFMAN

A whiz at creating complex, distinctive sonds, melodies, textures, or motifs. He started the gothic wave with Batman, and the brought back the Nino Rota school of comedy scoring with Pee Wee movies. Often very imitated, but he delivers. His work lately is suffering of sameness, but I suspect Elfman will soon find a whole new direction to keep us hooked. Ironically, he is most succesful when his work becomes more mainstream and selfderivative. Best Highlights: Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Darkman, Batman Returns, Nightmare Before Christmas, Dolores Claibrone, Balck Beauty, Mission Impossible, Dead Presidents, Freeway.

Number Three JERRY GOLDSMITH

The bulk of his work in the nineties, and even eighties, has been distressingly average, however, when Goldsmith makes a good score, it is anything but brilliant. I like him best when he just sticks to an orchestra, leaving out those cheesy synths he's so fond of. Definetely the seventies where his days of wine and roses. Highlights: The Omen, Star Trek, Alien, Poltergeist, The Final Conflict, Rambo III, Patton. Unfortunately, his record for Star Trek sequels is pretty low.

Number 4 JAMES HORNER

He's repetitive, derivative and a plegiarist, but when he does something well, it is pretty good. A master at sucking emotion, singlehandedly kept turkeys such as Batteries not Included and The Rocketeer alive. Highlights: Star Trek 2, Brainstorm, An American Tail, Aliens, Glory, Braveheart, Titanic.

Number Five ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL

Elliot Goldenthal is a strong composer whose work in the realms of darkness tends to show a good apreciation for atmosphere. In fact, I think Goldenthal is perfect at that: creating aural soundscapes, rather than melodies. It's a style over essence kind of scoring, but it seems to work in most of his movies. Main issue is that his scores are often self derivative. Highlights: Alien 3, Cobb, Interview With The Vampire, Batman Forever.

Number Six ENNIO MORRICONE

Morricone is possibly one of the most experimental composers in the whole world, but everything new he does is bound to be repeated ad nauseum in future scores. Not afraid of uglier sounds, which I think fits movies such as Rampage perfectly. Highlights: Any of the Sergio Leone Westerns, The Untouchables, Moses the Lawgiver, The Mission, Bugsy, Wolf.

Number Seven DAVID ARNOLD

Arnold appears to love his craft, and has come up with scores that tend to be better than their films. A large, positive, orchestral sound, that often reminds me of Goldsmith. Highlights: Stargate, Tomorrow Never Dies.

Number Eight ELMER BERNSTEIN

As with most of the great composers still lingering nowadays, much of what he does isn't worth much, but when he scores, he scores the home run. Still, Bernstein's allure remains in the past. Highlights: The Great Escape, The Ten Commandemnts, The Magnificent Seven.

Number Nine GABRIEL YARED

This lebanese composer makes some of the most beautiful melodies, integrating them into haunting soundscapes thatvary according to the movie, hence cold synths for Arctic Map of the Human Heart, choir for City of ANgels. Highlights: Map of the Human Heart, The English Patient.

Number Ten ALAN SILVESTRI

I can't recall anything recent of his, or rather, I can't recall his scores as they integrated into their respective movies. He has, however, shone bright in the eighties, with fun scores to big blockbusters. Good themes, good sense of timing, mood, etc, within their context. Highlight: Back To The Future 1, 2 , 3, The Abyss, Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

All right, since you asked for it I'll be happy to give you my personal Top Ten list of composers working today. I decided to judge them by their ability to enhance the films for which the scores were written instead of just the music itself (the list would change slightly).

1) John Williams A brilliant composer who has managed to keep a up a remarkably high standard for all his scores. Being very choosy about the films he takes he basically does only the things he considers himself well suited. In my opinion the only composer who hasn't written a bad score during last 20 years. Favourite Scores: E.T., Schindler's List

2) James Horner He may be the most hated man that ever lived but he has also been the most reliable composer working today with the exception of Williams. While having a remarkable talent of getting high quality films (something Goldsmith hasn't had much luck for the last few years) he has shown remarkably good judgment of what works for a particular scene and the film as a whole which is probably the reason why so many high profile directors want to work with him. What makes his scores unusual is that he (occasionally) does not take the conventional approach. Braveheart and Titanic which were the most spectacular epics produced during last few years would normally have featured big "bombastic" scores (something like Spartacus or Dracula [Williams-Version]). Instead Horner settled for a more intimate approach which contrasted effectively with the grandiose images on the screen. Favourite Scores: The Journey Of Natty Gann, Willow

3) Jerry Goldsmith Still one of the great composers even though his more recent work has rarely been on the constantly brilliant level of his scores that were written during the middle of the 70s to the middle of the 80s (with the occasional exception). Luckily during the last 12 months the quality of the scores (and the films) he has done has improved. I hope the trend continues... Favourite scores: The Wind And The Lion, Masada, Gremlins

4) Elmer Bernstein He has started quite a few trends himself instead of following them. Highly influential to many composers and justifiably so. Favourite scores: To Kill A Mockingbird, The 10 Commandments

5) Maurice Jarre I am not entirely sure whether he has retired but if so I do hope that he can be lured back occasionally. While sometimes having tendencies to overscore certain scenes he is unbeatable when he is inspired by the picture. In my opinion the scene in Passage to India where Judy Davis discovers the jungle temple is the finest single moment in movie history as far as the scoring is concerned. Favourite Scores: Passage To India, Ryan's Daughter

6) Christopher Young One of the few composers with the ability to surprise (though usually not on his much too rare mainstream movies). Most effective are his more atonal scores. Favourite scores: Hellbound - Hellraiser 2, The Fly 2

7) Randy Newman Hardly the most versatile composer but highly effective for the few films he chooses. I rather suspect that he picks his assignments whether they fit his style instead of doing it the other way round as most composers do. In that respect I would really like to hear his score for Air Force One which is completely at odds with the kind of picture he usually does. In my opinion his score for Avalon is the best one of the 90s adding tremendous poignancy to what I consider the most underrated film of the decade.

8) Bruce Broughton Along with Williams and Goldsmith Broughton has the finest sense of melody. As good as his smaller scores are (and they are very good) there are few who can match him in writing some really rousing music. Favourite scores: Young Sherlock Holmes, Tombstone

9) Alan Silvestri There was a time when he only wrote good scores for Robert Zemeckis but by now the overall quality has improved. While still a lot of his stuff is mediocre there are quite a few gems to be found. Favourite scores: The Abyss, Forrest Gump

10) Alan Menken All right, the guy only writes for Disney movies even though I consider him capable of much more. Still in his chosen field there is nobody that can reach him (as can be witnessed by the rather bland songs by Elton John or Matthew Wilder for The Lion King and Mulan). While having a distinct style of his own he nevertheless captures perfectly the different times and locales of the story. When collaborating with a lyricist of the calibre of Howard Ashman or Stephen Schwartz the songs advance the action (or become part of it) instead of stopping it to sell some hit tunes (until the end credits start - that's when Disney wants to cash in). His background scores also work very well making the films more of an experience than an ordinary cartoon.

Well, that concludes my very subjective list which is likely to change any minute (probably when I start listening to a CD of someone who just missed the list).

I know it is not what you wanted but while I'm at it I also give you a list of my favourite composers of all time:

1) Bernard Herrmann, 2) Miklós Rózsa, 3) Dimitri Tiomkin, 4) Max Steiner, 5) Erich Wolfgang Korngold, 6) Alfred Newman, 7) John Williams, 8) Elmer Bernstein, 9) Franz Waxman, 10) Alex North

This is my list in response to the Top 10 of 7-2-98. (Living)

BERNARD HERRMANN: OK, so he is dead, but his music still gives me chills. A superb craftsman and the epitome of the Hollywood sound. Wonderfully adventurist in his orchestrations, and one of the few Hollywood composers whose music can live off of the screen as well. One of the best composers of the 20th century. Best Work: Vertigo, Citizen Cane, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Taxi Driver, North by Northwest, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Psycho.

1. JOHN WILLIAMS: My consideration as one of the best composers of the 20th century. Not only is his music structurally sound and harmonically complex (or deceptively simple), his craftmanship is unmatched. One of the few composers whose music has become part of the culture itself. Also one of the few composers who can do a Jurassic Park, and then turn around and do a Schindler's List. Extrordinary. Best work: Star Wars, Close Encounters, Schindler's List, ET, Seven Years in Tibet.

2. JERRY GOLDSMITH: A very close second to Williams. Goldsmith's orchestrations are extrordinary and his sound is unique. Is also one of the few composers (including Williams) to write in many different styles, including non-pitch-centered concert works. One of the only Hollywood composers I know of who has written and oratorio. Superb. Best Work: Star Trek TMP, The Omen, Poltergeist, Alien, Patton.

3.ELMER BERNSTEIN: The grandfather of hollywood film composers. Can do it all. Wonderfully eclectic and inspiring. His style ranges from the epic to the intimate. Best Work: Magnificent Seven, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Man With the Golden Arm.

4. ENNIO MORRICONE: A truly gifted writer. Like the gentlemen listed above, has given a sound to different style of movies. Best Work: The Mission, The Untouchables, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

5. ALAN SILVESTRI: A gifted writer who has done a lot of different styles also. His work as of late has been sparse, but the work he has done is top-notch. Best Work: Back to the Future, The Abyss, Contact, Forrest Gump.

6. BASIL POLEDOURIS: One of the most under-appreciated composers in Hollywood. He has been type-cast into certain types of films and in my opinion deserves far more credit than he has been given. Best Work: The Hunt for Red October, Lonesome Dove, Conan the Barbarian, The Blue Lagoon.

7. HOWARD SHORE: A gifted writer of moody music. Subtle and colorful, his work best describes the inner workings of human emotions. Best Work: Copland, Philadelphia, The Fly, The Silence of the Lambs.

8. DANNY ELFMAN: A wonderfully dark yet humorous writer with a definite sound. At home with darker imagery, although his dramatic work is worth mentioning, it is not his style. Best Work: Batman, Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas.

9. BRUCE BROUGHTON: A writer as gifted as Goldsmith or Williams, but does not have the film background he deserves. Colorful and emotional. Best Work: Silverado, Young Sherlock Holmes, Tombstone.

10. PATRICK DOYLE: A brilliantly lyrical writer at home with intimate portrates of the human exsistance. One of the finest film scorers to come from Britain. Best Work: Henry V, Dead Again, Hamlet.

HONORABLE MENTION: John Barry, Micheal Kamen, The Newman Bros., Randy Newman, Trevor Jones, David Arnold.

FIRST AND LAST TIME HE WILL BE MENTIONED: James Horner. He can sure write other peoples music...

From: "Thomas M. Arentz" <tma114@psu.edu>

Subject: Top Ten Reasons to Dislike Top Ten Composer Lists

10. God, this idea is so original! (nb - to be read with great sarcasm)

9. Everyone always agrees with all the choices! (again, with sarcasm)

8. Everyone includes Goldsmith, Horner and Williams, so why not do a Top 7?

7. This gives us a chance to re-open the Horner debate.

6. "How dare you leave [insert composer name here] off your list?"

5. "How can you put [insert composer name here] on your list?"

4. No room for Top Ten Orchestrator List (they're people, too!)

3. George S. Clinton was not mentioned in today's column.

2. Too easy to make columns out of.

1. People like me come up with smart-ass reponses to lists like this.

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