Composers

1. Jorge Arriagada

One of the most prolific and versatile score composers in the history of contemporary cinema, known for his essential contribution to the films of Chilean director Raúl Ruiz. Their French debut Dog's Dialogue (1977) won a Cesar for best short film, launching them as what has become the most ...

2. Eduard Artemyev

Composer | 12

Eduard Artemyev is a Soviet and Russian composer. He is widely known as the author of music for films by Andrei Tarkovsky, Andrey Konchalovskiy and Nikita Mikhalkov.

Artemyev was born in Novosibirsk. He received his primary musical education at the Moscow Choir School. Later in 1960 he graduated ...

3. Peer Raben

Soundtrack | 2046

Peer Raben was born on July 3, 1940 in Viechtafell, Viechtach, Bavaria, Germany. He was a composer and actor, known for 2046 (2004), Querelle (1982) and Finding Forrester (2000). He died on January 21, 2007 in Mitterfels, Bavaria, Germany.

4. Jürgen Knieper

Composer | Der Himmel über Berlin

Jürgen Knieper was born on March 14, 1941 in Karlsruhe, Germany. He is a composer and actor, known for Wings of Desire (1987), Wrong Move (1975) and Christiane F. (1981).

5. Alain Goraguer

Soundtrack | Les amours imaginaires

Alain Goraguer was born on August 20, 1931 in Rosny-sous-Bois, Seine-Saint-Denis, France. He was a composer, known for Heartbeats (2010), Two Days in Paris (2007) and Fantastic Planet (1973). He died on February 13, 2023 in Paris, France.

6. Joe Hisaishi

Composer | Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi

Joe Hisaishi was born on December 6, 1950 in Nakano, Japan. He is a composer and director, known for Spirited Away (2001), The Boy and the Heron (2023) and Fireworks (1997). He is married to Ayame Fujisawa . They have one child.

7. Erik Enocksson

Composer | Snabba cash

Erik Enocksson was born on September 2, 1978 in Varberg, Sweden. He is a composer, known for Snabba Cash (2021), The Distant Barking of Dogs (2017) and Falkenberg Farewell (2006).

8. 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,...

9. Popol Vuh

Composer | Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes

Popol Vuh is known for Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), Sightseers (2012) and A Bigger Splash (2015).

10. Angelo Badalamenti

Composer | Mulholland Dr.

Angelo Badalamenti was born on March 22, 1937 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for Mulholland Drive (2001), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) and Lost Highway (1997). He was married to Lonny Irgens. He died on December 11, 2022 in Lincoln Park, New ...

11. Georges Delerue

Composer | Platoon

Georges Delerue was born on March 12, 1925 in Roubaix, Nord, France. He was a composer and actor, known for Platoon (1986), Twins (1988) and The Day of the Dolphin (1973). He was married to Micheline Gautron. He died on March 20, 1992 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

12. Tôru Takemitsu

Composer | Seppuku

Tôru Takemitsu was born on October 8, 1930 in Tokyo, Japan. He was a composer, known for Harakiri (1962), Ran (1985) and Rising Sun (1993). He died on February 20, 1996 in Tokyo, Japan.

13. Ryuichi Sakamoto

Composer | The Last Emperor

Ryuichi Sakamoto was born on January 17, 1952 in Tokyo, Japan. He was a composer and actor, known for The Last Emperor (1987), The Revenant (2015) and Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983). He was married to Akiko Yano. He died on March 28, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan.

14. 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 ...

15. Alberto Iglesias

Composer | La piel que habito

Alberto Iglesias was born in 1955 in Donostia-San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa, País Vasco, Spain. He is a composer and actor, known for The Skin I Live In (2011), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) and The Constant Gardener (2005).

16. Ry Cooder

Soundtrack | Primary Colors

Born in Santa Monica, Ca., Ry Cooder, at the age of four had an accident which left him blind in one eye. He became a bit secluded and began playing the guitar. His biggest influences include Blind Willie Johnson, Arthur "Blind" Blake, Joseph Spence and Curtis Mayfield. Cooder has played on several...

17. Mihály Vig

Composer | Sátántangó

Mihály Vig was born on September 21, 1957 in Budapest, Hungary. He is a composer and actor, known for Satantango (1994), The Long Way Home (2013) and The Turin Horse (2011).

18. Tindersticks

Soundtrack | High Life

Tindersticks is known for High Life (2018), Horns (2013) and The End of the Tour (2015).

19. Nick Cave

Soundtrack | The Proposition

Nick Cave is a man of many talents. Musician. Songwriter. Screenwriter. Novelist. Actor. The Australian was born in Warracknabeal, Victoria in 1957, and would go onto form the alternative rock band Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, who have since successfully released a string of hit albums.

In film, Nick ...

20. Warren Ellis

Soundtrack | The Proposition

Warren Ellis is known for The Proposition (2005), Lawless (2012) and Mustang (2015).

21. Ennio Morricone

Composer | The Hateful Eight

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 ...

22. 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 ...

23. 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. ...

24. Fumio Hayasaka

Composer | Yoidore tenshi

During his roughly 15-year-long career, Fumio Hayasaka composed scores for some of the biggest names in Japanese cinema and was regarded by many as the finest Japanese film composer alive. Many of his scores were written for no less a cinematic luminary than Akira Kurosawa, including the legendary ...

25. Mica Levi

Composer | Under the Skin

Mica Levi is a musician and composer born in Guildford, UK and living in South East London.

She has previously written music for films including Under The Skin (2014, dir. Jonathan Glazer), Jackie (2016, dir. Pablo Larraín), Monos (2018, dir. Alejandro Landes), Zola (2020, dir. Janicza Bravo) and ...

26. Minoru Miki

Composer | Ai no korîda

Minoru Miki was born on March 16, 1930 in Tokushima, Japan. Minoru was a composer and cinematographer, known for In the Realm of the Senses (1976), Karate, the Hand of Death (1961) and Ninomiya Sontoku no shonen jidai (1957). Minoru died on December 8, 2011 in Tokyo, Japan.

27. Wasis Diop

Soundtrack | The Thomas Crown Affair

Wasis Diop is known for The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Silmandé - Tourbillon (1998) and Ndeysaan (2001).

28. 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 ...

29. Maurice Jarre

Composer | Lawrence of Arabia

Unlike many musicians who started to learn music while still in their childhood, Maurice Jarre was already late in his teens when he discovered music and decided to make a career in that field. Against his father's will, he enrolled at Conservatoire de Paris where he studied percussions, ...

30. Isaac Hayes

Actor | Escape from New York

Isaac Hayes, the second-born child of Eula and Isaac Hayes Sr., was raised by his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Willie Wade Sr. The child of a poor family, he grew up picking cotton in Covington, Tennessee. He dropped out of high school, but later his former high-school teachers to get his diploma, ...

31. Max Richter

Soundtrack | Arrival

Max Richter was born on March 22, 1966 in Hamelin, Lower Saxony, West Germany. He is a composer and actor, known for Arrival (2016), The Leftovers (2014) and Ad Astra (2019).

32. Nicholas Britell

Composer | Moonlight

Three-time Academy Award-nominated composer and pianist Nicholas Britell is known for his critically acclaimed scores on feature films with Academy Award winning writer-directors Barry Jenkins and Adam McKay. In 2018, Britell wrote the highly acclaimed score for Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could...

33. Ravi Shankar

Composer | Gandhi

Ravi Shankar was a world-renowned musician, composer, performer, and scholar of classical Indian music. He was one of the leading cultural figures of the twentieth century whose accomplishments placed him as the leading figure of an important musical tradition. His long and distinguished musical ...

34. Maurice Jaubert

Soundtrack | Frances Ha

Maurice Jaubert was born on January 3, 1900 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France. He was a composer and actor, known for Frances Ha (2012), L'Atalante (1934) and Port of Shadows (1938). He was married to Marthe Poidlouë. He died on June 19, 1940 in Azerailles, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France.

35. Shriekback

Soundtrack | Manhunter

Shriekback is known for Manhunter (1986), One Missed Call (2008) and Cruel & Unusual (2014).

36. Shigeru Umebayashi

Composer | 2046

Shigeru Umebayashi was born on February 19, 1951 in Kitakyushu, Japan. He is a composer, known for 2046 (2004), The Grandmaster (2013) and A Single Man (2009).

37. Dun Tan

Composer | Wo hu cang long

Dun Tan was born on August 18, 1957 in Si Mao, Hunan Province, China. He is a composer and producer, known for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Hero (2002) and Fallen (1998).

38. Zbigniew Preisner

Composer | Trois couleurs: Bleu

Born in Poland in 1955, Zbigniew Preisner studied philosophy and history in the university of Cracow. In his twenties he started to study music in a autodidactical way: buying records and learning to write by taking the music in parts. He started to write his own compositions. His style has always ...

39. Frankie Chan

Composer | Chung Hing sam lam

Frankie Chan was born on November 30, 1951 in Hong Kong. He is a composer and actor, known for Chungking Express (1994), Fallen Angels (1995) and Goodbye My Love (1986). He is married to Sheila Chan. They have one child.

40. Philippe Sarde

Composer | Le locataire

Philippe Sarde was born on June 21, 1948 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France. He is a composer and actor, known for The Tenant (1976), Barocco (1976) and Lord of the Flies (1990). He has been married to Clotilde Burrer since 1994. They have two children. He was previously married to Nave ...

41. Pink Floyd

Soundtrack | Tang shan da xiong

Syd Barrett: vocals, guitar (born: Roger Keith Barrett; 6 January, 1946; Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK). In 1968, Syd Barrett left the band. Syd died in July, 2006 at aged 60 from pancreatic cancer.

David Gilmour: vocals, guitar (born: David John Gilmour; 6 March, 1946; Cambridge, ...

42. Bobby Beausoleil

Soundtrack | The Queen of Hollywood Blvd

Bobby Beausoleil was born on November 6, 1947, to a large working-class family living in Santa Barbara, California, and christened Robert Kenneth Beausoleil. His creative output over his lifetime has been overshadowed by his having been an associate of Charles Manson in the late 1960s. He was ...

43. Giorgio Moroder

Soundtrack | Top Gun

Giorgio Moroder was born on April 26, 1940 in Urtijëi, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy. He is a composer and actor, known for Top Gun (1986), Over the Top (1987) and Flashdance (1983).

44. Bruce Smeaton

Composer | Roxanne

Bruce Smeaton was born on March 5, 1938 in Brighton, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He is a composer, known for Roxanne (1987), The Cars That Ate Paris (1974) and Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975).

45. Shôji Yamashiro

Composer | Akira

Shôji Yamashiro was born in 1933 in Tochigi, Japan. He is a composer, known for Akira (1988), I Am God (2017) and Akira: Production Report (1988).

46. 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 ...

47. Giovanni Fusco

Composer | L'avventura

Giovanni Fusco was born on October 10, 1906 in Sant'Agata de' Goti, Campania, Italy. He was a composer and director, known for L'Avventura (1960), Story of a Love Affair (1950) and Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959). He died on May 31, 1968 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

48. Herbie Hancock

Soundtrack | 'Round Midnight

Herbie Hancock is an American actor that was born. Herbert Jeffery Hancock, on April 12, 1940, Chicago, IL. He is best known as a piano player, jazz star, and a composer. He has won many Grammy Awards and has performed with many famous musicians beginning with Miles Davis in the 1960s. He achieved ...

49. Flying Lotus

Soundtrack | V/H/S/99

Flying Lotus was born on October 7, 1983 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a composer and actor, known for V/H/S/99 (2022), Kuso (2017) and Date Night (2010).

50. Giong Lim

Composer | Cike Nie Yin Niang

Lim Giong also known as Lin Chiang, born 7 June 1964 in Changhua, Taiwan) is a musician, artist, DJ, composer, songwriter, music producer, music director and also an actor. He is a leading figure in the Taiwanese experimental electronic music scene.

His musical career began with the release of his ...