Top Composers

1. Ennio Morricone

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 ...

Favorite Music The Trio from The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

2. 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 ...

Favorite Musics 1 - The Fellowship Reunited from The Return of the King 2 - The Grey Havens from The Return of the King 3 - The Funeral Of Theodred from The Two Towers 4 - The Breaking Of The Fellowship from The Fellowship of the Ring 5 - The Battle Of The Pelennor Fields from The Return of the King 6 - The Lighting Of The Beacons from The Return of the King 7 - The Edge Of Night from The Return of the King 8 - Forth Eorlingas from The Two Towers 9 - The Grace Of Undómiel from The Return of the King 10 - A Far Green Country from The Return of the King

3. John Williams

Composer | Jurassic Park

As one of the best known, awarded, and financially successful composers in US history, John Williams is as easy to recall as John Philip Sousa, Aaron Copland or Leonard Bernstein, illustrating why he is "America's composer" time and again. With a massive list of awards that includes over 52 Oscar ...

Favorite Music Binary Sunset from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

4. Ludwig van Beethoven

Soundtrack | Elysium

Beethoven was the child of a Flamian musician family and became a member of the electoral orchestra of Bonn in 1783. In 1787 he studied at Mozart's in Vienna and in 1792 he moved all to Vienna becoming a student of Joseph Haydn. The Vienna High Society loved him as a piano player as well as as ...

Favorite Music Moonlight Sonata

5. James Horner

Music_department | Titanic

James Horner began studying piano at the age of five, and trained at the Royal College of Music in London, England, before moving to California in the 1970s. After receiving a bachelor's degree in music at USC, he would go on to earn his master's degree at UCLA and teach music theory there. He ...

Favorite Music For The Love Of A Princess from Braveheart

6. George Frideric Handel

Soundtrack | Children of Men

Born February 23 1685 in Halle, Germany, he was christened "Georg Friederich Händel" but always signed his name "Georg Friedrich Händel". His father intended for him to go into law, but Händel studied music clandestinely and was eventually allowed to study under an organist. He achieved some ...

Favorite Music Sarabande

7. Ramin Djawadi

Composer | Game of Thrones

Ramin Djawadi is an Iranian-German film score composer known for composing the hit HBO series Game of Thrones and the Marvel films Blade: Trinity, Iron Man and Eternals. He also composed Clash of the Titans, A Wrinkle in Time, Pacific Rim, Westworld, Gears of War 4 and 5, Medal of Honor, Open ...

Favorite Musics 1 - Light of the Seven from Game of Thrones Season 6 2 - The Last Of The Starks from Game of Thrones Season 8 3 - Game of Thrones Main Theme from Game of Thrones Season 1 4 - The Night King from Game of Thrones Season 8 5 - A Lannister Always Pays His Debts from Game of Thrones Season 3

8. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Soundtrack | Amadeus

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart grew up in Salzburg under the regulation of his strict father Leopold who also was a famous composer of his time. His abilities in music were obvious even when Mozart was still young so that in 1762 at the age of six, his father took him with his elder sister on a concert ...

Favorite Music Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

9. Gheorghe Zamfir

Soundtrack | Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Gheorghe Zamfir was born on April 6, 1941 in Gaesti, Romania. He is a composer, known for Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) and The Karate Kid (1984).

Favorite Music Deir Einsame Hirte (The Lonely Shepherd)

10. Hans Zimmer

Composer | Gladiator

German-born composer Hans Zimmer is recognized as one of Hollywood's most innovative musical talents. He featured in the music video for The Buggles' single "Video Killed the Radio Star", which became a worldwide hit and helped usher in a new era of global entertainment as the first music video to ...

Favorite Music Time from Inception

11. Alan Silvestri

Composer | The Polar Express

In his ongoing, decades-long career as a composer, Alan Silvestri has blazed an innovative trail with his exciting and melodic scores, winning the applause of Hollywood and movie audiences the world over. With a credit list of over 100 films Silvestri has composed some of the most recognizable and ...

Favorite Music Avengers Assemble from The Avengers

12. 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, ...

Favorite Music The Journey of Conquest from The Message: The Story of Islam

13. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Soundtrack | Smurfs

Pyotr (Peter) Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born on May 7, 1840, in Votkinsk, Vyatka region, Russia. He was the second of six children (five brothers and one sister). His father, named Ilya Chaikovsky, was a mining business executive in Votkinsk. His father's ancestors were from Ukraine and Poland. His ...

Favorite Music 1812 Overture: Full With Cannons

14. Cahit Berkay

Composer | Melekler Evi

Cahit Berkay was born on August 3, 1946 in Isparta, Turkey. He is a composer and actor, known for Melekler Evi (2000), Kirik Bir Ask Hikayesi (1981) and Mortal World (2018).

Favorite Music What Was Love from The Girl with Red Scarf

15. Danny Elfman

Music_department | The Nightmare Before Christmas

As Danny Elfman was growing up in the Los Angeles area, he was largely unaware of his talent for composing. It wasn't until the early 1970s that Danny and his older brother Richard Elfman started a musical troupe while in Paris; the group "Mystic Knights of Oingo-Boingo" was created for Richard's ...

Favorite Music Spidey from Spider-Man 2

16. Christian Linke

Writer | Arcane: League of Legends

Christian Linke is known for Arcane (2021), Imagine Dragons x J.I.D: Enemy (2021) and Arcane: Bridging the Rift (2022).

17. Johann Strauss

Soundtrack | 2001: A Space Odyssey

Johann Strauss (or Johann Strauss son), one of Austrian music's most famous names who studied music secretly against his father's will, later became the leader of his father's band and the indisputable "waltz king"; his waltz 'On the Beautiful Blue Danube', is the main theme in Stanley Kubrick's ...

18. Clint Mansell

Composer | Black Swan

Clinton Darryl Mansell is an English singer, musician and film composer known for his collaborations with Darren Aronofsky. He composed Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, Black Swan, The Wrestler, Noah, Ghost in the Shell, Peacemaker, Doom Patrol, Loving Vincent, Mass Effect 3, Titans, World ...

19. Frédéric Chopin

Soundtrack | The Avengers

Frédéric François Chopin was born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, on March 1, 1810, in Zelazowa Wola, Masovia region, Duchy of Warsaw, Poland. His father, named Mikolaj (Nicolas) Chopin, was a Frenchman who came to Poland from Lorraine, and eventually became professor at Warsaw Lyceum. His mother, ...

20. Javier Navarrete

Composer | El laberinto del fauno

Javier Navarrete was born in 1956 in Teruel, Aragón, Spain. He is a composer, known for Pan's Labyrinth (2006), Wrath of the Titans (2012) and Byzantium (2012).

21. Antonio Vivaldi

Soundtrack | Runaway Train

Being the son of a violinist Vivaldi started playing the violin himself early in his life. In 1703 he became priest and in 1716 the director of a conservatory of the church in Venice. Being a famous violinist he gave concerts all over Europe also composing a lot of violin concerts and other string ...

22. Nino Rota

Composer | The Godfather

Born in Milan in 1911 into a family of musicians, Nino Rota was first a student of Orefice and Pizzetti. Then, still a child, he moved to Rome where he completed his studies at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in 1929 with Alfredo Casella. In the meantime, he had become an 'enfant prodige', famous...

23. Michael Giacchino

Composer | Star Trek

Michael Giacchino is an American composer of music for films, television and video games.

Giacchino composed the scores to the television series Lost, Alias and Fringe, the video game series Medal of Honor and Call of Duty and many films such as The Incredibles (2004), Star Trek (2009), Up (2009), ...

24. Benjamin Wallfisch

Composer | Blade Runner 2049

Golden Globe, BAFTA, 2x Grammy, Emmy and 5x World Soundtrack Award nominated composer Benjamin Wallfisch has worked on over 80 feature films, collaborating with directors including Ron Howard, Ted Melfi, Andy Muschietti, Christopher Nolan, David F. Sandberg, Leigh Whannell, Gore Verbinski, and ...

25. Hildur Guðnadóttir

Composer | Joker

Hildur Guðnadóttir was born on September 4, 1982 in Iceland. She is a composer, known for Joker (2019), Women Talking (2022) and Tár (2022). She is married to Sam Slater. They have one child.

26. Jamie Christopherson

Composer | American Wrestler: The Wizard

Whether it be writing evocative orchestral music, recording world instruments on location in exotic places or programming cutting-edge modern synths, multi-award-winning composer Jamie Christopherson has built a reputation for consistently delivering unique, fresh and unexpected scores. He ...

27. Evanthia Reboutsika

Composer | Babam ve Oglum

Evanthia Reboutsika was born on November 6, 1958 in Kato Ahaia, Greece. She is a composer, known for My Father and My Son (2005), A Touch of Spice (2003) and Ulak (2008).

28. Johann Sebastian Bach

Soundtrack | Minority Report

Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21, 1685, in Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany, into a large and distinguished family of professional musicians. His father, named Johann Ambrosius Bach, was a violinist and trumpeter, employed by the city of Eisenach. His uncles were church organists, court ...

29. Brian Tyler

Music_department | Avengers: Age of Ultron

Brian Theodore Tyler is an American composer, conductor, arranger and producer known for his film, television and video game scores. In his 24-year career, he has scored Transformers: Prime, Eagle Eye, The Expendables trilogy, Iron Man 3, Avengers: Age of Ultron with Danny Elfman, Now You See Me, ...

30. Dave Porter

Composer | Better Call Saul

Dave Porter is a Los Angeles based composer for film and television. He began his classical musical training at the piano at age five, but it was his interest in electronic music as a teen that led him to start composing his own music. He studied both classical and electronic music composition at ...

31. Klaus Badelt

Composer | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Composer Klaus Badelt started his musical career writing and producing music for dozens of highly successful movies and commercials in his native Germany. In 1998, Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer invited him to move his musical home to Media Ventures in Santa Monica, CA. Since then, Klaus has ...

32. Armando Trovajoli

Soundtrack | Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Armando Trovajoli was born on September 2, 1917 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a composer and actor, known for Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), A Special Day (1977) and Get Smart (2008). He was married to Maria Paola Trovajoli and Pier Angeli. He died on March 1, 2013 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

33. John Powell

Composer | How to Train Your Dragon 2

John Powell was born on September 18, 1963 in London, England, UK. He is a composer, known for How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014), Happy Feet (2006) and Shrek (2001). He was previously married to Melinda Lerner.

34. Henry Jackman

Composer | Captain Phillips

Henry Jackman has established himself as one of today's top composers by fusing his classical training with his experience as a successful record producer and creator of electronic music.

Jackman grew up in the southeast of England, where he began composing his first symphony at the age of six. He ...

35. Don Davis

Composer | The Matrix Reloaded

Donald Davis is an American film composer and conductor who is known for composing the music of The Matrix trilogy, Enter the Matrix, The Animatrix, SeaQuest 2032, the Beauty and the Beast television series and Jurassic Park III. He did orchestration for films composed by James Horner, Randy Newman...

36. Jesper Kyd

Composer | Warhammer 40,000: Darktide

BAFTA award-winning Danish composer Jesper Kyd is one of the most celebrated composers in video games, renowned for his experimental approach to crafting unique soundtracks and creating iconic music for blockbuster video game franchises including Assassin's Creed, Borderlands, Darksiders, Hitman ...

37. Alexandre Desplat

Composer | The King's Speech

Composer and conductor Alexandre Desplat, Oscar winner and seven-time Academy Award nominated, for his prolific filmography and his collaborations with Stephen Frears, Terrence Malick, Ang Lee, Kathryn Bigelow, Jacques Audiard, Wes Anderson, Roman Polanski, George Clooney or Matteo Garrone is one ...

38. Thomas Newman

Music_department | Skyfall

Thomas Newman is an American film score composer. He was born in Los Angeles. His father was notable film score composer Alfred Newman (1900-1970). The Newman family is of Russian-Jewish descent, and includes several other well-known musicians. Thomas' mother Martha Louis Montgomery (1920-2005) ...

39. Steven Price

Composer | Gravity

Steven Price is an Academy Award and Emmy Award-winning composer. In 2014 his groundbreaking score for Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity won him not only the Academy Award but also the BAFTA, the Critics' Choice Award, the Satellite Award, and ASCAP's first-ever Film Composer of The Year Award. He has since...

40. John Carpenter

Writer | The Fog

John Howard Carpenter was born in Carthage, New York, to mother Milton Jean (Carter) and father Howard Ralph Carpenter. His family moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where his father, a professor, was head of the music department at Western Kentucky University. He attended Western Kentucky ...

41. Kelly Bailey

Composer | Half-Life 2

Kelly Bailey is known for Half-Life 2 (2004), Half-Life (1998) and The Orange Box (2007).

42. Marco Beltrami

Composer | I, Robot

Marco Beltrami was born on October 7, 1966 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a composer and producer, known for I, Robot (2004), World War Z (2013) and Knowing (2009).

43. Justin Hurwitz

Soundtrack | La La Land

Justin Hurwitz was born on January 22, 1985 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for La La Land (2016), First Man (2018) and Whiplash (2014).

44. Michael Hunter

Music_department | Grand Theft Auto IV

Michael Hunter is known for Grand Theft Auto IV (2008), At the Movies (2007) and Endorphin 2.7 Crash & Fall (2009).

45. 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 ...

46. Clint Eastwood

Actor | Million Dollar Baby

Clinton Eastwood Jr. was born May 31, 1930 in San Francisco, to Clinton Eastwood Sr., a bond salesman and later manufacturing executive for Georgia-Pacific Corporation, and Ruth Wood (née Margaret Ruth Runner), a housewife turned IBM clerk. He grew up in nearby Piedmont. At school Clint took ...

47. Marcin Przybylowicz

Composer | Wiedzmin 3: Dziki Gon

Marcin Przybylowicz is known for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015), Cyberpunk 2077 (2020) and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (2023).

48. Harry Gregson-Williams

Composer | Shrek

Harry Gregson-Williams is one of Hollywood's most sought-after and prolific composers whose long list of film and television credits underscore the diverse range of his talents. He most recently wrote the music for "The Last Duel" and "House of Gucci" both directed by Ridley Scott. In addition, he ...

49. Rob Dougan

Soundtrack | The Matrix

Rob Dougan is known for The Matrix (1999), The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and 15 Minutes (2001).

50. Gökhan Kirdar

Composer | Anlat Istanbul

Gökhan Kirdar was born on June 2, 1970 in Aydin, Turkey. He is a composer, known for Anlat Istanbul (2005), Valley of the Wolves: Ambush (2007) and The Ambassador's Daughter (2019).