When people around the world think of film, usually it's the Hollywood version that comes to mind. The music of Hollywood films affects the world just as much as the images of the films do. It's impossible to keep track of every composer of every film produced, of course, but there exists a "top 5" handful of composers, simply because of their influence on American culture and film music history, whom everyone should know.
Hands down, the "king" of film music is Alfred Newman. Newman composed during what is referred to as the golden age of film, the time beginning in the 1930's when new technology allowed film and audio recording to develop. For many years, Newman was the music director for 20th Century Fox, and it was Newman who composed the 20th Century Fox fanfare that movie-goers still hear today. By the end of Newman's career, Newman had 200 film scores to his credit, the most famous of which include "The Greatest Story Ever Told", "How the West Was Won", and "Camelot". In addition, Newman earned an unprecedented-and still unbeaten-record of 45 academy award nominations, nine of which he won. Because of this impressive record, numerous composers have been influenced by Newman's music. Newman becomes even more of a film music icon when one considers the fact that Newman had two brothers and an uncle who also scored for film, and that his two sons, Randy Newman and Thomas Newman, are both well-known film composers of the 21st century in their own right. The Newman family thus can be seen as the still-working foundation for film music, with Alfred Newman being the cornerstone.
Newman's far-reaching influence is most recognizable in the second composer on the "top 5" list, John Williams. Williams, the only composer ever to match Newman's record of 45 academy award nominations, actually studied for a time with Newman. His neo-romantic music thus is still largely reminiscent of the golden age era, with most scores (especially those for adventure films) including dramatic, expansive themes. One reason for William's success is his long-time collaboration with producer/director Steven Spielberg, for whom Williams composed over 20 scores. This collaboration resulted in one of Williams' best-known themes-the two-note motive of the shark in the classic film "Jaws". Williams' collaboration with writer/director George Lucas resulted in score for "Star Wars", one of the highest grossing films ever made. The American Film Institute hailed this score as the greatest film score of all time. Most members of the American public, even if they cannot identify John Williams himself, can readily replicate the main melodies from both these movies, which demonstrates the incredible impact Williams has had on the American popular culture over the last several decades.
Third on the "top 5" list is German-born composer Hans Zimmer. A trained ear can immediately recognize the "voice" of Zimmer-there is an incredible lyricism in Zimmer's music that is combined with an uncanny ability to pull all the power possible out of the performing orchestra. Zimmer's place on the list is solidified by the fact that Zimmer now has over 100 film scores to his credit. If the number 7 is lucky, then Zimmer is the luckiest composer alive-he has won 7 Golden Globes, 7 Grammy's, and 7 Oscars, in addition to numerous other awards. Some of Zimmer's best-known film scores include the scores for "The Lion King", "Gladiator", "The Last Samurai", "Batman Begins", and the very recent "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest". Zimmer is currently the mentor in Hollywood music-his studio has produced the new talents of Mark Mancina, Harry Gregson-Williams, and Klaus Badelt.
Fourth on the "top 5" list is James Horner. Horner, with 69 completed films to his credit, is best known for making use of traditional instruments (his score for "Braveheart", for example, featured the bagpipes frequently). However, Horner also makes use of avant-garde techniques, which, when combined with a stirring ability to write passionate themes, places Horner as a leader in the film score world. His greatest financial success came with the box office smash, "Titanic". The soundtrack for that film sold 24 million copies and is second only to the soundtrack for "The Bodyguard" (37 million copies).
The final composer that makes the "top 5" list is Jerry Goldsmith. Like John Williams, Goldsmith was a student of Alfred Newman, who was instrumental in getting Goldsmith into Universal Studios. Goldsmith is notable as a composer for two reasons. First, his use of multiple techniques makes his music less readily identifiable than that of other composers-he is essentially the chameleon of the film music world. His use of digital technology greatly influenced the film music of the 1980's. Secondly, Goldsmith is best known for writing the scores to "The Twilight Zone" series and the "Star Trek" movies. Like the "Jaws" and "Star Wars" themes of Williams, these scores are recognizable by the American public to the point where they represent something other than the film-they represent a part of American culture itself. If a person wants to say how weird something was, for example, humming the 3-note motive from "The Twilight Zone" immediately gets the point across.
Undoubtedly, the film industry will see many more prodigies in the future, but for now, Newman, Williams, Zimmer, Horner, and Goldsmith are the film composers the American public shouldn't miss.
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