John Farr, at bestmoviesbyfarr.com, has compiled his personal list of ten composers who he feels wrote the most memorable scores of the 15 years from 1959-1974. He chooses this period somewhat arbitrarily, claiming that the most evocative use of music in the past quarter century has taken the form of soundtracks (American Graffiti, Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction).
- 1.) Bernard Herrmann, “North By Northwest” (1959) / “Psycho” (1960)
- 2.) Elmer Bernstein, “The Magnificent Seven” (1961)
- 3.) Henry Mancini, “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” (1961) / “The Pink Panther” (1964)
- 4.) Maurice Jarre, “Lawrence Of Arabia” (1962)/ “Doctor Zhivago” (1965)
- 5.) John Barry, “Dr. No” (1962) / “Goldfinger” (1964)
- 6.) Francis Lai, “A Man And A Woman” (1966)
- 7.) Ennio Morricone, “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” (1967)
- 8.) Michel Legrand, “The Thomas Crown Affair” (1968)
- 9.) Burt Bacharach, “Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid” (1969)
- 10.) Nino Rota, “The Godfather” (1972) / “The Godfather, Part II” (1974)
Nice list, but it leaves a lot of room for expansion to other decades. Focusing on the past 20 years, I’d include Thomas Newman, Carter Burwell, Howard Shore, Michael Nyman, Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, Philip Glass, Alexander Desplat, Patrick Doyle and of course, John Williams. I know, I picked the obvious ones, but that’s a solid start for a list of Top 20 composers of the past 20 years. Who else belongs on that list?