Academy Award for Best Original Score

Academy Award for Best Original Score
2023 award winner: Ludwig Göransson
Country	United States
Presented by	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
First awarded	February 27, 1935;89 years ago (1935-02-27)
Most recent winner	Ludwig Göransson Oppenheimer (2023)
Most awards	Alfred Newman (9)
Most nominations	John Williams (48)
Website	oscars.org

The Academy Award for Best Original Score is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer. ^[1] Some pre-existing music is allowed, though, but a contending film must include a minimum of original music. This minimum since 2021 is established as 35% of the music, which is raised to 80% for sequels and franchise films. ^[2] Fifteen scores are shortlisted before nominations are announced.

History

The Academy began awarding movies for their scores in 1935. The category was originally called Best Scoring. At the time, winners and nominees were a mix of original scores and adaptations of pre-existing material. Following the controversial win of Charles Previn for One Hundred Men and a Girl in 1938, a film without a credited composer that featured pre-existing classical music, the Academy added a Best Original Score category in 1939. ^[3] In 1942, the distinction between the two Scoring categories changed slightly as they were renamed to Best Music Score of a Dramatic Picture and Best Scoring of a Musical Picture. ^[4] This marked the first time the category was split into separate genres. From 1942 to 1985, musical scores had their own category, with the exception of 1958, 1981, and 1982. During that time, both categories had many name changes:

1. Non-musical scores Best Music Score of a Dramatic Picture (1942) Best Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (1943–1962) Best Music Score—substantially original (1963–1966) Best Original Music Score (1967–1968) Best Original Score—for a motion picture [not a musical] (1969–1970) Best Original Score (1971, 1976–1995, 2000-today) Best Original Dramatic Score (1972–1975, 1996–1999)

2. Musical scores Best Scoring of a Musical Picture (1942–1962) Best Scoring of Music—adaptation or treatment (1963–1968) Best Score of a Musical Picture—original or adaptation (1969–1970) Best Original Song Score (1971) Best Scoring: Adaptation and Original Song Score (1972–1973) Best Scoring: Original Song Score and Adaptation -or- Scoring: Adaptation (1974–1976) Best Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score (1977–1978) Best Adaptation Score (1979) Best Original Song Score and Its Adaptation -or- Adaptation Score (1980, 1983) Best Original Song Score or Adaptation Score (1984) Best Original Song Score (1985) Best Original Musical or Comedy Score (1996–1999)

Following the wins of four Walt Disney Feature Animation films in six years from 1990 to 1995 ( The Little Mermaid , Beauty and the Beast , Aladdin , and The Lion King ) during a period called the Disney Renaissance, it was decided to once again split the Best Original Score category by genres, this time by combining comedies and musicals together. As Alan Bergman, the chairman of the Academy's music branch said, "People were voting for the songs, not the underscores. We felt that Academy members outside the music branch didn't distinguish between the two. So when a score like The Lion King is competing against a drama like Forrest Gump, it's apples and oranges – not in the quality of the score, but in the way it functions in the movie. There's a big difference." ^[5] The category was therefore split into Best Original Dramatic Score and Best Original Musical or Comedy Score in 1996. This change proved unpopular in the other branches of the Academy as Charles Bernstein, chairman of the Academy's rules committee, noted that "no other Oscar category depended on a film's genre" and "the job of composing an underscore for a romantic comedy is not substantially different from working on a heavy drama." ^[5] This split was reverted in 2000.

In 2020, rules were changed to require that a film's score include a minimum of 60% original music. Franchise films and sequels must include a minimum of 80% new music. ^[6] In 2021, the rules were changed again, lowering the minimum percentage of original music from 60% to 35% of the total music in the film. ^[7]

Academy Award for Best Original Musical

The Academy Award for Best Original Musical is a category that was re-established in 2000 after the Best Original Musical or Comedy Score category was retired. It has never been awarded in its present form due to a prolonged drought of films meeting the sufficient eligibility requirements. The Music Branch Executive Committee of the Academy decides whether there are enough quality submissions to justify its activation. ^[8]

According to the rules, the Best Original Musical is defined as follows:

An original musical consists of not fewer than five original songs by the same writer or team of writers, either used as voiceovers or visually performed. Each of these songs must be substantively rendered, clearly audible, intelligible, and must further the storyline of the motion picture. An arbitrary group of songs unessential to the storyline will not be considered eligible. ^[8]

Winners and nominees

The following is the list of nominated composers organized by year, and listing both films and composers. The years shown in the following list of winners are the production years, thus a reference to 1967 means the Oscars presented in 1968 for films released in 1967.

1930s

Year	Film	Nominees
1934 (7th) [note 1]	One Night of Love	Columbia Studio Music Department, Louis Silvers, head of department (Thematic music by Victor Schertzinger and Gus Kahn)
	The Gay Divorcee	RKO Radio Studio Music Department, Max Steiner, head of department (Score by Kenneth Webb and Sam Hoffenstein)
	The Lost Patrol	RKO Radio Studio Music Department, Steiner, head of department (Score by Steiner)
1935 (8th)
	The Informer	RKO Radio Studio Music Department, Max Steiner, head of department (Score by Steiner)
	Captain Blood (write-in) [note 2] [9]	Warner Bros.-First National Studio Music Department, Leo F. Forbstein, head of department (Score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold)
	Mutiny on the Bounty	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio Music Department, Nat W. Finston, head of department (Score by Herbert Stothart)
	Peter Ibbetson	Paramount Studio Music Department, Irvin Talbot, head of department (Score by Ernst Toch)
1936 (9th)
	Anthony Adverse	Warner Bros. Studio Music Department, Leo F. Forbstein, head of department (Score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold)
	The Charge of the Light Brigade	Warner Bros. Studio Music Department, Forbstein, head of department (Score by Max Steiner)
	The Garden of Allah	Selznick International Pictures Music Department, Steiner, head of department (Score by Steiner)
	The General Died at Dawn	Paramount Studio Music Department, Boris Morros, head of department (Score by Werner Janssen)
	Winterset	RKO Radio Studio Music Department, Nathaniel Shilkret, head of department (Score by Shilkret)
1937 (10th) [note 3]
	One Hundred Men and a Girl	Universal Studio Music Department, Charles Previn, head of department (no composer credit)
	The Hurricane	Samuel Goldwyn Studio Music Department, Alfred Newman, head of department (Score by Newman)
	In Old Chicago	20th Century-Fox Studio Music Department, Louis Silvers, head of department (no composer credit)
	The Life of Emile Zola	Warner Bros. Studio Music Department, Leo F. Forbstein, head of department (Score by Max Steiner)
	Lost Horizon	Columbia Studio Music Department, Morris Stoloff, head of department (Score by Dimitri Tiomkin)
	Make a Wish	Principal Productions, Hugo Riesenfeld, head of department (Score by Riesenfeld)
	Maytime	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio Music Department, Nat W. Finston, head of department (Score by Herbert Stothart)
	Portia on Trial	Republic Studio Music Department, Alberto Colombo, head of department (Score by Colombo)
	The Prisoner of Zenda	Selznick International Pictures Music Department, Alfred Newman, head of department (Score by Newman)
	Quality Street	RKO Radio Studio Music Department, Roy Webb, head of department (Score by Webb)
	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	Walt Disney Studio Music Department, Leigh Harline, head of department (Score by Frank Churchill, Harline and Paul Smith)
	Something to Sing About	Grand National Studio Music Department, Constantin Bakaleinikoff, head of department (Score by Victor Schertzinger)
	Souls at Sea	Paramount Studio Music Department, Boris Morros, head of department (Score by W. Franke Harling and Milan Roder)
	Way Out West	Hal Roach Studio Music Department, Marvin Hatley, head of department (Score by Hatley)
1938 (11th)
	Original Score
	The Adventures of Robin Hood	Erich Wolfgang Korngold
	Army Girl	Victor Young
	Block-Heads	Marvin Hatley
	Blockade	Werner Janssen
	Breaking the Ice	Victor Young
	The Cowboy and the Lady	Alfred Newman
	If I Were King	Richard Hageman
	Marie Antoinette	Herbert Stothart
	Pacific Liner	Russell Bennett
	Suez	Louis Silvers
	The Young in Heart	Franz Waxman
	Scoring
	Alexander's Ragtime Band	Alfred Newman
	Carefree	Victor Baravalle
	Girls' School	Morris Stoloff and Gregory Stone
	The Goldwyn Follies	Alfred Newman
	Jezebel	Max Steiner
	Mad About Music	Charles Previn and Frank Skinner
	Storm Over Bengal	Cy Feuer
	Sweethearts	Herbert Stothart
	There Goes My Heart	Marvin Hatley
	Tropic Holiday	Boris Morros
	The Young in Heart	Franz Waxman
1939 (12th)
	Original Score
	The Wizard of Oz	Herbert Stothart
	Dark Victory	Max Steiner
	Eternally Yours	Werner Janssen
	Golden Boy	Victor Young
	Gone with the Wind	Max Steiner
	Gulliver's Travels	Victor Young
	The Man in the Iron Mask	Lud Gluskin and Lucien Moraweck
	Man of Conquest	Victor Young
	Nurse Edith Cavell	Anthony Collins
	Of Mice and Men	Aaron Copland
	The Rains Came	Alfred Newman
	Wuthering Heights
	Scoring
	Stagecoach	Richard Hageman, W. Franke Harling, John Leipold and Leo Shuken
	Babes in Arms	Roger Edens and Georgie Stoll
	First Love	Charles Previn
	The Great Victor Herbert	Phil Boutelje and Arthur Lange
	The Hunchback of Notre Dame	Alfred Newman
	Intermezzo	Louis Forbes
	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington	Dimitri Tiomkin
	Of Mice and Men	Aaron Copland
	The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex	Erich Wolfgang Korngold
	She Married a Cop	Cy Feuer
	Swanee River	Louis Silvers
	They Shall Have Music	Alfred Newman
	Way Down South	Victor Young

1940s

Year	Film	Nominees
1940 (13th)	Original Score
	Pinocchio	Leigh Harline, Paul Smith and Ned Washington
	Arizona	Victor Young
	Dark Command
	The Fight for Life	Louis Gruenberg
	The Great Dictator	Meredith Willson
	The House of the Seven Gables	Frank Skinner
	The Howards of Virginia	Richard Hageman
	The Letter	Max Steiner
	The Long Voyage Home	Richard Hageman
	The Mark of Zorro	Alfred Newman
	My Favorite Wife	Roy Webb
	North West Mounted Police	Victor Young
	One Million B.C.	Werner Heymann
	Our Town	Aaron Copland
	Rebecca	Franz Waxman
	The Thief of Bagdad	Miklós Rózsa
	Waterloo Bridge	Herbert Stothart
	Scoring
	Tin Pan Alley	Alfred Newman
	Arise, My Love	Victor Young
	Hit Parade of 1941	Cy Feuer
	Irene	Anthony Collins
	Our Town	Aaron Copland
	The Sea Hawk	Erich Wolfgang Korngold
	Second Chorus	Artie Shaw
	Spring Parade	Charles Previn
	Strike Up the Band	Roger Edens and Georgie Stoll
1941 (14th)
	Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
	The Devil and Daniel Webster	Bernard Herrmann
	Back Street	Frank Skinner
	Ball of Fire	Alfred Newman
	Cheers for Miss Bishop	Edward Ward
	Citizen Kane	Bernard Herrmann
	Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde	Franz Waxman
	Hold Back the Dawn	Victor Young
	How Green Was My Valley	Alfred Newman
	King of the Zombies	Edward Kay
	Ladies in Retirement	Morris Stoloff and Ernst Toch
	The Little Foxes	Meredith Willson
	Lydia	Miklós Rózsa
	Mercy Island	Cy Feuer and Walter Scharf
	Sergeant York	Max Steiner
	So Ends Our Night	Louis Gruenberg
	Sundown	Miklós Rózsa
	Suspicion	Franz Waxman
	Tanks a Million	Edward Ward
	That Uncertain Feeling	Werner Heymann
	This Woman Is Mine	Richard Hageman
	Scoring of a Musical Picture
	Dumbo	Frank Churchill and Oliver Wallace
	All-American Co-Ed	Edward Ward
	Birth of the Blues	Robert E. Dolan
	Buck Privates	Charles Previn
	The Chocolate Soldier	Herbert Stothart and Bronisław Kaper
	Ice-Capades	Cy Feuer
	The Strawberry Blonde	Heinz Roemheld
	Sun Valley Serenade	Emil Newman
	Sunny	Anthony Collins
	You'll Never Get Rich	Morris Stoloff
1942 (15th)
	Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
	Now, Voyager	Max Steiner
	Arabian Nights	Frank Skinner
	Bambi	Frank Churchill (p.n.) and Edward Plumb
	The Black Swan	Alfred Newman
	The Corsican Brothers	Dimitri Tiomkin
	Flying Tigers	Victor Young
	The Gold Rush	Max Terr
	I Married a Witch	Roy Webb
	Joan of Paris
	Jungle Book	Miklós Rózsa
	Klondike Fury	Edward Kay
	The Pride of the Yankees	Leigh Harline
	Random Harvest	Herbert Stothart
	The Shanghai Gesture	Richard Hageman
	Silver Queen	Victor Young
	Take a Letter, Darling
	The Talk of the Town	Friedrich Hollaender and Morris Stoloff
	To Be or Not to Be	Werner Heymann
	Scoring of a Musical Picture
	Yankee Doodle Dandy	Ray Heindorf and Heinz Roemheld
	Flying with Music	Edward Ward
	For Me and My Gal	Roger Edens and Georgie Stoll
	Holiday Inn	Robert E. Dolan
	It Started with Eve	Hans J. Salter and Charles Previn
	Johnny Doughboy	Walter Scharf
	My Gal Sal	Alfred Newman
	You Were Never Lovelier	Leigh Harline
1943 (16th)
	Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
	The Song of Bernadette	Alfred Newman
	The Amazing Mrs. Holliday	Frank Skinner and Hans J. Salter
	Casablanca	Max Steiner
	Commandos Strike at Dawn	Morris Stoloff and Louis Gruenberg
	The Fallen Sparrow	Roy Webb and Constantin Bakaleinikoff
	For Whom the Bell Tolls	Victor Young
	Hangmen Also Die!	Hanns Eisler
	Hi Diddle Diddle	Phil Boutelje
	In Old Oklahoma	Walter Scharf
	Johnny Come Lately	Leigh Harline
	The Kansan	Gerard Carbonara
	Lady of Burlesque	Arthur Lange
	Madame Curie	Herbert Stothart
	The Moon and Sixpence	Dimitri Tiomkin
	The North Star	Aaron Copland
	Victory Through Air Power	Edward Plumb, Paul Smith and Oliver Wallace
	Scoring of a Musical Picture
	This Is the Army	Ray Heindorf
	Coney Island	Alfred Newman
	Hit Parade of 1943	Walter Scharf
	Phantom of the Opera	Edward Ward
	Saludos Amigos	Edward Plumb, Paul Smith and Charles Wolcott
	The Sky's the Limit	Leigh Harline
	Something to Shout About	Morris Stoloff
	Stage Door Canteen	Fred Rich
	Star Spangled Rhythm	Robert E. Dolan
	Thousands Cheer	Herbert P. Stothart
1944 (17th)
	Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
	Since You Went Away	Max Steiner
	Address Unknown	Morris Stoloff and Ernst Toch
	The Adventures of Mark Twain	Max Steiner
	The Bridge of San Luis Rey	Dimitri Tiomkin
	Casanova Brown	Arthur Lange
	Christmas Holiday	Hans J. Salter
	Double Indemnity	Miklós Rózsa
	The Fighting Seabees	Walter Scharf and Roy Webb
	The Hairy Ape	Michel Michelet and Edward Paul
	It Happened Tomorrow	Robert Stolz
	Jack London	Fred Rich
	Kismet	Herbert Stothart
	None but the Lonely Heart	Constantin Bakaleinikoff and Hanns Eisler
	The Princess and the Pirate	David Rose
	Summer Storm	Karl Hajos
	Three Russian Girls	Franke Harling
	Up in Mabel's Room	Edward Paul
	Voice in the Wind	Michel Michelet
	Wilson	Alfred Newman
	The Woman of the Town	Miklós Rózsa
	Scoring of a Musical Picture
	Cover Girl	Morris Stoloff and Carmen Dragon
	Brazil	Walter Scharf
	Higher and Higher	Constantin Bakaleinikoff
	Hollywood Canteen	Ray Heindorf
	Irish Eyes Are Smiling	Alfred Newman
	Knickerbocker Holiday	Werner Heymann and Kurt Weill
	Lady in the Dark	Robert Emmett Dolan
	Lady, Let's Dance	Edward Kay
	Meet Me in St. Louis	Georgie Stoll
	The Merry Monahans	Hans J. Salter
	Minstrel Man	Ferde Grofé and Leo Erdody
	Sensations of 1945	Mahlon Merrick
	Song of the Open Road	Charles Previn
	Up in Arms	Louis Forbes and Ray Heindorf
1945 (18th)
	Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
	Spellbound	Miklós Rózsa
	The Bells of St. Mary's	Robert E. Dolan
	Brewster's Millions	Louis Forbes
	Captain Kidd	Werner Janssen
	The Enchanted Cottage	Roy Webb
	Flame of Barbary Coast	Morton Scott and Dale Butts
	G. I. Honeymoon	Edward J. Kay
	G. I. Joe	Louis Applebaum and Ann Ronell
	Guest in the House	Werner Janssen
	Guest Wife	Daniele Amfitheatrof
	The Keys of the Kingdom	Alfred Newman
	The Lost Weekend	Miklós Rózsa
	Love Letters	Victor Young
	The Man Who Walked Alone	Karl Hajos
	Objective, Burma!	Franz Waxman
	Paris Underground	Alexandre Tansman
	A Song to Remember	Miklós Rózsa and Morris Stoloff
	The Southerner	Werner Janssen
	This Love of Ours	Hans J. Salter
	The Valley of Decision	Herbert Stothart
	The Woman in the Window	Arthur Lange and Hugo Friedhofer
	Scoring of a Musical Picture
	Anchors Aweigh	Georgie Stoll
	Belle of the Yukon	Arthur Lange
	Can't Help Singing	Jerome Kern (p.n.) and Hans J. Salter
	Hitchhike to Happiness	Morton Scott
	Incendiary Blonde	Robert E. Dolan
	Rhapsody in Blue	Ray Heindorf and Max Steiner
	State Fair	Alfred Newman and Charles Henderson
	Sunbonnet Sue	Edward J. Kay
	The Three Caballeros	Edward Plumb, Paul Smith and Charles Wolcott
	Tonight and Every Night	Marlin Skiles and Morris Stoloff
	Why Girls Leave Home	Walter Greene
	Wonder Man	Louis Forbes and Ray Heindorf
1946 (19th)
	Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
	The Best Years of Our Lives	Hugo Friedhofer
	Anna and the King of Siam	Bernard Herrmann
	Henry V	William Walton
	Humoresque	Franz Waxman
	The Killers	Miklós Rózsa
	Scoring of a Musical Picture
	The Jolson Story	Morris Stoloff
	Blue Skies	Robert Emmett Dolan
	Centennial Summer	Alfred Newman
	The Harvey Girls	Lennie Hayton
	Night and Day	Ray Heindorf and Max Steiner
1947 (20th)
	Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
	A Double Life	Miklós Rózsa
	The Bishop's Wife	Hugo Friedhofer
	Captain from Castile	Alfred Newman
	Forever Amber	David Raksin
	Life with Father	Max Steiner
	Scoring of a Musical Picture
	Mother Wore Tights	Alfred Newman
	Fiesta	Johnny Green
	My Wild Irish Rose	Ray Heindorf and Max Steiner
	Road to Rio	Robert Emmett Dolan
	Song of the South	Daniele Amfitheatrof, Paul Smith and Charles Wolcott
1948 (21st)
	Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
	The Red Shoes	Brian Easdale
	Hamlet	William Walton
	Joan of Arc	Hugo Friedhofer
	Johnny Belinda	Max Steiner
	The Snake Pit	Alfred Newman
	Scoring of a Musical Picture
	Easter Parade	Johnny Green and Roger Edens
	The Emperor Waltz	Victor Young
	The Pirate	Lennie Hayton
	Romance on the High Seas	Ray Heindorf
	When My Baby Smiles at Me	Alfred Newman
1949 (22nd)
	Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
	The Heiress	Aaron Copland
	Beyond the Forest	Max Steiner
	Champion	Dimitri Tiomkin
	Scoring of a Musical Picture
	On the Town	Roger Edens and Lennie Hayton
	Jolson Sings Again	Morris Stoloff and George Duning
	Look for the Silver Lining	Ray Heindorf

1950s

Year	Film	Nominees
1950 (23rd)	Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
	Sunset Boulevard	Franz Waxman
	All About Eve	Alfred Newman
	The Flame and the Arrow	Max Steiner
	No Sad Songs for Me	George Duning
	Samson and Delilah	Victor Young
	Scoring of a Musical Picture
	Annie Get Your Gun	Adolph Deutsch and Roger Edens
	Cinderella	Paul Smith and Oliver Wallace
	I'll Get By	Lionel Newman
	Three Little Words	André Previn
	The West Point Story	Ray Heindorf
1951 (24th)
	Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
	A Place in the Sun	Franz Waxman
	David and Bathsheba	Alfred Newman
	Death of a Salesman	Alex North
	Quo Vadis	Miklós Rózsa
	A Streetcar Named Desire	Alex North
	Scoring of a Musical Picture
	An American in Paris	Saul Chaplin and Johnny Green
	Alice in Wonderland	Oliver Wallace
	The Great Caruso	Peter Herman Adler and Johnny Green
	On the Riviera	Alfred Newman
	Show Boat	Adolph Deutsch and Conrad Salinger
1952 (25th)
	Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
	High Noon	Dimitri Tiomkin
	Ivanhoe	Miklós Rózsa
	The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima	Max Steiner
	The Thief	Herschel Burke Gilbert
	Viva Zapata!	Alex North
	Scoring of a Musical Picture
	With a Song in My Heart	Alfred Newman
	Hans Christian Andersen	Walter Scharf
	The Jazz Singer	Ray Heindorf and Max Steiner
	The Medium	Gian Carlo Menotti
	Singin' in the Rain	Lennie Hayton
1953 (26th)
	Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
	Lili	Bronisław Kaper
	Above and Beyond	Hugo Friedhofer
	From Here to Eternity	George Duning and Morris Stoloff
	Julius Caesar	Miklós Rózsa
	This Is Cinerama	Louis Forbes
	Scoring of a Musical Picture
	Call Me Madam	Alfred Newman
	The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.	Friedrich Hollaender and Morris Stoloff
	The Band Wagon	Adolph Deutsch
	Calamity Jane	Ray Heindorf
	Kiss Me Kate	Saul Chaplin and André Previn
1954 (27th)
	Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
	The High and the Mighty	Dimitri Tiomkin
	The Caine Mutiny	Max Steiner
	Genevieve	Larry Adler [note 4]
	On the Waterfront	Leonard Bernstein
	The Silver Chalice	Franz Waxman
	Scoring of a Musical Picture
	Seven Brides for Seven Brothers	Saul Chaplin and Adolph Deutsch
	Carmen Jones	Herschel Burke Gilbert
	The Glenn Miller Story	Joseph Gershenson and Henry Mancini
	A Star Is Born	Ray Heindorf
	There's No Business Like Show Business	Alfred Newman and Lionel Newman
1955 (28th)
	Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
	Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing	Alfred Newman
	Battle Cry	Max Steiner
	The Man with the Golden Arm	Elmer Bernstein
	Picnic	George Duning
	The Rose Tattoo	Alex North
	Scoring of a Musical Picture
	Oklahoma!	Robert Russell Bennett, Jay Blackton and Adolph Deutsch
	Daddy Long Legs	Alfred Newman
	Guys and Dolls	Jay Blackton and Cyril J. Mockridge
	It's Always Fair Weather	André Previn
	Love Me or Leave Me	Percy Faith and Georgie Stoll
1956 (29th)
	Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
	Around the World in 80 Days	Victor Young (p.r.)
	Anastasia	Alfred Newman
	Between Heaven and Hell	Hugo Friedhofer
	Giant	Dimitri Tiomkin
	The Rainmaker	Alex North
	Scoring of a Musical Picture
	The King and I	Ken Darby and Newman
	The Best Things in Life Are Free	Lionel Newman
	The Eddy Duchin Story	George Duning and Morris Stoloff
	High Society	Saul Chaplin and Johnny Green
	Meet Me in Las Vegas	Johnny Green and Georgie Stoll
1957 (30th) [note 5] [10]
	The Bridge on the River Kwai	Malcolm Arnold
	An Affair to Remember	Hugo Friedhofer
	Boy on a Dolphin
	Perri	Paul Smith
	Raintree County	Johnny Green
1958 (31st)
	Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
	The Old Man and the Sea	Dimitri Tiomkin
	The Big Country	Jerome Moross
	Separate Tables	David Raksin
	White Wilderness	Oliver Wallace
	The Young Lions	Hugo Friedhofer
	Scoring of a Musical Picture
	Gigi	André Previn
	The Bolshoi Ballet	Yuri Fayer and Gennady Rozhdestvensky
	Damn Yankees	Ray Heindorf
	Mardi Gras	Lionel Newman
	South Pacific	Ken Darby and Alfred Newman
1959 (32nd)
	Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
	Ben-Hur	Miklós Rózsa
	The Diary of Anne Frank	Alfred Newman
	The Nun's Story	Franz Waxman
	On the Beach	Ernest Gold
	Pillow Talk	Frank De Vol
	Scoring of a Musical Picture
	Porgy and Bess	Ken Darby and André Previn
	The Five Pennies	Leith Stevens
	Li'l Abner	Joseph J. Lilley and Nelson Riddle
	Say One for Me	Lionel Newman
	Sleeping Beauty	George Bruns

1960s

Year	Film	Nominees
1960 (33rd)	Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
	Exodus	Ernest Gold
	The Alamo	Dimitri Tiomkin
	Elmer Gantry	André Previn
	The Magnificent Seven	Elmer Bernstein
	Spartacus	Alex North
	Scoring of a Musical Picture
	Song Without End	Morris Stoloff and Harry Sukman
	Bells Are Ringing	André Previn
	Can-Can	Nelson Riddle
	Let's Make Love	Earle Hagen and Lionel Newman
	Pepe	Johnny Green
1961 (34th)
	Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
	Breakfast at Tiffany's	Henry Mancini
	El Cid	Miklós Rózsa
	Fanny	Morris Stoloff and Harry Sukman
	The Guns of Navarone	Dimitri Tiomkin
	Summer and Smoke	Elmer Bernstein
	Scoring of a Musical Picture
	West Side Story	Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Irwin Kostal and Sid Ramin
	Babes in Toyland	George Bruns
	Flower Drum Song	Alfred Newman and Ken Darby
	Khovanshchina	Dmitri Shostakovich
	Paris Blues	Duke Ellington
1962 (35th)
	Music Score — Substantially Original
	Lawrence of Arabia	Maurice Jarre
	Freud	Jerry Goldsmith
	Mutiny on the Bounty	Bronisław Kaper
	Taras Bulba	Franz Waxman
	To Kill a Mockingbird	Elmer Bernstein
	Scoring of Music — Adaptation or Treatment
	The Music Man	Ray Heindorf
	Billy Rose's Jumbo	Georgie Stoll
	Gigot	Michel Magne
	Gypsy	Frank Perkins
	The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm	Leigh Harline
1963 (36th)
	Music Score — Substantially Original
	Tom Jones	John Addison
	55 Days at Peking	Dimitri Tiomkin
	Cleopatra	Alex North
	How the West Was Won	Alfred Newman and Ken Darby
	It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World	Ernest Gold
	Scoring of Music — Adaptation or Treatment
	Irma la Douce	André Previn
	Bye Bye Birdie	Johnny Green
	A New Kind of Love	Leith Stevens
	Sundays and Cybele	Maurice Jarre
	The Sword in the Stone	George Bruns
1964 (37th)
	Music Score — Substantially Original
	Mary Poppins	Sherman Brothers
	Becket	Laurence Rosenthal
	The Fall of the Roman Empire	Dimitri Tiomkin
	Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte	Frank De Vol
	The Pink Panther	Henry Mancini
	Scoring of Music — Adaptation or Treatment
	My Fair Lady	André Previn
	A Hard Day's Night	George Martin
	Mary Poppins	Irwin Kostal
	Robin and the 7 Hoods	Nelson Riddle
	The Unsinkable Molly Brown	Robert Armbruster, Leo Arnaud, Jack Elliott, Jack Hayes, Calvin Jackson and Leo Shuken
1965 (38th)
	Music Score — Substantially Original
	Doctor Zhivago	Maurice Jarre
	The Agony and the Ecstasy	Alex North
	The Greatest Story Ever Told	Alfred Newman
	A Patch of Blue	Jerry Goldsmith
	The Umbrellas of Cherbourg	Jacques Demy and Michel Legrand
	Scoring of Music — Adaptation or Treatment
	The Sound of Music	Irwin Kostal
	Cat Ballou	Frank De Vol
	The Pleasure Seekers	Sandy Courage and Lionel Newman
	A Thousand Clowns	Don Walker
	The Umbrellas of Cherbourg	Michel Legrand
1966 (39th)
	Original Music Score
	Born Free	John Barry
	The Bible: In the Beginning...	Toshiro Mayuzumi
	Hawaii	Elmer Bernstein
	The Sand Pebbles	Jerry Goldsmith
	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	Alex North
	Scoring of Music — Adaptation or Treatment
	A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum	Ken Thorne
	The Gospel According to St. Matthew	Luis Bacalov
	Return of the Seven	Elmer Bernstein
	The Singing Nun	Harry Sukman
	Stop the World – I Want to Get Off	Al Ham
1967 (40th)
	Original Music Score
	Thoroughly Modern Millie	Elmer Bernstein
	Cool Hand Luke	Lalo Schifrin
	Doctor Dolittle	Leslie Bricusse
	Far from the Madding Crowd	Richard Rodney Bennett
	In Cold Blood	Quincy Jones
	Scoring of Music — Adaptation or Treatment
	Camelot	Ken Darby and Alfred Newman
	Doctor Dolittle	Sandy Courage and Lionel Newman
	Guess Who's Coming to Dinner	Frank De Vol
	Thoroughly Modern Millie	Joseph Gershenson and André Previn
	Valley of the Dolls	John Williams
1968 (41st)
	Original Score — For a Motion Picture (Not a Musical)
	The Lion in Winter	John Barry
	The Fox	Lalo Schifrin
	Planet of the Apes	Jerry Goldsmith
	The Shoes of the Fisherman	Alex North
	The Thomas Crown Affair	Michel Legrand
	Scoring of a Musical Picture — Original or Adaptation
	Oliver!	Johnny Green (adaptation score)
	Finian's Rainbow	Ray Heindorf (adaptation score)
	Funny Girl	Walter Scharf (adaptation score)
	Star!	Lennie Hayton (adaptation score)
	The Young Girls of Rochefort	Michel Legrand (music and adaptation score) and Jacques Demy (lyrics)
1969 (42nd)
	Original Score — For a Motion Picture (Not a Musical)
	Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid	Burt Bacharach
	Anne of the Thousand Days	Georges Delerue
	The Reivers	John Williams
	The Secret of Santa Vittoria	Ernest Gold
	The Wild Bunch	Jerry Fielding
	Scoring of a Musical Picture — Original or Adaptation
	Hello, Dolly!	Lennie Hayton and Lionel Newman (adaptation score)
	Goodbye, Mr. Chips	Leslie Bricusse (music and lyrics) and John Williams (adaptation score)
	Paint Your Wagon	Nelson Riddle (adaptation score)
	Sweet Charity	Cy Coleman (adaptation score)
	They Shoot Horses, Don't They?	Johnny Green and Albert Woodbury (adaptation score)

1970s

Year	Film	Nominees
1970 (43rd)	Original Score
	Love Story	Francis Lai
	Airport	Alfred Newman (p.n.)
	Cromwell	Frank Cordell
	Patton	Jerry Goldsmith
	Sunflower	Henry Mancini
	Original Song Score
	Let It Be	The Beatles (music and lyrics)
	The Baby Maker	Fred Karlin (music) and Tylwyth Kymry (lyrics)
	A Boy Named Charlie Brown	Rod McKuen (music and lyrics), John Scott Trotter (music), Bill Melendez, Al Shean (lyrics), Vince Guaraldi (adaptation score)
	Darling Lili	Henry Mancini (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics)
	Scrooge	Leslie Bricusse (music and lyrics), Ian Fraser and Herbert W. Spencer (adaptation score)
1971 (44th)
	Original Dramatic Score
	Summer of '42	Michel Legrand
	Mary, Queen of Scots	John Barry
	Nicholas and Alexandra	Richard Rodney Bennett
	Shaft	Isaac Hayes
	Straw Dogs	Jerry Fielding
	Scoring: Adaptation and Original Song Score
	Fiddler on the Roof	John Williams (adaptation score)
	Bedknobs and Broomsticks	Sherman Brothers (song score) and Irwin Kostal (adaptation score)
	The Boy Friend	Peter Maxwell Davies and Peter Greenwell (adaptation score)
	Tchaikovsky	Dimitri Tiomkin (adaptation score)
	Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory	Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley (song score) and Walter Scharf (adaptation score)
1972 (45th)
	Original Dramatic Score
	Limelight [note 6]	Charlie Chaplin, Raymond Rasch (p.r.) and Larry Russell (p.r.)
	The Godfather (nomination revoked) [note 7] [11]	Nino Rota
	Images	John Williams
	Napoleon and Samantha	Buddy Baker
	The Poseidon Adventure	John Williams
	Sleuth	John Addison
	Scoring: Adaptation and Original Song Score
	Cabaret	Ralph Burns (adaptation score)
	Lady Sings the Blues	Gil Askey (adaptation score)
	Man of La Mancha	Laurence Rosenthal (adaptation score)
1973 (46th)
	Original Dramatic Score
	The Way We Were	Marvin Hamlisch
	Cinderella Liberty	John Williams
	The Day of the Dolphin	Georges Delerue
	Papillon	Jerry Goldsmith
	A Touch of Class	John Cameron
	Scoring: Original Song Score and Adaptation or Scoring: Adaptation
	The Sting	Marvin Hamlisch (adaptation score)
	Jesus Christ Superstar	André Previn, Herbert W. Spencer and Andrew Lloyd Webber (adaptation score)
	Tom Sawyer	Sherman Brothers (song score) and John Williams (adaptation score)
1974 (47th)
	Original Dramatic Score
	The Godfather Part II	Nino Rota and Carmine Coppola
	Chinatown	Jerry Goldsmith
	Murder on the Orient Express	Richard Rodney Bennett
	Shanks	Alex North
	The Towering Inferno	John Williams
	Scoring: Original Song Score and Adaptation or Scoring: Adaptation
	The Great Gatsby	Nelson Riddle (adaptation score)
	The Little Prince	Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe (song score), Douglas Gamley and Angela Morley (adaptation score)
	Phantom of the Paradise	Paul Williams (song and adaptation score) and George Tipton (adaptation score)
1975 (48th)
	Original Score
	Jaws	John Williams
	Birds Do It, Bees Do It	Gerald Fried
	Bite the Bullet	Alex North
	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest	Jack Nitzsche
	The Wind and the Lion	Jerry Goldsmith
	Scoring: Original Song Score and Adaptation or Scoring: Adaptation
	Barry Lyndon	Leonard Rosenman (adaptation score)
	Funny Lady	Peter Matz (adaptation score)
	Tommy	Pete Townshend (adaptation score)
1976 (49th)
	Original Score
	The Omen	Jerry Goldsmith
	Obsession	Bernard Herrmann (p.n.)
	The Outlaw Josey Wales	Jerry Fielding
	Taxi Driver	Bernard Herrmann (p.n.)
	Voyage of the Damned	Lalo Schifrin
	Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score
	Bound for Glory	Leonard Rosenman (adaptation score)
	Bugsy Malone	Paul Williams (song and adaptation score)
	A Star Is Born	Roger Kellaway (adaptation score)
1977 (50th)
	Original Score
	Star Wars	John Williams
	Close Encounters of the Third Kind	John Williams
	Julia	Georges Delerue
	Mohammad, Messenger of God	Maurice Jarre
	The Spy Who Loved Me	Marvin Hamlisch
	Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score
	A Little Night Music	Jonathan Tunick (adaptation score)
	Pete's Dragon	Joel Hirschhorn and Al Kasha (song score) and Irwin Kostal (adaptation score)
	The Slipper and the Rose	Sherman Brothers (song score) and Angela Morley (adaptation score)
1978 (51st)
	Original Score
	Midnight Express	Giorgio Moroder
	The Boys from Brazil	Jerry Goldsmith
	Days of Heaven	Ennio Morricone
	Heaven Can Wait	Dave Grusin
	Superman	John Williams
	Adaptation Score
	The Buddy Holly Story	Joe Renzetti
	Pretty Baby	Jerry Wexler
	The Wiz	Quincy Jones
1979 (52nd)
	Original Score
	A Little Romance	Georges Delerue
	10	Henry Mancini
	The Amityville Horror	Lalo Schifrin
	The Champ	Dave Grusin
	Star Trek: The Motion Picture	Jerry Goldsmith
	Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score
	All That Jazz	Ralph Burns (adaptation score)
	Breaking Away	Patrick Williams (adaptation score)
	The Muppet Movie	Paul Williams (song and adaptation score) and Kenny Ascher (song score)

1980s

Year	Film	Nominees
1980 (53rd)	Fame	Michael Gore
	Altered States	John Corigliano
	The Elephant Man	John Morris
	The Empire Strikes Back	John Williams
	Tess	Philippe Sarde
1981 (54th)
	Chariots of Fire	Vangelis
	Dragonslayer	Alex North
	On Golden Pond	Dave Grusin
	Ragtime	Randy Newman
	Raiders of the Lost Ark	John Williams
1982 (55th)
	Original Score
	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial	John Williams
	Gandhi	George Fenton and Ravi Shankar
	An Officer and a Gentleman	Jack Nitzsche
	Poltergeist	Jerry Goldsmith
	Sophie's Choice	Marvin Hamlisch
	Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score
	Victor/Victoria	Henry Mancini (song and adaptation score) and Leslie Bricusse (song score)
	Annie	Ralph Burns (adaptation score)
	One from the Heart	Tom Waits (song score)
1983 (56th)
	Original Score
	The Right Stuff	Bill Conti
	Cross Creek	Leonard Rosenman
	Return of the Jedi	John Williams
	Terms of Endearment	Michael Gore
	Under Fire	Jerry Goldsmith
	Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score
	Yentl	Michel Legrand (song and adaptation score) and Alan and Marilyn Bergman (song score)
	The Sting II	Lalo Schifrin (adaptation score)
	Trading Places	Elmer Bernstein (adaptation score)
1984 (57th)
	Original Score
	A Passage to India	Maurice Jarre
	Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom	John Williams
	The Natural	Randy Newman
	The River	John Williams
	Under the Volcano	Alex North
	Original Song Score
	Purple Rain	Prince
	The Muppets Take Manhattan	Jeff Moss
	Songwriter	Kris Kristofferson
1985 (58th)
	Out of Africa	John Barry
	Agnes of God	Georges Delerue
	The Color Purple	Chris Boardman, Jorge Calandrelli, Andraé Crouch, Jack Hayes, Jerry Hey, Quincy Jones, Randy Kerber, Jeremy Lubbock, Joel Rosenbaum, Caiphus Semenya, Fred Steiner and Rod Temperton
	Silverado	Bruce Broughton
	Witness	Maurice Jarre
1986 (59th)
	Round Midnight	Herbie Hancock
	Aliens	James Horner
	Hoosiers	Jerry Goldsmith
	The Mission	Ennio Morricone
	Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home	Leonard Rosenman
1987 (60th)
	The Last Emperor	Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne and Cong Su
	Cry Freedom	George Fenton and Jonas Gwangwa
	Empire of the Sun	John Williams
	The Untouchables	Ennio Morricone
	The Witches of Eastwick	John Williams
1988 (61st)
	The Milagro Beanfield War	Dave Grusin
	The Accidental Tourist	John Williams
	Dangerous Liaisons	George Fenton
	Gorillas in the Mist	Maurice Jarre
	Rain Man	Hans Zimmer
1989 (62nd)
	The Little Mermaid	Alan Menken
	Born on the Fourth of July	John Williams
	The Fabulous Baker Boys	Dave Grusin
	Field of Dreams	James Horner
	Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade	John Williams

1990s

Year	Film	Nominees
1990 (63rd)	Dances with Wolves	John Barry
	Avalon	Randy Newman
	Ghost	Maurice Jarre
	Havana	Dave Grusin
	Home Alone	John Williams
1991 (64th)
	Beauty and the Beast	Alan Menken
	Bugsy	Ennio Morricone
	The Fisher King	George Fenton
	JFK	John Williams
	The Prince of Tides	James Newton Howard
1992 (65th)
	Aladdin	Alan Menken
	Basic Instinct	Jerry Goldsmith
	Chaplin	John Barry
	Howards End	Richard Robbins
	A River Runs Through It	Mark Isham
1993 (66th)
	Schindler's List	John Williams
	The Age of Innocence	Elmer Bernstein
	The Firm	Dave Grusin
	The Fugitive	James Newton Howard
	The Remains of the Day	Richard Robbins
1994 (67th)
	The Lion King	Hans Zimmer
	Forrest Gump	Alan Silvestri
	Interview with the Vampire	Elliot Goldenthal
	Little Women	Thomas Newman
	The Shawshank Redemption
1995 (68th) [note 8]
	Original Dramatic Score
	The Postman	Luis Bacalov
	Apollo 13	James Horner
	Braveheart
	Nixon	John Williams
	Sense and Sensibility	Patrick Doyle
	Original Musical or Comedy Score
	Pocahontas	Alan Menken (music and orchestral score) and Stephen Schwartz (lyrics)
	The American President	Marc Shaiman
	Sabrina	John Williams
	Toy Story	Randy Newman
	Unstrung Heroes	Thomas Newman
1996 (69th)
	Original Dramatic Score
	The English Patient	Gabriel Yared
	Hamlet	Patrick Doyle
	Michael Collins	Elliot Goldenthal
	Shine	David Hirschfelder
	Sleepers	John Williams
	Original Musical or Comedy Score
	Emma	Rachel Portman
	The First Wives Club	Marc Shaiman
	The Hunchback of Notre Dame	Alan Menken (music and orchestral score) and Stephen Schwartz (lyrics)
	James and the Giant Peach	Randy Newman
	The Preacher's Wife	Hans Zimmer
1997 (70th)
	Original Dramatic Score
	Titanic	James Horner
	Amistad	John Williams
	Good Will Hunting	Danny Elfman
	Kundun	Philip Glass
	L.A. Confidential	Jerry Goldsmith
	Original Musical or Comedy Score
	The Full Monty	Anne Dudley
	Anastasia	Stephen Flaherty (music), Lynn Ahrens (lyrics) and David Newman (orchestral score)
	As Good as It Gets	Hans Zimmer
	Men in Black	Danny Elfman
	My Best Friend's Wedding	James Newton Howard
1998 (71st)
	Original Dramatic Score
	Life Is Beautiful	Nicola Piovani
	Elizabeth	David Hirschfelder
	Pleasantville	Randy Newman
	Saving Private Ryan	John Williams
	The Thin Red Line	Hans Zimmer
	Original Musical or Comedy Score
	Shakespeare in Love	Stephen Warbeck
	A Bug's Life	Randy Newman
	Mulan	Matthew Wilder (music), David Zippel (lyrics) and Jerry Goldsmith (orchestral score)
	Patch Adams	Marc Shaiman
	The Prince of Egypt	Stephen Schwartz (music and lyrics) and Hans Zimmer (orchestral score)
1999 (72nd)
	The Red Violin	John Corigliano
	American Beauty	Thomas Newman
	Angela's Ashes	John Williams
	The Cider House Rules	Rachel Portman
	The Talented Mr. Ripley	Gabriel Yared

2000s

Year	Film	Nominees
2000 (73rd)	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon	Tan Dun
	Chocolat	Rachel Portman
	Gladiator	Hans Zimmer [note 9]
	Malèna	Ennio Morricone
	The Patriot	John Williams
2001 (74th)
	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring	Howard Shore
	A.I. Artificial Intelligence	John Williams
	A Beautiful Mind	James Horner
	Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone	John Williams
	Monsters, Inc.	Randy Newman
2002 (75th)
	Frida	Elliot Goldenthal
	Catch Me If You Can	John Williams
	Far from Heaven	Elmer Bernstein
	The Hours	Philip Glass
	Road to Perdition	Thomas Newman
2003 (76th)
	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King	Howard Shore
	Big Fish	Danny Elfman
	Cold Mountain	Gabriel Yared
	Finding Nemo	Thomas Newman
	House of Sand and Fog	James Horner
2004 (77th)
	Finding Neverland	Jan A. P. Kaczmarek
	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	John Williams
	Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events	Thomas Newman
	The Passion of the Christ	John Debney
	The Village	James Newton Howard
2005 (78th)
	Brokeback Mountain	Gustavo Santaolalla
	The Constant Gardener	Alberto Iglesias
	Memoirs of a Geisha	John Williams
	Munich
	Pride & Prejudice	Dario Marianelli
2006 (79th)
	Babel	Gustavo Santaolalla
	The Good German	Thomas Newman
	Notes on a Scandal	Philip Glass
	Pan's Labyrinth	Javier Navarrete
	The Queen	Alexandre Desplat
2007 (80th)
	Atonement	Dario Marianelli
	3:10 to Yuma	Marco Beltrami
	The Kite Runner	Alberto Iglesias
	Michael Clayton	James Newton Howard
	Ratatouille	Michael Giacchino
2008 (81st)
	Slumdog Millionaire	A. R. Rahman
	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button	Alexandre Desplat
	Defiance	James Newton Howard
	Milk	Danny Elfman
	WALL-E	Thomas Newman
2009 (82nd)
	Up	Michael Giacchino
	Avatar	James Horner
	Fantastic Mr. Fox	Alexandre Desplat
	The Hurt Locker	Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
	Sherlock Holmes	Hans Zimmer

2010s

Year	Film	Nominees
2010 (83rd)	The Social Network	Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
	127 Hours	A. R. Rahman
	How to Train Your Dragon	John Powell
	Inception	Hans Zimmer
	The King's Speech	Alexandre Desplat
2011 (84th)
	The Artist	Ludovic Bource
	The Adventures of Tintin	John Williams
	Hugo	Howard Shore
	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	Alberto Iglesias
	War Horse	John Williams
2012 (85th)
	Life of Pi	Mychael Danna
	Anna Karenina	Dario Marianelli
	Argo	Alexandre Desplat
	Lincoln	John Williams
	Skyfall	Thomas Newman
2013 (86th)
	Gravity	Steven Price
	The Book Thief	John Williams
	Her	Will Butler and Owen Pallett
	Philomena	Alexandre Desplat
	Saving Mr. Banks	Thomas Newman
2014 (87th)
	The Grand Budapest Hotel	Alexandre Desplat
	The Imitation Game	Alexandre Desplat
	Interstellar	Hans Zimmer
	Mr. Turner	Gary Yershon
	The Theory of Everything	Jóhann Jóhannsson
2015 (88th)
	The Hateful Eight	Ennio Morricone
	Bridge of Spies	Thomas Newman
	Carol	Carter Burwell
	Sicario	Jóhann Jóhannsson
	Star Wars: The Force Awakens	John Williams
2016 (89th) [12]
	La La Land	Justin Hurwitz
	Jackie	Micachu
	Lion	Dustin O'Halloran and Hauschka
	Moonlight	Nicholas Britell
	Passengers	Thomas Newman
2017 (90th)
	The Shape of Water	Alexandre Desplat
	Dunkirk	Hans Zimmer
	Phantom Thread	Jonny Greenwood
	Star Wars: The Last Jedi	John Williams
	Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri	Carter Burwell
2018 (91st)
	Black Panther	Ludwig Göransson
	BlacKkKlansman	Terence Blanchard
	If Beale Street Could Talk	Nicholas Britell
	Isle of Dogs	Alexandre Desplat
	Mary Poppins Returns	Marc Shaiman
2019 (92nd)
	Joker	Hildur Guðnadóttir
	Little Women	Alexandre Desplat
	Marriage Story	Randy Newman
	1917	Thomas Newman
	Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker	John Williams

2020s

Year	Film	Nominees
2020/21 [note 10] (93rd)	Soul	Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste
	Da 5 Bloods	Terence Blanchard
	Mank	Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
	Minari	Emile Mosseri
	News of the World	James Newton Howard
2021 (94th)
	Dune	Hans Zimmer
	Don't Look Up	Nicholas Britell
	Encanto	Germaine Franco
	Parallel Mothers	Alberto Iglesias
	The Power of the Dog	Jonny Greenwood
2022 (95th)
	All Quiet on the Western Front	Volker Bertelmann
	Babylon	Justin Hurwitz
	The Banshees of Inisherin	Carter Burwell
	Everything Everywhere All at Once	Son Lux
	The Fabelmans	John Williams
2023 (96th)
	Oppenheimer	Ludwig Göransson
	American Fiction	Laura Karpman
	Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny	John Williams
	Killers of the Flower Moon	Robbie Robertson (p.n.)
	Poor Things	Jerskin Fendrix

Notes

1. From 1934 until 1937, nominated films were represented by the head of the film studio's music department rather than the composer. Each film's actual composer(s) are listed in parentheses.
2. Captain Blood was not officially nominated for this award, but appears in Academy records because it placed third in voting as a write-in candidate in 1935.
3. From 1937 until 1945, film studios could submit one eligible film of their choosing, guaranteeing it a nomination.
4. Blacklisted composer Larry Adler's name was removed from American prints of the British-made Genevieve . The film's arranger and orchestrator Muir Mathieson was credited instead and received an Oscar nomination. In 1986, the Academy's Board of Governors removed Mathieson's name from the nomination and gave it to Adler.
5. In 1957, dramatic and comedy films competed with musicals in a combined category called Music – Scoring. Fifteen scores were shortlisted with ten from dramatic and comedy films and five from musicals. Voting resulted in no musical nominees.
6. Limelight was originally released in 1952, but had never screened theatrically in Los Angeles until 1972, at which point it became eligible for Oscar consideration.
7. Nino Rota was nominated for The Godfather in 1972, but the nomination was revoked after it was discovered Rota had reused music from the 1958 Italian film Fortunella . The Academy's entire music branch revoted for a fifth nominee. They could either renominate Rota for The Godfather or select one of the five other shortlisted scores: Ben by Walter Scharf, Fellini's Roma by Rota, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean by Maurice Jarre, The Other by Jerry Goldsmith, or Sleuth by John Addison. Sleuth received the most votes and became the fifth nominee.
8. From 1995 until 1998, Best Original Score was split into Original Dramatic Score and Original Musical or Comedy Score. For musicals and comedies, songwriters and lyricists along with orchestral underscore composers were eligible for nomination.
9. Lisa Gerrard and Klaus Badelt also received screen credit for the Gladiator score, but only Zimmer was deemed eligible for the nomination.
10. The eligibility period for the 93rd ceremony was exceptionally extended through to February 28, 2021, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shortlisted finalists

Finalists for Best Score are selected by the Music Branch. Music Branch members shall vote in order of their preference for not more than 15 pictures to be considered for the Score award. The 15 motion pictures receiving the highest number of votes shall advance to the next round of voting. ^[13]

Year	Finalists	Ref
2018	Annihilation , Avengers: Infinity War , The Ballad of Buster Scruggs , Crazy Rich Asians , The Death of Stalin , Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald , First Man , A Quiet Place , Ready Player One , Vice	[14]
2019	Avengers: Endgame , Bombshell , The Farewell , Ford v Ferrari , Frozen II , Jojo Rabbit , The King , Motherless Brooklyn , Pain and Glory , Us	[15]
2020/21	Ammonite , Blizzard of Souls , The Invisible Man , Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey , The Life Ahead , The Little Things , The Midnight Sky , Mulan , Tenet , The Trial of the Chicago 7	[16]
2021	Being the Ricardos , Candyman , The French Dispatch , The Green Knight , The Harder They Fall , King Richard , The Last Duel , No Time to Die , Spencer , The Tragedy of Macbeth	[17]
2022	Avatar: The Way of Water , Black Panther: Wakanda Forever , Devotion , Don't Worry Darling , Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery , Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio , Nope , She Said , The Woman King , Women Talking	[18]
2023	American Symphony , Barbie , The Boy and the Heron , The Color Purple , Elemental , The Holdovers , Saltburn , Society of the Snow , Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse , The Zone of Interest	[19]
2024	Alien: Romulus, Babygirl , Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Blink Twice, Blitz, The Brutalist, Challengers, Conclave, Emilia Pérez, The Fire Inside, Gladiator II, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, Inside Out 2, Nosferatu, The Room Next Door, Sing Sing, The Six Triple Eight, Wicked, The Wild Robot, Young Woman and the Sea	[20]

Records

Superlatives

These are only for nominations in the Scoring categories. Nominations in other categories, such as the Original Song category, are not included.

Category	Name	Superlative	Notes
Most Awards	Alfred Newman	9 awards	Awards resulted from 41 nominations
Most Nominations	John Williams	49 nominations	Nominations resulted in 5 awards
Most Nominations without an Award	Thomas Newman / Alex North	14 nominations

Age superlatives

Record	Composer	Film	Age
Oldest winner	Ennio Morricone	The Hateful Eight	87 years, 110 days
Oldest nominee	John Williams	Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny	91 years, 349 days
Youngest winner	Prince	Purple Rain	26 years, 291 days
Youngest nominee			26 years, 244 days

Only one composer has won two Scoring Oscars the same year: in 1973, Marvin Hamlisch won Original Dramatic Score for The Way We Were and Best Adaptation Score, for The Sting . Hamlisch also won Best Song that year for The Way We Were , making him the only composer to win three music Oscars in the same year.

Only one composer has won Oscars three years in a row: Roger Edens won for Easter Parade (1948), On the Town (1949) and Annie Get Your Gun (1950).

Eight composers have won Oscars two years in a row:

1. Ray Heindorf won for Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) and This Is the Army (1943).
2. Franz Waxman won for Sunset Boulevard (1950) and A Place in the Sun (1951).
3. Alfred Newman won for With a Song in My Heart (1952) and Call Me Madam (1953). He won again two years in a row for Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955) and The King and I (1956).
4. Adolph Deutsch won for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) and Oklahoma! (1955).
5. André Previn won for Gigi (1958) and Porgy and Bess (1959). He won again two years in a row for Irma la Douce (1963) and My Fair Lady (1964).
6. Leonard Rosenman won for Barry Lyndon (1975) and Bound for Glory (1976).
7. Alan Menken won for Beauty and The Beast (1991) and Aladdin (1992).
8. Gustavo Santaolalla won for Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Babel (2006).

Female nominees

As of 2023, only 10 women have been nominated in music score categories: Ann Ronell, Tylwyth Kymry aka Meg Karlin, Angela Morley, Marilyn Bergman, Rachel Portman, Anne Dudley, Lynn Ahrens, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Germaine Franco, and Laura Karpman. Kymry, Bergman, and Ahrens were nominated for their contribution as lyricists.

Four women have won in the scoring categories. Three are composers: Rachel Portman, who won for Emma (1996); Anne Dudley, who won for The Full Monty (1997); and Hildur Guðnadóttir, who won for Joker (2019). The fourth is lyricist Marilyn Bergman, who won for Yentl (1983) in the Original Song Score category, sharing the award with co-lyricist Alan Bergman (her husband) and composer Michel Legrand. Guðnadóttir is the only woman to win the award under no qualifications; Bergman won for Best Song Score while Portman and Dudley won for Best Musical or Comedy Score.

The female composers nominated for multiple Scoring Oscars are Rachel Portman, who was nominated for Emma (1996) (for which she won for Best Musical or Comedy Score), The Cider House Rules (1999), and Chocolat (2000); and Angela Morley, who was nominated twice in the Original Song Score or Adaptation Score category for The Little Prince (1974) and The Slipper and the Rose (1976).

Notable nominees

Dmitri Shostakovich and Duke Ellington were both nominated the same year but lost to the arrangers of West Side Story .

The scores of Midnight Express by Giorgio Moroder in 1979, Slumdog Millionaire by A. R. Rahman in 2009, and The Social Network by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross in 2011 are the only scores with electronic-based music ever to win the award. In addition, the electronic-based scores of Witness by Maurice Jarre in 1986, Rain Man by Hans Zimmer in 1989, and Her by William Butler, and Owen Pallett in 2014 have also been nominated.

Noted nominated composers known for their music mostly outside the film world include: Aaron Copland, Kurt Weill, Gian Carlo Menotti, Philip Glass, John Corigliano, Peter Maxwell Davies, Randy Newman, Richard Rodney Bennett, Stephen Schwartz, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Artie Shaw, Trent Reznor, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Jon Batiste, and Jonny Greenwood.

Rock musicians and pop stars are most often nominated in the songwriting category. These popular performers were nominated in the Scoring categories: The Beatles, Prince, Pete Townshend, Rod McKuen, Isaac Hayes, Kris Kristofferson, Quincy Jones, Randy Newman, Anthony Newley, Paul Williams, Tom Waits, David Byrne, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Trent Reznor, and Matthew Wilder.

Record producers George Martin (The Beatles) and Jerry Wexler (Atlantic Records) also received nominations in the Scoring categories.

Multiple nominations

The following is a list of composers nominated more than once and winning at least one Academy Award (in this category). This list is sorted by number of awards, with the number of total nominations listed in parentheses. These do not include nominations (or awards) in the Best Original Song category.

• 9: Alfred Newman (43)
• 5: John Williams (48) ^[a]
• 4: Johnny Green (12)
• 4: André Previn (11)
• 4: John Barry (6)
• 4: Alan Menken (5)
• 3: Max Steiner (24)
• 3: Ray Heindorf (17)
• 3: Morris Stoloff (17)
• 3: Miklós Rózsa (16)
• 3: Dimitri Tiomkin (14)
• 3: Maurice Jarre (8)
• 3: Ken Darby (6)
• 3: Roger Edens (6)
• 3: Saul Chaplin (5)
• 3: Adolph Deutsch (5)
• 2: Hans Zimmer (12)
• 2: Alexandre Desplat (11)
• 2: Franz Waxman (11)
• 2: Henry Mancini (7)
• 2: Lennie Hayton (6)
• 2: Michel Legrand (6)
• 2: Irwin Kostal (5)
• 2: Marvin Hamlisch (4)
• 2: Leonard Rosenman (4)
• 2: Ralph Burns (3)
• 2: Trent Reznor (3)
• 2: Atticus Ross (3)
• 2: Howard Shore (3)
• 2: Ludwig Göransson (2)
• 2: Gustavo Santaolalla (2)
• 1: Jerry Goldsmith (17)
• 1: Victor Young (17)
• 1: Herbert Stothart (11)
• 1: Elmer Bernstein (10)
• 1: Hugo Friedhofer (9)
• 1: Lionel Newman (9)
• 1: Georgie Stoll (9)
• 1: James Horner (8)
• 1: Leigh Harline (7)
• 1: Charles Previn (7)
• 1: Paul Smith (7)
• 1: Dave Grusin (6)
• 1: Ennio Morricone (6) Also received an Academy Honorary Award.
• 1: Leslie Bricusse (5)
• 1: Georges Delerue (5)
• 1: Richard Hageman (5)
• 1: Bernard Herrmann (5)
• 1: Nelson Riddle (5)
• 1: Oliver Wallace (5)
• 1: Aaron Copland (4)
• 1: Ernest Gold (4)
• 1: Leo F. Forbstein (4)
• 1: Richard M. Sherman (4)
• 1: Robert B. Sherman (4)
• 1: Louis Silvers (4)
• 1: Frank Churchill (3)
• 1: Elliot Goldenthal (3)
• 1: Erich Wolfgang Korngold (3)
• 1: Bronisław Kaper (3)
• 1: Dario Marianelli (3)
• 1: Rachel Portman (3)
• 1: Stephen Schwartz (3)
• 1: Harry Sukman (3)
• 1: Gabriel Yared (3)
• 1: John Addison (2)
• 1: Luis Bacalov (2)
• 1: Robert Russell Bennett (2)
• 1: Hauschka (2)
• 1: Jay Blackton (2)
• 1: John Corigliano (2)
• 1: Michael Giacchino (2)
• 1: Michael Gore (2)
• 1: W. Franke Harling (2)
• 1: Justin Hurwitz (2)
• 1: A. R. Rahman (2)
• 1: Heinz Roemheld (2)
• 1: Nino Rota (2)
• 1: Leo Shuken (2)

The following composers have been nominated for a Best Original Score Oscar more than once but have yet to garner one. The number of nominations is listed in parentheses. These do not include nominations (or awards) in the Best Original Song category.

Deceased

• Alex North (14) Received an Academy Honorary Award.
• Walter Scharf (9)
• Roy Webb (7)
• Werner Janssen (6)
• George Duning (5)
• Edward Ward (5)
• Constantin Bakaleinikoff (4)
• Edward H. Plumb (4)
• Frank Skinner (4)
• Frank De Vol (4)
• Richard Rodney Bennett (3)
• George Bruns (3)
• Louis Gruenberg (3)
• Marvin Hatley (3)
• Quincy Jones (3) Has won the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, a special Academy Award.
• Ernst Toch (3)
• Charles Wolcott (3)
• Daniele Amfitheatrof (2)
• Nat W. Finston (2)
• Frederick Hollander (2)
• Jóhann Jóhannsson (2)
• Jack Nitzsche (2) Has won 1 Oscar Award for Original Song.
• Richard Robbins (2)
• Victor Schertzinger (2)
• Meredith Willson (2)

Living

• Thomas Newman (14)
• Randy Newman (9) Has won 2 Oscar Awards for Original Song.
• James Newton Howard (7)
• Lalo Schifrin (5) Received an Academy Honorary Award.
• Danny Elfman (4)
• George Fenton (4)
• Alberto Iglesias (4)
• Marc Shaiman (4)
• Philip Glass (3)
• Nicholas Britell (3)
• Carter Burwell (3)
• Marco Beltrami (2)
• Terence Blanchard (2)
• Patrick Doyle (2)
• Jonny Greenwood (2)
• David Hirschfelder (2)

See also

• Academy Award for Best Original Song
• BAFTA Award for Best Original Music
• Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Score
• Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score
• Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition
• Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance
• Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
• Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media
• Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella
• Saturn Award for Best Music
• List of Academy Award–nominated films

Notes

1. Also received 5 nominations for Best Original Song, which brings his total to 53 - the most nominated person in all of the music categories combined, and the most nominated living individual in any Oscars category

References

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External links

• Oscars.org (official Academy site)
• The Academy Awards Database (official site)
• Oscar.com (official ceremony promotional site)