A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score forms part of the film's soundtrack, which also, usually includes pre-existing music, dialogue and sound effects, and comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to enhance the dramatic narrative and the emotional impact of the scene in question. Scores are written by one or more composers, under the guidance of, or in collaboration with, the film's director or producer and are then usually performed by an ensemble of musicians – most often comprising an orchestra or band, instrumental soloists, and choir or vocalists – known as playback singers and recorded by a sound engineer.
Barry Gray was a British musician and composer best known for his collaborations with television and film producer Gerry Anderson.
Thomas Montgomery Newman is an American composer best known for his many film scores. In a career that has spanned over four decades, he has scored numerous classics including The Player, The Shawshank Redemption, Cinderella Man, American Beauty, The Green Mile, In the Bedroom, Angels in America, Finding Nemo, WALL-E, the James Bond films Skyfall, Spectre, and the war film 1917.
Erich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austrian-born composer and conductor. A child prodigy, he became one of the most important and influential composers in Hollywood history. He was a noted pianist and composer of classical music, along with music for Hollywood films, and the first composer of international stature to write Hollywood scores.
The Trouble with Harry is a 1955 American Technicolor black comedy film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The screenplay by John Michael Hayes was based on the 1950 novel by Jack Trevor Story. It starred Edmund Gwenn, John Forsythe, Mildred Natwick, Jerry Mathers and Shirley MacLaine in her film debut. The Trouble with Harry was released in the United States on September 30, 1955, then re-released in 1984 once the distribution rights had been acquired by Universal Pictures.
Alfred Newman was an American composer, arranger, and conductor of film music. From his start as a music prodigy, he came to be regarded as a respected figure in the history of film music. He won nine Academy Awards and was nominated 45 times, contributing to the Newmans being the most nominated Academy Award extended family, with a collective 92 nominations in various music categories.
How to Marry a Millionaire is a 1953 American romantic comedy film directed by Jean Negulesco and written and produced by Nunnally Johnson. The screenplay was based on the plays The Greeks Had a Word for It (1930) by Zoë Akins and Loco (1946) by Dale Eunson and Katherine Albert.
Dune is an original soundtrack album for the 1984 film Dune. Most of the album was composed by the rock band Toto—their first and only film score—but one track was contributed by Brian Eno. The soundtrack album was first released in November 1984. An extended version with an altered track listing was released in 1997. Both versions are currently out of print on traditional media such as CD but with the increasing popularity of download and streaming services, have gained improved exposure through such channels as iTunes and Spotify.
Blade Runner is the soundtrack for Ridley Scott's 1982 science-fiction noir film Blade Runner, composed by Greek electronic musician Vangelis. It has received acclaim as among Vangelis's best work and an influential work in the history of electronic music. It was nominated in 1983 for a BAFTA and Golden Globe as best original score. The score evokes the film's bleak futurism with an emotive synthesizer-based sound, drawing on the jazz scores of classic film noir as well as neo-classical elements and Middle Eastern texture. It features vocals from Demis Roussos and saxophone by Dick Morrissey on "Love Theme". The track "Memories of Green" from Vangelis' 1980 album See You Later was also used.
Cyril John Mockridge was an English film and television composer who scored such films as Cheaper by the Dozen, River of No Return and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. He was nominated for an Academy Award for the 1955 film Guys and Dolls, and composed the theme music for the television Western series Laramie.
The various film and theatre appearances of the Superman character have been accompanied by musical scores.
The score from The Empire Strikes Back, composed by John Williams, was recorded in eighteen sessions at Anvil Studios over three days in December 1979 and a further six days in January 1980 with Williams conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. Between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, Williams had also worked with the London Symphony Orchestra for the scores to the films The Fury, Superman and Dracula. The score earned another Academy Award nomination for Williams. Again, the score was orchestrated by Herbert W. Spencer, recorded by engineer Eric Tomlinson and edited by Kenneth Wannberg with supervision by Lionel Newman. John Williams himself took over duties as record producer from Star Wars creator George Lucas.
The 2001: A Space Odyssey score is an unused film score composed by Alex North for Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Raiders of the Lost Ark: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the film score to the 1981 Steven Spielberg film, Raiders of the Lost Ark. The music was composed and conducted by John Williams, and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Orchestrations were done by Herbert W. Spencer with additional orchestrations done by Al Woodbury. The score was released by Columbia Records in June 1981. The soundtrack received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score, but lost out to Vangelis' score for Chariots of Fire.
The Hollywood Symphony Orchestra (HSO) is a large scale American symphony orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. Its founder was John Scott and its current conductor and consulting producer is John Beal The HSO is dedicated to performing classic, contemporary and world premiere media scores, and comprises recording musicians from the Hollywood movie studios and the Los Angeles concert scene.
Johnny Douglas was an English composer, musical director and string arranger, perhaps best known for his work in the easy listening genre. He recorded over 500 tracks for DECCA and over 80 albums for RCA, and wrote the soundtrack to the 1971 film The Railway Children, plus 37 other feature films.
Stanley Wilson was an American musical conductor, arranger and film composer.
Star Trek: Music from the Motion Picture is a soundtrack album for the 2009 film Star Trek, composed by Michael Giacchino. The score was recorded in October 2008 since the film was originally scheduled to be released the following December. It was performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony and Page LA Studio Voices at the Sony Scoring Stage in Culver City, California. The score incorporates the "Theme from Star Trek" by Alexander Courage and Gene Roddenberry.
Skyfall: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 23rd James Bond film of the same name. Released by Sony Classical on 29 October 2012 in the United Kingdom and on 6 November 2012 in the United States, the music was composed by Thomas Newman. This is Newman's first Bond soundtrack, making him the ninth composer to score a Bond film. The score won the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music. In 2013, it became one of two Bond scores to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score. The other to be nominated was the score from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).
The soundtrack for the 1968 film Romeo and Juliet was composed and conducted by Nino Rota. It was originally released as a vinyl record, containing nine entries, most notably the song "What Is a Youth", composed by Nino Rota, written by Eugene Walter and performed by Glen Weston. The music score won a Silver Ribbon award of the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists in 1968 and was nominated for two other awards.
