We asked over 60 of today's very best film and television composers to tell us which scores would be in their top five of all time, and they didn't disappoint. Here's the complete list of film scores voted for and their rankings, followed by a list of the composers who took part and how they voted.
The 11 Best Film Scores of All Time – as featured in the March issue of BBC Music Magazine
- Psycho / Bernard Herrmann (1960)
- E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial / John Williams (1982)
- Blade Runner / Vangelis (1982), The Good, The Bad and The Ugly / Ennio Morricone (1966) and The Mission / Ennio Morricone (1986)
- American Beauty / Thomas Newman (1999), Cinema Paradiso / Ennio Morricone (1988) and Vertigo / Bernard Herrmann (1958)
- Chinatown / Jerry Goldsmith (1974), The Godfather / Nino Rota (1972) and How to Train Your Dragon / John Powell (2010)
The film scores ranking in joint sixth, seventh and eighth place...
6. Gone with the Wind / Max Steiner (1939); The Lion King / Hans Zimmer (1994); Once Upon a Time in the West / Ennio Morricone (1968); Planet of the Apes / Jerry Goldsmith (1968); Road to Perdition / Thomas Newman (2002); Schindler’s List / John Williams (1993); Spartacus / Alex North (1960); There Will Be Blood / Jonny Greenwood (2007) and Under the Skin / Mica Levi (2013)
7. The Adventures of Robin Hood / Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1938); Close Encounters of the Third Kind / John Williams (1977); Jaws / John Williams (1975); King Kong / Max Steiner (1933); North By Northwest / Bernard Herrmann (1959); Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope / John Williams (1977); Star Wars – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back / John Williams (1980) and The Third Man / Anton Karas (1949)
8. 8½ / Nino Rota (1963); Back to the Future / Alan Silvestri (1985); The Bourne Identity / John Powell (2002); Doctor Zhivago / Maurice Jarre (1965); Forrest Gump / Alan Silvestri (1994); Interview with the Vampire / Elliot Goldenthal (1994); Journey to the Centre of the Earth / Bernard Herrmann (1959); Lawrence of Arabia / Maurice Jarre (1962); Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence / Ryuichi Sakamoto (1983); On the Waterfront / Leonard Bernstein (1954); The Pink Panther / Henry Mancini (1963); Sicario / Jóhann Jóhannsson (2015); The Social Network / Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross (2010); Spirited Away / Joe Hisaishi (2001); Suspiria/ Goblin (1977); The Thin Red Line / Hans Zimmer (1998) and Total Recall / Jerry Goldsmith (1990)
The film scores ranking in joint ninth place...
9. 1408 / Gabriel Yared; 2001: A Space Odyssey / Various Artists; The Accidental Tourist / John Williams (1988); Adaptation / Carter Burwell (2002); Akira / Shôji Yamashiro (1988); Alien 3 / Elliot Goldenthal (1992); All About Eve / Alfred Newman (1950); All We Imagine as Light / Topshe (2024); Altered States / John Corigliano (1980); Amarcord / Nino Rota (1973); Andrei Rublev / Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov (1966); Angels and Insects / Alexander Balanescu (1995); Anna and the King / George Fenton (1999);The Apartment / Adolph Deutsch (1960); Atonement / Dario Marianelli (2007); Basic Instinct / Jerry Goldsmith (1992); Batman: Mask of the Phantasm / Shirley Walker (1993); Beauty and the Beast / Alan Menken (1991); Ben-Hur / Miklós Rózsa (1959);Beverly Hills Cop / Harold Faltermeyer (1984); Brainstorm / James Horner (1983); Bram Stoker’s Dracula / Wojciech Kilar (1992);Braveheart / James Horner (1995); Candyman / Philip Glass (1992); Casablanca / Max Steiner (1942); Casanova / Nino Rota (1976); A Clockwork Orange / Wendy Carlos (1971); The Conversation / David Shire (1974); Crimson Tide / Hans Zimmer (1995); Dances with Wolves / John Barry (1990); The Dark Crystal / Trevor Jones (1982); The Dark Knight / Hans Zimmer (2008); Daybreak Express / Duke Ellington (1953); Day of the Dead / John Harrison (1985); Dekalog / Zbigniew Preisner (1989); The Double Life of Veronique / Zbigniew Preisner (1991); The Draughtsman’s Contract / Michael Nyman (1982); Dr. No / John Barry (1962); Dragonslayer / Alex North (1981); Drive My Car / Eiko Ishibashi (2021); East of Eden / Leonard Rosenman (1955); Edward Scissorhands / Danny Elfman (1990); Empire of the Sun / John Williams (1987); The English Patient / Gabriel Yared (1996); Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind / Jon Brion (2004); Fantasia / Various Composers (1940); Fantastic Voyage / Leonard Rosenman (1966); Finding Nemo / Thomas Newman (2003); Gattaca / Michael Nyman (1997); The Ghost and Mrs Muir / Bernard Herrmann (1947); Gladiator / Hans Zimmer (2000); Goldfinger / John Barry (1964); The Goonies / Dave Grusin (1985); The Grand Budapest Hotel / Alexandre Desplat (2014); Halloween / John Carpenter (1978); Harold and Maude / Cat Stevens (1971); Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone / John Williams (2001); Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban / John Williams (2004); Hatari / Henry Mancini (1962); Hellboy / Marco Beltrami (2004); Henry V / William Walton (1944); Hereditary / Colin Stetson (2018); A Hidden Life / James Newton Howard (2019); Hook / John Williams (1991); The Hours / Philip Glass (2002); The Ice Storm / Mychael Danna (1997); Images / John Williams (1972); Inception / Hans Zimmer (2010); In Cold Blood / Quincy Jones (1967); In the Mood for Love / Shigeru Umebayashi (2000); The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao / Gustavo Garbato (2019); Joker / Hildur Guðnadóttir (2019); Jules et Jim / Georges Delerue (1962); Kings Row / Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1942); Koyaanisqatsi / Philip Glass (1982); Legends of the Fall / James Horner (1995); Leon: The Professional / Eric Serra (1994); Life is Beautiful / Nicola Piovani (1997); The Lord of the Rings Trilogy / Howard Shore (2001-03); The Magnificent Seven/ Elmer Bernstein (1960); Mandy / Jóhann Jóhannsson (2018); Marnie / Bernard Herrmann (1964); Memoirs of a Geisha / John Williams (2005); The Mephisto Waltz / Jerry Goldsmith (1971); Midnight Cowboy / John Barry (1969); Midsommar / Haxan Cloak (2019); The Miracle Worker / Laurence Rosenthal (1962); Munich / John Williams (2005); The Naked Island / Hikaru Hiayashi (1960); The Name of the Rose / James Horner (1986); The Nest / Richard Reed Parry (2020); Night of the Hunter / Walter Schumann (1955); Once Upon a Time in America / Ennio Morricone (1984); Out of Africa / John Barry (1985); Paris, Texas / Ry Cooder (1984); La peau douce / Georges Delerue (1964); La Planete Sauvage / Alain Goraguer (1973); Poltergeist / Jerry Goldsmith (1982); Il Postino / Luis Bacalov (1994); Pride and Prejudice / Dario Marianelli (2005); The Prince of Egypt / Hans Zimmer (1998); Prisoners / Jóhann Jóhannsson (2013); Raiders of the Lost Ark / John Williams (1981); Rain Main / Hans Zimmer (1988); Ran / Toru Takemitsu (1985); The Red Pony / Aaron Copland (1949); The Revenant / Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto (2015); The Rocketeer / James Horner (1991); Rocky IV / Vince DiCola (1985); Rosemary’s Baby / Krzysztof Komeda (1968);Rumble Fish / Stewart Copeland (1983); The Scent of Green Papaya / Tôn-Thât Tiêt (1993); Shadows / Charles Mingus (1958);Shaft / Isaac Hayes and JJ Johnson (1971); The Shawshank Redemption / Thomas Newman (1994); The Shining / Wendy Carlos (1980); Shogun’s Assassin / W. Michael Lewis et al (1980); Solo: A Star Wars Story / John Powell (2018); Sorcerer / Tangerine Dream (1977); The Sound of Music / Richard Rodgers (1965); Spellbound / Miklós Rózsa (1945); Les stance à Sophie / Art Ensemble of Chicago (1971); Star Trek: The Motion Picture / Jerry Goldsmith (1979); Star Wars – Episode I: The Phantom Menace / John Williams (1999); La Strada / Nino Rota (1954); Talk to Her / Alberto Iglesias (2002); Taxi Driver / Bernard Herrmann (1976); The Terminal / John Williams (2004); Titus / Elliot Goldenthal (1999); To Kill a Mockingbird / Elmer Bernstein (1962); Tomorrow Never Dies / David Arnold (1997); Tron / Wendy Carlos (1982); Twin Peaks, Fire Walk With Me / Angelo Badalamenti (1992); The Umbrellas of Cherbourg / Michel Legrand (1964); Wall Street / Stewart Copeland (1987); War and Peace / Nino Rota (1956); West Side Story / Leonard Bernstein (1961); Wilde / Debbie Wiseman (1997); Woman in the Dunes / Toru Takemitsu (1964) and You Only Live Twice / John Barry (1967)
How did the composers vote?
Sixty two film and television composers sent in the titles of the film scores they would include in their top five. Here's how they voted..
Segun Akinola | The Lion King (Zimmer) | Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace (Williams) | The Bourne Identity (Powell) | The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Morricone) | Under The Skin (Levi) |
David Arnold | Taxi Driver (Herrmann) | The Adventures of Robin Hood (Korngold) | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Wlliams) | You Only Live Twice (Barry) | The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Morricone) |
Esin Aydingoz | Cinema Paradiso (Morricone) | Schindler's List (Williams) | The Lion King (Zimmer) | Harry Potter and the Philiosopher's Stone (Williams) | Beauty and the Beast (Menken) |
Lorne Balfe | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Wlliams) | The Ghost and Mrs Muir (Herrmann) | The Goonies (Grusin) | Rain Man (Zimmer) | Wall Street (Copeland) |
Stephen Barton | The Mission (Morricone) | How To Train Your Dragon (Powell) | Psycho (Herrmann) | There Will Be Blood (Greenwood) | Alien 3 (Goldenthal) |
Tyler Bates | Doctor Zhivago (Jarre) | Planet of the Apes (Goldsmith) | Dr. No (Barry) | The Shawshank Redemption (T Newman) | No Fifth Vote |
Volker Bertelmann | Once Upon a Time in the West (Morricone) | There Will Be Blood (Greenwood) | Joker (Guðnadottir) | The Revenant (Sakamoto; Noto) | Under The Skin (Levi) |
Joseph Bishara | Suspiria (Goblin) | Sorcerer (Tangerine Dream) | Rosemary's Baby (Komeda) | Halloween (1978) (Carpenter) | Altered States (Corigliano) |
Daniel Blumberg | The Naked Island (Hiayashi) | Shadows (Mingus) | Woman in the Dunes (Takemitsu) | Les Stance A Sophie (Art Ensemble of Chicago) | Dekalog (Preisner) |
Bruce Broughton | The Adventures of Robin Hood (Korngold) | The Miracle Worker (Rosenthal) | Chinatown (Goldsmith) | How To Train Your Dragon (Powell) | Spartacus (North) |
Jose Manuel Cancela | King Kong (Steiner) | Psycho (Herrmann) | Cinema Paradiso (Morricone) | Jaws (Williams) | American Beauty (T Newman) |
Robin Carolan | The Ice Storm (M Danna) | Images (Williams) | Angels and Insects (Balanescu) | There Will Be Blood (Greenwood) | Gattaca (Nyman) |
Stewart Copeland | The Pink Panther (Mancini) | Goldfinger (Barry) | American Beauty (T Newman) | Hatari (Mancini) | War and Peace (Rota) |
John Corigliano | East of Eden (Rosenman) | Psycho (Herrmann) | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Wlliams) | On the Waterfront (L Bernstein) | The Red Pony (Copland) |
Kevon Cronin | The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Morricone) | Psycho (Herrmann) | Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope (Williams) | Gone with the Wind (Steiner) | Chinatown (Goldsmith) |
Miguel d'Oliveira | Hereditary (Stetson) | Jaws (Williams) | American Beauty (T Newman) | Psycho (Herrmann) | The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Morricone) |
Alexandre Desplat | Amarcord (Rota) | Vertigo (Herrmann) | Chinatown (Goldsmith) | La peau douce (Delerue) | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Wlliams) |
Vince DiCola | The Bourne Identity (Powell) | Solo: A Star Wars Story (Powell) | Schindler's List (Williams) | 1408 (Yared) | The Dark Knight (Zimmer) |
Patrick Doyle | Fantasia (Various Composers) | Psycho (Herrmann) | The Sound of Music (Rodgers) | The Godfather (Rota) | Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Williams) |
Anne Dudley | The Third Man (Karas) | Basic Instinct (Goldsmith) | Midnight Cowboy (Barry) | Road to Perdition (T Newman) | The Grand Budapest Hotel (Desplat) |
Danny Elfman | Psycho (Herrmann) | The Godfather (Rota) | Vertigo (Herrmann) | Casanova (Rota) | The Shining (Carlos) |
Ilan Eshkeri | Casablanca (Steiner) | Vertigo (Herrmann) | Rocky IV (DiCola) | Back to the Future (Silvestri) | Interview with the Vampire (Goldenthal) |
Ben Foster | Tomorrow Never Dies (D Arnold) | The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Legrand) | Back to the Future (Silvestri) | Planet of the Apes (Goldsmith) | Psycho (Herrmann) |
Germaine Franco | On the Waterfront (L Bernstein) | Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (Walker) | Talk to Her (Iglesias) | Road to Perdition (T Newman) | How to Train Your Dragon (Powell) |
Lisa Gerrard | The Name of the Rose (Horner) | Journey to the Centre of the Earth (Herrmann) | The Thin Red Line (Zimmer) | Pride and Prejudice (Marianelli) | Jaws (Williams) |
Michael Giacchino | King Kong (Steiner) | Lawrence of Arabia (Jarre) | Planet of the Apes (Goldsmith) | Chinatown (Goldsmith) | The Mission (Morricone) |
Murray Gold | Rumble Fish (Copeland) | Once Upon a Time in the West (Morricone) | Total Recall (Goldsmith) | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Wlliams) | 8 1/2 (Rota) |
Hildur Guðnadóttir | Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (Sakamoto) | Twin Peaks, Fire Walk With Me (Badalamenti) | The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Morricone) | Blade Runner (Vangelis) | Koyaanisqatsi (Glass) |
Jack Halama | Sicario (Jóhannsson) | La Planete Sauvage (Goraguer) | Blade Runner (Vangelis) | Psycho (Herrmann) | Under The Skin (Levi) |
Alexandra Harwood | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Wlliams) | Raiders of the Lost Ark (Williams) | Cinema Paradiso (Morricone) | Blade Runner (Vangelis) | Spirited Away (Hisaishi) |
Alex Heffes | Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope (Williams) | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Wlliams) | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Williams) | North By Northwest (Herrmann) | Planet of the Apes (Goldsmith) |
Nigel Hess | The Mission (Morricone) | The Adventures of Robin Hood (Korngold) | Henry V (Walton) | Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Williams) | The Lion King (Zimmer) |
Natalie Holt | Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Brion) | The Conversation (Shire) | A Clockwork Orange (Carlos) | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Wlliams) | A Hidden Life (Howard) |
Nathan Klein | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Wlliams) | Atonement (Marianelli) | The Social Network (Reznor/Ross) | The Prince of Egypt (Zimmer) | Road to Perdition (T Newman) |
Abel Korzeniowski | The Godfather (Rota) | The Hours (Glass) | Memoirs of a Geisha (Williams) | In the Mood for Love (Umebayashi) | Inception (Zimmer) |
John Lunn | Chinatown (Goldsmith) | Doctor Zhivago (Jarre) | Night of the Hunter (W Schumann) | Road to Perdition (T Newman) | Blade Runner (Vangelis) |
Mark Mancina | The Mission (Morricone) | American Beauty (T Newman) | Interview with the Vampire (Goldenthal) | Leon: The Professional (Serra) | The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Morricone) |
Dario Marianelli | Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Williams) | 8 1/2 (Rota) | The English Patient (Yared) | North By Northwest (Herrmann) | Spirited Away (Hisaishi) |
Dave Metzger | Vertigo (Herrmann) | Spartacus (North) | West Side Story (L Bernstein) | Star Wars – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (Williams) | How to Train Your Dragon (Powell) |
Blair Mowat | Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (Williams) | Edward Scissorhands (Elfman) | Adaptation (Burwell) | Once Upon a Time in the West (Morricone) | Vertigo (Herrmann) |
David Newman | Spartacus (North) | All About Eve (A Newman) | The Apartment (Deutsch) | Ben-Hur (Rozsa) | The Accidental Tourist (Williams) |
Daniel Pemberton | The Third Man (Karas) | Once Upon a Time in the West (Morricone) | Blade Runner (Vangelis) | Vertigo (Herrmann) | Beverly Hills Cop (Faltermeyer) |
Martin Phipps | The Draughtsman's Contract (Nyman) | The Mission (Morricone) | Crimson Tide (Zimmer) | The Social Network (Reznor/Ross) | Under The Skin (Levi) |
Michael Richard Plowman | Blade Runner (Vangelis) | Cinema Paradiso (Morricone) | Empire of the Sun (Williams) | Spellbound (Rozsa) | The Rocketeer (Horner) |
Rachel Portman | To Kill a Mockingbird (E Bernstein) | The Mission (Morricone) | The Godfather (Rota) | American Beauty (T Newman) | Schindler's List (Williams) |
Max Richter | 2001: A Space Odyssey (Various Artists) | Andrei Rublev (Ovchinnikov) | Harold and Maude (Stevens) | Daybreak Express (Ellington) | The Scent of Green Papaya (Tiêt) |
Batu Sener | Finding Nemo (T Newman) | Cinema Paradiso (Morricone) | The Terminal (Williams) | The Pink Panther (Mancini) | The Lion King (Zimmer) |
Aldo Shllaku | Cinema Paradiso (Morricone) | Gone with the Wind (Steiner) | Munich (Williams) | Titus (Goldenthal) | The Magnificent Seven (Bernstein) |
Howard Shore | Ran (Takemitsu) | La Strada (Rota) | Jules et Jim (Delerue) | The Mission (Morricone) | North By Northwest (Herrmann) |
Colin Stetson | The Thin Red Line (Zimmer) | Prisoners (Jóhannsson) | There Will Be Blood (Greenwood) | Poltergeist (Goldsmith) | The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Shore) |
Tamar-kali | Shogun's Assassin (Lewis, Lindsay, Muari, Sakurai) | Akira (Yamashiro) | Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (Sakamoto) | The Double Life of Veronique (Preisner) | Shaft (Hayes, JJ Johnson) |
Alexander Taylor | Candyman (Glass) | Suspiria (Goblin) | Mandy (Jóhannsson) | Marnie (Herrmann) | Day of the Dead (Harrison) |
Robert ToTeras | Psycho (Herrmann) | In Cold Blood (Q Jones) | Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope (Williams) | American Beauty (T Newman) | Sicario (Jóhannsson) |
Marcus Trumpp | Once Upon a Time in America (Morricone) | Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (Williams) | Forrest Gump (Silvestri) | Total Recall (Goldsmith) | Bram Stoker's Dracula (Kilar) |
Corey Wallace | Psycho (Herrmann) | Hook (Williams) | Hellboy (Beltrami) | The Dark Crystal (T Jones) | Braveheart (Horner) |
Isobel Waller-Bridge | The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao (Garbato) | Midsommar (Haxan Cloak) | All We Imagine As Light (Das; Topshe) | The Nest (Richard Reed Parry) | Drive My Car (Ishibashi) |
Stephen Warbeck | Paris, Texas (Cooder) | Life is Beautiful (Piovani) | The Third Man (Karas) | Il Postino (Bacalov) | The Godfather (Rota) |
Amelia Warner | Gladiator (Zimmer) | Gone with the Wind (Steiner) | Blade Runner (Vangelis) | Legends of the Fall (Horner) | Forrest Gump (Silvestri) |
Sam Watts | Psycho (Herrmann) | Tron (Carlos) | How To Train Your Dragon (Powell) | Anna and the King (Fenton) | Wilde (Wiseman) |
Edwin Wendler | Kings Row (Korngold) | Spartacus (North) | Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Goldsmith) | Brainstorm (Horner) | Schindler's List (Williams) |
Debbie Wiseman | The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Morricone) | Lawrence of Arabia (Jarre) | Gone with the Wind (Steiner) | Out of Africa (Barry) | Dances with Wolves (Barry) |
Christopher Young | King Kong (Steiner) | Journey to the Centre of the Earth (Herrmann) | Fantastic Voyage (Rosenman) | The Mephisto Waltz (Goldsmith) | Dragonslayer (North) |