My Top Favourite Film Composers For Creative Inspiration

With plans not quite coming together as sooner than I hoped (mainly involving the newsletter idea, which has led to me struggling to sign into my MailChimp account that was barely created and finding decent alternatives that remains ongoing), I haven't been able to get a lot of time to ponder on what else to start this blog besides one on books. That is, until now, after reflecting on my rewatch of a particular movie from 2006 called The Nativity Story.

 For the curious minds reading right now, I hadn't seen this film in many years, and only on one occasion. But upon seeing it again last week, one of the favourite aspects I loved about it from seeing with older eyes was the music. Which upon checking, turned out to be by one of my favourite film composers (who you'll soon find out which one it is). It then reminded me of the writing playlists I briefly did on my previous blog, which highlighted some examples of music I'd come across either based from memory of stuff I've watched, or even new discoveries I found when browsing through YouTube. 

But while those were more just a general showcase, this is one I want to go more in depth, highlighting specific composers, what work they've done, and why I like them.

Main Top Three:

3. Harry Gregson-Williams
One of the first I began listening to in my early days of starting my fantasy novel, Gregson-Williams's Narnia scores were what brought me immersed into my imagination with the scenes I began to write. Although I've still yet to listen through more of his work (as well as his brother Rupert's music), the scores I have listened to are what placed him in this list.
​
Example Tracks:
Only The Beginning Of The Adventure  (The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe - 2005)
Prepare For Battle*  (Prince Caspian - 2008)      *An Extended Track which is only available on YouTube
Dastan and Tamina Escape (Prince of Persia: Sands of Time - 2010)

​2. Mychael Danna
Other than The Nativity Story which I only saw once as a kid, the later films with Danna's scores were ones I saw much later. But as of now, I've come to really love his most recent examples, Life of Pi, which won the Oscar for Best Original Score in 2012, and The Breadwinner, that was co-collaborated with his brother Jeff Danna, particularly for its Eastern influences and instruments that permeate throughout its tracks. Which I've found has become a bit of a pattern for specific music genres I like, especially with soundtrack and ambience. And given that Eastern inspired tracks rarely stand out in most mainstream films makes Danna's only more special.
​
​Example Tracks:
 The Magi (The Nativity Story - 2006)
Tsimstum (Life of Pi - 2012)
Raise Your Words (The Breadwinner - 2019)

1. Hans Zimmer
A very famous and rather divisive composer, Zimmer encapsulated most of the movies I've seen over the years. From the grand epics of The Prince of Egypt, The Last Samurai, Gladiator,  the adventurous blockbusters with The Pirates of The Caribbean, to even other animated films like The Lion King and Kung Fu Panda movies, to name a few. And more recently, Inception, Interstellar and Dune, which are my favourites of his electronic sci-fi scores (with his superhero based ones besides Batman Begins being hit and miss, at least for my tastes).

Example Tracks:
The Burning Bush (The Prince of Egypt - 1998)
One Day  (Pirates of The Caribbean: The World's End - 2007)
Herald of The Change (Dune - 2021)

Honourable Mentions:

John Powell
A smaller but prominent name in animated scores, even collaborating with Harry Gregson-Williams with Chicken Run and Hans Zimmer on the Kung Fu Panda series.

Example Tracks:
We Need A Miracle (Chicken Run - 2000)
​Forbidden Friendship (How To Train Your Dragon - 2008)
Hero (Kung Fu Panda - 2008)

Vangelis
While best known for the opening track from its Oscar winning score to Chariots of Fire, he's done a few more film scores like Blade Runner, 1492: Conquest to Paradise, and Alexander, as well as original music such as Juno To Jupiter that just released this year.

Abraham's Theme (Chariots of Fire -1981)
Damask Rose (Blade Runner -1982)
Conquest of Paradise (1492: Conquest of Paradise -1992)

​David Arnold
Although he's done mostly TV scores in the past decade (including BBC's Sherlock), his movie scores go back as far as Independence Day and James Bond films from the 90s and 2000s.
Here are the ones from films I have seen:

We Have Hope (Amazing Grace  - 2006)
Opening Title  (Voyage of The Dawn Treader - 2010)
A Little Talk With Paul  (Paul - 2011)

And that's my post on my favourite composers and example scores.  I hope to make this a series but  with the next one potentially being on gaming, or on other different themes, though it'll take a bit of time to compile together. What are your favourites and why? And what tracks from such scores do you like?
Comment below and don't forget to subscribe and follow for more coming soon!