Please see the attached cut & paste from the Classic FM website. Apparently there were 44,000 votes. However, it can be inferred that it is not really a truly representative poll as it is a general Classical Music station. However, I can say that in the past few years they are giving much more exposure to movie scores.Here's the results - Greg:
classicfm :: top 50 movie soundtracks
Thousands of you voted...and here's the result - the Top 50 Movie Soundtracks.
And what a fascinating list it is too - no surprises that John Williams clocked up the highest number of entries - 7 in total. But the sweeping popularity of The Lord of the Rings just goes on and on. When we ran a similar poll in 2001, Star Wars was top, with Gone with the Wind at No.2, Lawrence of Arabia at No.3, Titanic at 4 and Casablanca at 5. This time, The Lord of the Rings has stormed to the top, giving Howard Shore his only place in the chart. Yann Tiersen, Maurice Jarre and Gabriel Yared become the first Frenchmen to enter the list.
The British composers in the chart are John Barry, Michael Nyman, David Arnold, Eric Coates, Stanley Myers and Patrick Doyle. The 40 year old James Bond series makes only one entry into the chart with The World is Not Enough, music by David Arnold.
Here's the list in full, see how many you agree with!
The Top Ten
1 The Lord of the Rings Howard Shore
He's been writing film scores for three decades, particularly for maverick Canadian director David Cronenberg as well as for Hollywood movies such as Silence of the Lambs and Big. But Howard Shore's really hit the big time with The Lord of the Rings. He'll be re-uniting with director Peter Jackson for the forthcoming remake of King Kong.
2 Gladiator Hans Zimmer/Lisa Gerrard
Hans Zimmer is one of Hollywood's hottest properties but he only has one entry in our chart. Zimmer began life working with The Buggles and writing TV themes, but Disney's The Lion King catapulted him into the big league. Backdraft, The Power of One and Black Hawk Down are other Zimmer masterpieces. The Australian-born Lisa Gerrard has recently scored the New Zealand hit film, Whale Rider.
3 The Star Wars movies John Williams
The highest of seven entries for the undoubted modern master of movie music. Each of the five Star Wars movies opens with the rousing march and that writing disappearing off into space.
4 Schindler’s List John Williams
For Steven Spielberg's holocaust drama Schindler's List, John Williams explored the traditional music of middle-European jews and brought violinist Itzhak Perlman in to play the haunting theme which has become a classic in its own right.
5 Out of Africa John Barry/Mozart
John Barry is Britain's most enduring movie composers - the master of the big, romantic theme. But it's the use of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto which stands out in the memory as Meryl Streep and Robert Redford fall in love in the veldt.
6 The Mission Ennio Morricone
Morricone has four entries in the chart. The Mission tells the story of Jesuit priests trying to protect indigenous Amazon tribes as colonial conquerors and the Vatican threaten their way of life. Morricone drew on the baroque music of jesuits of the time - notably Zipoli - to produce his finest score.
7 Titanic James Horner
Celine Dion's rendition of My heart must go on made James Horner a very rich man indeed. Titanic is the highest of his two entries in our chart.
8 Dances with Wolves John Barry
Once again Barry's music brought romance and sweep to Kevin Costner's epic native American movie.
9 Lawrence of Arabia Maurice Jarre
A huge sweeping score from a Frenchman who did his best work for the epic films of David Lean.
10 Jurassic Park John Williams
Steven Spielberg chose his favourite composing colleague when he launched a series of dinosaur shockers onto audiences.
The rest of the best...
11 Gone with the Wind Max Steiner
12 The Harry Potter movies John Williams
13 The Piano Michael Nyman
14 The Magnificent Seven Elmer Bernstein
15 Brief Encounter Sergei Rachmaninov
16 Doctor Zhivago Maurice Jarre
17 West Side Story Leonard Bernstein
18 Amadeus Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
19 Saving Private Ryan John Williams
20 Braveheart James Horner
21 Blade Runner Vangelis
22 Last of the Mohicans Trevor Jones
23 Chariots of Fire Vangelis
24 The Indiana Jones movies John Williams
25 The Godfather Nino Rota
26 The Big Country Jerome Moross
27 Death in Venice Gustav Mahler
28 2001 – A Space Odyssey Richard Strauss
29 ET – John Williams
30 The Great Escape Elmer Bernstein
31 Fantasia Various composers
32 Dangerous Moonlight (Warsaw Concerto) Richard Adinsell
33 The English Patient Gabriel Yared
34 The World is Not Enough David Arnold
35 The Hours Philip Glass
36 The Shawshank Redemption Mozart/Thomas Newman
37 The Third Man Anton Karas
38 Platoon Samuel Barber
39 The Dambusters Eric Coates
40 The Deer Hunter Stanley Myers
41 The Good the Bad and the Ugly Ennio Morricone
42 Star Trek movies Jerry Goldsmith
43 Once Upon a Time in America Ennio Morricone
44 Sense and Sensibility Patrick Doyle
45 Edward Scissorhands Danny Elfman
46 Once Upon a time in the West Ennio Morricone
47 Ben Hur – Miklos Rosza
48 Amelie – Yann Tiersen
49 1492 Conquest of Paradise Vangelis
50 Much Ado about Nothing Patrick Doyle
