A total of 49 composers and 70 scores. 38 composers are represented once. Five are represented twice. Four are represented thrice, and two have five of their scores honored. Of the 49 composers listed, 48 are male, and one is female. One of John Barry’s scores is listed twice, being the same score arranged for a symphony orchestra and a mouth organ, the latter getting no screen credit. Two composers’ scores were assisted by/completed by a colleague.
Of the 70 original scores listed, Five are Oscar winners: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Sunset Boulevard (1950), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and Midnight Express (1978). 21 received an Oscar nomination. One received a nomination but was then disqualified: The Godfather (1972). The other 43 of my all-time favorite movie scores were NOT nominated by AMPAS.
Gone with the Wind (1939): Max Steiner
Rebecca (1940): Franz Waxman
Citizen Kane (1941): Bernard Herrmann
King’s Row (1942): Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Laura (1944): David Raksin
Double Indemnity (1944): Miklós Rózsa
Notorious (1946): Roy Webb
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946): Hugo Friedhofer
The Third Man (1949): Anton Karas
Sunset Boulevard (1950): Franz Waxman
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951): Alex North
Rebel Without a Cause (1955): Leonard Rosenman
Giant (1956): Dimitri Tiomkin
The Big Country (1958): Jerome Moross
Vertigo (1958): Bernard Herrmann
North by Northwest (1959): Bernard Herrmann
Psycho (1960): Bernard Herrmann.
The Magnificent Seven (1960): Elmer Bernstein
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961): Henry Mancini
Lawrence of Arabia (1962): Maurice Jarre
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962): Elmer Bernstein
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (1962): Frank De Vol
Eight and a Half (1963): Nino Rota
The Pink Panther (1963): Henry Mancini
Contempt (1963): Georges Delerue
Juliette of the Spirits (1965): Nino Rota
A Man and a Woman (1966): Francis Lai
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (1966): Ennio Morricone
Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967): Toshiro Mayuzumi
You Only Live Twice (1967): John Barry
(the same score as “Midnight Cowboy” arranged for the symphony)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968): Ennio Morricone
The Wild Bunch (1969): Jerry Fielding
Midnight Cowboy (1969): John Barry
(the same score as “You Only Live Twice” arranged for harmonica: Barry does not receive an on-screen credit)
The Godfather (1972): Nino Rota
Last Tango in Paris (1973): Gato Barbieri
Don’t Look Now (1973): Pino Donaggio
Chinatown (1974): Jerry Goldsmith.
Taxi Driver (1976): Bernard Herrmann.
Carrie (1976): Pino Donaggio
Rocky (1976): Bill Conti
1900 (1976): Ennio Morricone
The Other Side of Midnight (1977): Michel Legrand
Midnight Express (1978): Giorgio Moroder
Tess (1979): Philippe Sarde.
American Gigolo (1980): Giorgio Moroder
Altered States (1980): John Corigliano.
Dressed to Kill (1980): Pino Donaggio
Body Heat (1981): John Barry.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): John Williams.
Diva (1981): Vladimir Cosma.
Blade Runner (1982): Vangelis
Sophie’s Choice (1982): Marvin Hamlish
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983): Ryuichi Sakamoto
Koyaanisqatsi (1983): Philip Glass
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985): Philip Glass
The Mission (1986): Ennio Morricone
The Moderns (1988): Mark Isham
Cinema Paradiso (1989): Ennio Morricone
The Last of the Mohicans (1992): Trevor Jones with Randy Edelman
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992): Wojciech Kilar
The Piano (1993): Michael Nyman
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999): Gabriel Yared
There Will Be Blood (2007): Jonny Greenwood
Revolutionary Road (2008): Thomas Newman
Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy (2011): Alberto Iglesias
Under the Skin (2014): Mica Levi
Phantom Thread (2017): Jonny Greenwood
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018): Nicholas Britell
Spencer (2021): Jonny Greenwood
Pearl (2023): Tyler Bates and Timothy Williams
| Bernard Herrmann (5) | Vladimir Cosma (1) | Alex North (1) |
| Ennio Morricone (5) | Frank De Vol (1) | Michael Nyman (1) |
| Georges Delerue (1) | David Raksin (1) | |
| John Barry (3)* | Jerry Fielding (1) | Leonard Rosenman (1) |
| Pino Donaggio (3) | Hugo Friedhofer (1) | Miklos Rozsa (1) |
| Jonny Greenwood (3) | Jerry Goldsmith (1) | Ryuichi Sakamoto (1) |
| Nino Rota (3) | Marvin Hamlish (1) | Phillipe Sarde (1) |
| Mark Isham (1) | Max Steiner (1) | |
| Elmer Bernstein (2) | Maurice Jarre (1) | Dimitri Tiomkin (1) |
| Philip Glass (2) | Trevor Jones (1) *** | Vangelis (1) |
| Henry Mancini (2) | Anton Karas (1) | Roy Webb (1) |
| Giorgio Moroder (2) | Wojciech Kilar (1) | John Williams (1) |
| Franz Waxman (2) | Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1) | Gabriel Yared (1) |
| Francis Lai (1) | ||
| Gato Barbieri (1) | Michel Legrand (1) | |
| Tyler Bates (1)** | Mica Levi (1) | |
| Nicholas Britell (1) | Toshiro Mayuzumi (1) | |
| Bill Conti (1) | Jerome Moross (1) | |
| John Corigliano (1) | Thomas Newman (1) |
