swap_horiz Howard Shore Alternatives

1

Ennio Morricone

Italian composer (1928–2020) who scored over 500 films, including Sergio Leone's Westerns such as The Good, the Bad and...

Italian Contemporary Film Orchestral

8.9 Great

2

Bernard Herrmann

American composer (1911–1975) best known for his film scores for Alfred Hitchcock, including Psycho (1960) and Vertigo (...

Opera Modern American Film

8.8 Great

3

Joe Hisaishi

Japanese composer best known for his decades-long collaboration with director Hayao Miyazaki, scoring virtually every St...

Anime Contemporary Japanese Film

8.4 Great

4

Nino Rota

Italian composer (1911–1979) celebrated for film scores including The Godfather and his long collaboration with Federico...

Opera Modern Italian Film

8.2 Great

5

John Corigliano

John Corigliano is an acclaimed American composer of symphonic and film music who won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for his Sy...

Opera American Contemporary Film

8.1 Great

6

Thomas Adès

British composer (born 1971) known for operas such as The Tempest (2004) and his virtuosic orchestral and chamber writin...

Opera Contemporary Orchestral Piano

7.9 Good

7

George Benjamin

British composer (born 1960) whose opera Written on Skin (2012) has been widely performed and acclaimed internationally.

Opera Contemporary Orchestral Chamber

7.8 Good

8

Hans Zimmer

German film composer (born 1957) whose scores for The Lion King (1994) and Inception (2010) made him among Hollywood's m...

German Contemporary Electronic Film

7.8 Good

9

Alexandre Desplat

French composer who won Academy Awards for The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and The Shape of Water (2017), among the most...

French Contemporary Film Orchestral

7.8 Good

10

Unsuk Chin

South Korean composer (born 1961) whose acclaimed works include the opera Alice in Wonderland (2007) and Akrostichon-Wor...

Korean Opera Contemporary Modernist

7.7 Good

11

Tan Dun

Chinese-born composer (born 1957) known for scores including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and the opera The Fir...

Opera Contemporary Film Chinese

7.7 Good

12

Michael Giacchino

American composer who won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for Pixar's Up (2009) and scored the Mission: Imposs...

Television American Contemporary Film

7.7 Good

13

Per Nørgård

Per Nørgård was a leading Danish composer who developed the infinity series compositional technique, first applied in hi...

Opera Danish Contemporary Orchestral

7.6 Good

14

Bright Sheng

Chinese-American composer (born 1955) who blends Chinese and Western traditions in works like the opera Dream of the Red...

Opera Contemporary Orchestral Cross Cultural

7.3 Good

15

Mark-Anthony Turnage

Born in 1960, British composer Mark-Anthony Turnage is recognized for his jazz-infused contemporary operas, most notably...

Opera Contemporary Orchestral British

7.2 Good

16

Judith Weir

Born in 1954, British composer Judith Weir made history as the first woman appointed Master of the King's Music, recogni...

Opera Contemporary Orchestral British

7.1 Good

17

Poul Ruders

Poul Ruders is a prominent Danish contemporary composer recognized for his dramatic modernist style, notably expressed i...

Opera Danish Contemporary Orchestral

6.5 Fair

18

Nico Muhly

Nico Muhly is an American contemporary classical composer known for his versatile output, including chamber operas and p...

Opera American Contemporary Orchestral

6.4 Fair

19

Pawel Mykietyn

Polish composer Pawel Mykietyn is a prominent contemporary classical figure, recognized for his distinct use of microton...

Opera Polish Contemporary Film

6.4 Fair

20

Kevin Puts

American composer Kevin Puts won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his acclaimed debut opera *Silent Night*, notable...

Opera American Contemporary Orchestral

6.2 Fair