swap_horiz Tan Dun Alternatives

1

Richard Wagner

Influential German Romantic composer who revolutionized opera through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk, notably in the...

German Romantic Opera Music Drama

9.2 Excellent

2

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

3

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

4

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

5

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Japanese composer and musician who won an Academy Award for The Last Emperor (1987) and was a pioneering figure in elect...

Contemporary Electronic Japanese Film

8.3 Great

6

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

7

Kaija Saariaho

Finnish composer (1952–2023) known for spectralist-influenced works including the opera L'Amour de loin, premiered at Sa...

Opera Contemporary Electronics Spectral

8.2 Great

8

Howard Shore

Canadian composer (born 1946) best known for his Academy Award-winning score for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (200...

Opera Contemporary Canadian Film

8.2 Great

9

Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Austrian-American composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897–1957) pioneered the lush orchestral style of Hollywood's Golden...

Austria Opera Modern Film

8.2 Great

10

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

11

Philip Glass

American composer (born 1937), one of minimalism's most prominent figures, known for operas such as Einstein on the Beac...

Opera American Minimalist Film

7.8 Good

12

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

13

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

14

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

15

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

16

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

17

Danny Elfman

American composer known for his dark, quirky film scores, including Batman (1989) and Edward Scissorhands, often collabo...

American Contemporary TV Film

7.5 Good

18

Vangelis

Greek composer and electronic musician who won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for Chariots of Fire (1981).

Contemporary Electronic Film Greek

7.4 Good

19

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

20

Virgil Thomson

American composer Virgil Thomson (1896–1989) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning pioneer of neoclassical music, renowned for hi...

Opera Modern American Neoclassical

7.3 Good