DeadChannel

I mostly agree with Frownland's picks, except he missed two of the best.

Firstly, you just have to check out Ennio Morricone, who imo is the greatest film soundtrack composer to ever live. His best work was done in the 60s and 70s, working on spaghetti westerns by directors like Leone and Corbucci:


^You might recognize this song from the Quentin Tarantino film Inglorious Basterds, but it originally appeared in 1966's The Big Gundown with Lee Van Cleef. One of the thing I love about Morricone is his ability to create a kind of tension perfectly matched to the genre. Also notice his use of quotes from Beethoven's Fur Elise, which is meant to represent one of the villains (who had played the piece earlier in the film)

Another good example is this:


Which comes from one of the most iconic scenes in movie history. Without the music, though, I'm of the mind that the scene would be much duller. After all, it is a very, very long Mexican standoff. His theme from the same film is also incredible:


You might've heard this one, because it's pretty iconic. Moving on:


I was less sold on the soundtrack when I first saw the movie (which is my favorite western) because it lacked the rattlesnake-in-a-drumkit aesthetic of works of his that I was used to. However, I've since come around and this is one of his best imo. It's so epic while being haunting at the same time. A perfect match for the disconcerting snowscapes of Sergio Corbucci's masterpiece.

Another composer that is a genius imo is Bernard Hermann. Listen to this:


I love the freneticism of the track. It also contains one of the greatest motifs in cinema and, placed against Hitchcock's best movie, manages to create a profound sense of dread.

Those are two of my favorites, but these are worth checking out too:



^The director of The Master just did a documentary on the conception of Greenwood's soundtracks for his films as well. Also, The Master is the film of the decade.