Daily Variety polled a half-dozen composers and asked them what they were listening to these days. The responses ranged from classical to electronica and everything in between.
Christopher Young
“The Shipping News”, “Swordfish”, “Bandits”
I like to listen to serious American music – music by Roy Harris or Henry Cowell or Charles Ives. I’m in tune with American composers who incorporated the folk idiom into their music. One of my more recent favorite discoveries is Roy Harris’s Third Symphony. It’s a single-movement symphony, impeccable in terms of its formal structure. But it’s uniquely American in a way that resembles Copland and yet in a language which is extremely strong in Harris’s own way.
Hans Zimmer
“Black Hawk Down”, “Pearl Harbor”, “Gladiator”
I’ve got the Verdi Requiem in the car, because I’m just loving it. And the Rolling Stones’ greatest hits – so it goes from Mr. Verdi straight through to Mr. Jagger. And Bjork’s new album. The “Moulin Rouge” soundtrack is in the car. Why am I listening to them? Partly because they fell in – they got sent to the office and got put into the car, partly because I like listening to them. There are always little discoveries you can make; sometimes there are stunning things that come to life.
James Newton Howard
“The Sixth Sense”, “Dinosaur”, “Atlantis: The Lost Empire”
Radiohead, “OK Computer”. I really like the production values in that album: The synth work is really imaginative, very subtle and quite beautiful. I’ve got Bjork’s new album. That’s a wonderful album, especially the first track, ‘Hidden Place’. I’ve got (Arthur) Rubinstein playing the Beethoven Fifth Piano Concerto, which I’ve been playing for my son because it was one of my favorites when I was a kid. I’ve got (Vladimir) Ashkenazy’s recording of the four Chopin ballades, four scherzos and some other Chopin, which he recorded when he was 18, which is amazing. And I have Elton John’s “Tumbleweed Connection”. I was hungry for old Elton John.
Elliot Goldenthal
“Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within”, “Titus”, “Michael Collins”
I just spin the dial, and if it happens to land on a radio station that plays polkas, I’ll say, “Wow, that’s great,” or if it happens to land on Pierre Boulez, I’ll say, “That’s wonderful.” I listen to the radio, I go to concerts. I love what the kids are doing in little clubs in Brooklyn. I’m more of an enthusiast than anything else, and I don’t limit myself to any one genre, whether it’s coming out of Mongolia or Frankfurt. It doesn’t make a difference to me.
Harry Gregson-Williams
“Spy Game”, “Shrek”, “Enemy of the State”
In my car at the moment, I’ve got Groove Armada’s latest record. I’m enjoying it because I have a feeling that I might work with them next year. They’re an English band, and I’m looking to do a score next year, or maybe a record and a score, that involves something slightly different than me coming to my studio and sitting here doing just film music. I’m looking to do something that I haven’t done before.
Lolita Ritmanis
“Justice League”, “Batman Beyond”
I’ve been listening a lot to Thomas Newman’s “Little Women” score; I often come back to that score because it touches a place in my heart. I’m also listening to Ennio Morricone’s music for “The Mission,” because it’s a very spiritual experience for me. And Vince Guaraldi’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas” soundtrack, so raw and simple but so beautiful. And then I have a Wynton Marsalis CD, “The London Concert,” which has Hummel and Mozart and Haydn. It’s very uplifting.