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I had once posed the question to composing giant Jerry Goldsmith: If he were a film director, whom he would hire (other than himself) to score his films. Without pause he offered the name, “John Barry.”

Goldsmith, perhaps the most compositionally complex composer for film, he of the never-settling time signature and unexpected and unsettling harmonics, suggested a composer noted for his straight and seemingly simply melodies. I had to inquire why. “No one nails a film with a theme better than Barry,” he said.

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What are some of your favorite scores by other composers? Likewise favorite composers.

I'm going to combine this and next question .

First would be "Silverado" composed by Bruce Broughton. The composing, orchestration and dramatic sense in a film score do not get any better than this. It is fantastic writing, one of the best scores in film history in my opinion! I also like Bruce's score for "The Rescuers Down Under". Brilliant writing aside, Bruce is also one of my favorite composers because of his involvement in the film and composer communities. He is always generous with his time and effort.

Next would be Thomas Newman. His writing is innovative, sensitive, dramatically spot-on and highly crafted. I think "Little Women" is one of the great, smart scores of our generation.

My mentor, John Addison, wrote some terrific scores that are often overlooked. His scores for "A Bridge Too Far" and "Tom Jones" are brilliant. In "Tom Jones" he used a small ensemble of quirky instrumental choices (some of which were not invented in the 18th century) and for him to have accomplished what he did with such a small ensemble requires high craft.

Carter Burwell, Mark Isham also great talents, I think. And then, of course, Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams.

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What are some of your favorite film scores, and do you actively listen to scores?

Favorite film scores include anything by Morricone; "The Mission" which was incredibly brilliant in the use of both sacred and secular music.

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