# What are the most profoundly beautiful soundtracks **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 14, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163 "2015-07-14T18:58:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163/21 "2015-07-15T07:12:22Z")
> [@Shaggy\_Z](#): > > Requiem For a Dream. I like almost all of Clint Mansell’s stuff. The soundtracks for _Moon_ and _The Fountain_ are also great (as are some of the others, though they don’t all fit in the “beautiful” category). ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163/22 "2015-07-15T08:10:19Z")
_Children of Men_ (mainly composed by John Tavener) ---
**Author:** ![scruffycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scruffycat/32/200_2.png) [@scruffycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scruffycat)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163/23 "2015-07-15T09:06:56Z")
The Hired Hand (Peter Fonda’s western) has a great soundtrack by Bruce Langhorne. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163/24 "2015-07-15T11:43:29Z")
Not a huge Jazz fan, for soundtracks, I like world music or stuff like it: The soundtrack to [_Time of the Gypsies_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZf00ad3G6o) is one of my all-time favourite records. Also, any soundtrack with Lisa Gerrard (solo or in Dead Can dance) on it is going to be be great - _[Gladiator](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObGYFInWrU0)_, for instance. Or _[Baraka](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1J6TFHCevg)_ ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163/25 "2015-07-15T11:54:41Z")
Eleni Karaindrou’s [soundtrack for Ulysses’ Gaze](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses%27_Gaze_%28soundtrack%29) by the late Greek director Theodoros Angelopoulos. Or any of her music for his films, really, but I prefer this one although I’ve not seen this particular film. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163/26 "2015-07-15T11:58:35Z")
This is always very personal. I like Stanley Kubrick movie scores since he decided he liked classical music (as with _Barry Lyndon_ above), and I agree about _Amadeus_ – who wouldn’t like Mozart (and Salieri). Among film composers, I love Bernard Hermann. I was raised on his stuff – Harryhausen and Hitchcock films. Symphonic music with lots of deep bass. I like a _lot_ of John Williams scores, and Dmitri Tiomkin’s stuff (like _The Guns of Navarone_My current orchestral favorite, as I’ve noted before, is James Horner’s for _The Rocketeer_. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163/27 "2015-07-15T12:30:35Z")
Magnolia ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163/28 "2015-07-15T13:51:18Z")
_The Road_, by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, is 3/4 hauntingly beautiful and 1/4 dissonant tension/terror. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163/29 "2015-07-15T14:20:30Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Among film composers, I love Bernard Hermann. Same here. Although not “beautiful” except in a subjective sense. I own his soundtracks for The Devil and Daniel Webster, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, and The Day the Earth Stood Still. He also did Citizen Kane and Jane Eyre. I also recommend his non-film, “serious” music. The Symphony (he only composed one), the String Quartet, and the Clarinet Quartet. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163/30 "2015-07-15T15:08:56Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Also, _[The Princess Bride](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX9fdTSLI0s)_. For those unaware, Knopfler’s done the soundtracks for a number of films in addition to _Local Hero_ and _The Princess Bride_; others include _Comfort and Joy_ and _Wag the Dog_. [A 1993 album](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvChdhXfPTE) (YouTube link to entire album) collects tracks from four of them, including _Cal_, _Last Exit to Brooklyn_, _The Princess Bride_, and _Local Hero_. I’m particularly fond of _Local Hero’s_ soundtrack, natch, but _Last Exit to Brooklyn’s_ is absolutely beautiful (especially for such a depressing movie). Knopfler’s talent as a songwriter, meaning someone who writes music, is underrated, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163/31 "2015-07-15T15:21:42Z")
The “Watership Down” soundtrack by Angela Morley is beautiful and quirky and when Art Garfunkel sings Mike Batt’s “Bright Eyes,” there isn’t a box of tissues big enough. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163/32 "2015-07-15T15:23:16Z")
> [@Shamozzle](#): > > _Blade Runner_ _Chariots of Fire_ has Vangelis _and_ Gilbert and Sullivan. Which then leads to _Topsy-Turvy_. Kubrick was sometimes pretty good. E.g., _2001_ and _Clockwork Orange_. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163/33 "2015-07-15T15:53:40Z")
One of my favorite and very little known soundtracks is from the movie _**[W.E.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W.E.)**_, directed by Madonna. It’s actually a good movie about King Edward’s abdication of the throne because of his relationship with Wallis Simpson. The soundtrack is music _ **not** _ by Madonna, but by Abel Korzeniowski, a polish composer. It is awesome. It is all instrumental and mostly piano and cello. [http://www.amazon.com/W-E-Motion-Picture-Abel-Korzeniowski/dp/B00702OAA2/ref=tmm\_msc\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1436975307](http://www.amazon.com/W-E-Motion-Picture-Abel-Korzeniowski/dp/B00702OAA2/ref=tmm_msc_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1436975307) ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163/34 "2015-07-15T16:38:03Z")
Bram Stoker’s Dracula ---
**Author:** ![funky\_little\_lee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@funky\_little\_lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funky_little_lee)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163/35 "2015-07-15T16:56:22Z")
PBS’s series on New York. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163/36 "2015-07-15T17:53:37Z")
The _O Brother, Where Art Thou?_ sountrack is one of the finest collections of American folk music. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163/37 "2015-07-15T18:09:02Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > The _O Brother, Where Art Thou?_ sountrack is one of the finest collections of American folk music. Don’t get me wrong, I like the soundtrack also, but considering most of the music was recorded just for the soundtrack, I don’t believe your statement can be true. ---
**Author:** ![alted315](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/cc9497/32.png) [@alted315](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alted315)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163/38 "2015-07-15T18:11:21Z")
The Sting ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163/39 "2015-07-15T18:27:33Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Don’t get me wrong, I like the soundtrack also, but considering most of the music was recorded just for the soundtrack, I don’t believe your statement can be true. I fail to see how this invalidates my statement… ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163/40 "2015-07-15T19:04:29Z")
_Jurassic Park_ is John Williams’s most beautiful work. I bought the CD before I even owned a CD player. IMHO, “Journey To The Island” compares favorably with Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. Williams got robbed of an Oscar for it; it wasn’t even nominated, leaving the win to go to some schlub. Speaking of scores from that year, \*The Firm \* was pretty cool, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-profoundly-beautiful-soundtracks/725163.md?page=3)