Music Midterm People

Max Steiner

Scored over 240 films during his 85‑year Hollywood career. Won 3 Oscars, nominated 31 times. Known for leitmotifs.

Alfred Newman

Film composer and conductor. Scored over 200 films and won 9 Oscars. Created the idea for streamers and punches.

Aaron Copland

Believed music in film intensifies emotion, creates continuity, and acts as “neutral background music.”

Franz Waxman

German film industry composer in the 1920s–30s; came to the U.S. in 1934 as an orchestrator. Won Oscars for A Place in the Sun and Sunset Boulevard.

Henry Mancini

Composer known for blending jazz with traditional orchestral arrangements.

Bernard Herrmann

American composer and conductor best known for his film scores, especially suspense and psychological films.

Lalo Schifrin

Argentine‑American pianist, composer, and conductor who incorporated jazz into film scores.

Ernö Rapée

Hungarian born American symphonic conductor prominent in the early 20th century.

Hugo Riesenfeld

Composer and conductor who began writing his own orchestral compositions for silent films in 1917.

Richard Wagner

German composer and conductor who revolutionized Western music with dramatic operas and expressive orchestration.

Leonid Sabaneev

Russian physicist; wrote Music for the Films, describing new sound technology and music’s evolving role.

Max Winkler

Invented the cue sheet/music suggestion sheet while working at Carl Fischer Music.

Gaylord Carter

American organist and composer known for silent film accompaniment.

Buster Keaton

Silent film actor and filmmaker known for his physical comedy.