John Williams’ soundtrack for the Star Wars series is Australia’s favorite music for the screen, according to the most popular Classic 100 poll ever.
The top 100 voted by audiences in Australia and around the world included beloved music for film, television and video games across genres and generations. Options ranged from period dramas like Sense and Sensibility (# 92) to music for video games like The Legend of Zelda (# 23), classics like Psycho (# 84) and recent box office hits like Dune of 2021 (n.
Audiences shared their love for soundtracks as they tuned across the country. A listener was found spending “an entire weekend listening to classical music” for the first time, including a coastal walk near Broome with Interstellar playing on the ABC Listen app. Seven-year-old Ezra was so inspired that she learned Harry Potter’s “Hedwig’s Theme” while waiting to hear her favorite music.
John Williams, who turned 90 in February, was counted eight times in the countdown, with four titles in the top 10: Star Wars (No. 1), the Harry Potter series (No. 4), The Schindler’s List (No. 5) and Jurassic Park. (# 8). Howard Shore’s epic music for the Lord of the Rings trilogy came in second, with Ennio Morricone’s much-loved score for The Mission, with “Gabriel’s Oboe” coming in third.
Although spanning forty years, Williams’ Star Wars scores are a coherent and unique musical project. ABC Classic Screen Sounds presenter Dan Golding described the timeless appeal of the music: “John Williams’ music emphasizes the emotionally familiar nature of this boy who dreams of saving the galaxy. what a metaphor, more Camelot than Brave New World “.
Composer Hans Zimmer was also heavily involved in the countdown, appearing nine times, including for the Oscar-winning film 2021 Dune. Ennio Morricone took three places, and Vangelis, who died earlier this year, appeared twice with his 1982 score for Bladerunner (# 36) and Chariots of Fire (# 7).
Sheet music by Australian composers was also featured, including music by Joff Bush for the hit hit Bluey, which peaked at number 83. Music by Nigel Westlake for Babe (No. 24). Antarctica (No. 38) and Miss Potter (82) appeared in the countdown alongside classics such as Bruce Smeaton’s soundtrack to Picnic at Hanging Rock (No. 68) and Bruce Rowland’s score for The Man. of Snowy River (# 33), as well as Lisa Gerrard’s impressive work with Hans Zimmer for Gladiator (# 19). Also appearing were Australians Barrington Pheloung (Inspector Morse, # 44) and Ron Grainer (Doctor Who, # 12), both of whom worked primarily in the United Kingdom.
The pandemic saw billions of people around the world turn to film, television, and video games for entertainment, comfort, comfort, and connection. This year’s Classic 100 paid tribute to the power of screen music to drive our resilience for an unprecedented time. This year, for the first time, voters have been able to vote for video game soundtracks and TV shows along with movie scores.