Top 10 Beautiful Film and TV Show Soundtracks

I have watched many movies and TV shows and when I listen to music, most of the tracks I listen to come from cinematography. Many of the songs I have in my playlist contain the abbreviation OST (original soundtrack) in the title. Music has had an extraordinary impact on human lives since the beginning of culture. It can express things that words cannot. It can reach the very depths of our emotional world. Music can also inspire us and give us the energy to reach great things in our lives. I would like to share some songs from films that made me smile and even made me cry. But the tears were so sweat!

10. The Lion King - Hans Zimmer

The African style music in combination with classical orhcestra is just something incredibly beautiful. No wonder that Hans Zimmer is regarded as one of the most brilliant movie composers of our age. The very beginning of the Lion King movie that starts with the iconic shout of Lebo M in the Circle of Life song is a true masterpiece.

9. Gladiator - Hans Zimmer

Let's stay with the master composer Zimmer a little bit. His work in Gladiator movie is phenomenal. When I heard Lisa Gerrard singing the Now We Are Free song from Gladiator during the Hans Zimmer Live concert, I had tears in my eyes. I also remember listening to this song in a plane when I was traveling to India. I was a bit anxious about this trip since we had a busy itinerary, but when I heard this song, my mind became calm! I also love the choral version of this song by my favorite band Gregorian. Before I leave maestro Zimmer, I just need to mention The Last Samurai Soundtrack which is also one of my favorites!

8. Cast Away - Alan Silvestri

Everyone who watched this movie has to remember this one emotional song. Alan Silvestri also composed the lovely OST for Forest Gump and his nice and touching style is visible in all his music.

7. Dae Jang Geum - Im Se-hyeon

I rarely change my phone ringing melody. This Korean TV show made me do so! I have replaced a Lion King song with the main theme of the Jewel in the Palace TV show called Onara. The traditional Korean song style is recreated in this modern film song and sounds really lovely. I think that this song is quite unique, especially for a western audience, but I believe that it can reach the hearts of people all around the world.

6. Spirited Away - Joe Hisaishi

I will stay in Asia and mention another Japanese composing legend Joe Hisaishi. I was privileged and lucky to be able to attend his live concert as well. His songs in the anime movies by studio Ghibli are magnificent. Similarly to the Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki, Joe Hisaishi finds inspiration for his music in nature and everyday life, so his music has this unique cute feel.

5. Lord of the Rings - Howard Shore

Do I need to add anything here? Howard Shore did a phenomenal work in his LOTR OST. Almost everyone knows the LOTR melodies. They involve beautiful calm pieces but also heroic battle music and music that invokes dark feelings in our hearts. I would also like to mention Bear McCreary, the composer of the music for the TV show Rings of Power, the prequel to LOTR movies. Apparently, this man is a huge LOTR fan, and from his interviews it can be seen how excited he was about composing the music for LOTR universe. His music is a great contribution to Howard Shore's collection.

4. Ka - René Dupéré

Maybe this cannot be considered a film soundtrack (the performances were filmed though :D). However, I would like to mention here Cirque du Soleil and the original soundtrack they use during their performances. I have visited several live performances of this amazing artistic group and the music is something that really caught my attention every time! Cirque du Soleil perform using various artistic elements like gymnastic tricking, storytelling, physically almost impossible feats, detailed costumes, acting, and music. I have mentioned René Dupéré and Ka performance since there is a song called O Makunde which is one of my favorite songs ever! But other performances also feature other composers who did also an incredible job to create this uniqe Cirque du Soleil atmosphere.

3. The Mission - Ennio Morricone

Another simple yet brilliant melody from the famous composer Ennio Morricone. Gabriel's Oboe is a melody that almost everyone has heard sometimes as it is being often used during various events all around the world. One can't help it but only feel the beauty of the tones when listening to this masterpiece.

2. Fresh Prince

Am I going to really do this? Hell yeah! There are many old epic TV shows like Stargate, MacGiver, Power Rangers or MASH with amazing theme songs but Fresh Prince is just a legend. I would like to dedicate this point to all these amazing TV shows that followed me in my childhood! I love how the Fresh Prince theme song is sung by Will Smith, who played the main character in the show and even composed the lyrics. This is insanely authentic!

1. Dragonheart - Randy Edelman

To be honest, I have not heard much more about Randy Edelman and I don't remember his other works but I certainly remember To the Stars piece from Dragonheart. I am not sure why but this song is to me the most beautiful song I have ever heard in movies. The simple melody that is slowly getting more and more rich with added instruments just always makes me emotional. I would call this song the hidden gem of film soundtracks.

Of course there are other amazing songs like soundtracks by John Williams (Star Wars, Indiana Jones), theme songs of movies like Rocky, Braveheart, TV shows like Game of Thrones, which I also love but didn't decide to include in the list. The list contains music that are really closest to my heart. I also tried to include not that well-known ones to maybe show people something they never heard. That reminds me of one more interesting song that caught my attention years ago. It's the theme song of movie Letters from Iwo Jima Let me know what are your favorite film songs in the comments. Another name that comes to my mind now is Marco Frisina, composer of many soundtracks for movies about famous persons of Catholic history. His music is literally heavenly. I love his song Laudato si' mi Signore from Clare and Francis movie. I was also astonished by the soundtrack of Japanese historical drama Ryoumaden, especially ?this vocal song by Yucca. If you are looking for free music for your own projects, visit my library of my own original pieces.

Keywords: original soundtrack, music, orchestral, instrumental
#cinema #cinematography #filmost #filmmusic