Original Score
A practical, industry-facing label for music written to fit a specific screen story. The phrase sits closest to film scoring, but it also travels across television and games, where the same basic job applies: support the image, steer the feeling, and leave enough room for the scene to breathe.
Origins and context
The label emerged from film scoring practice, especially in the studio era when synchronized sound made it possible to commission music tailored to specific scenes and narratives. Early history is international, but the modern industry category was consolidated in the United States through Hollywood production and awards practice.
The sound
Characteristics
- Orchestra
- Strings
- Brass
- Woodwinds
- Percussion
- Synthesizers
How to listen
Start here
- Jaws (Original Motion Picture Score)
- Minority Report (Original Motion Picture Score)
- Bones and All (Original Score)
History
The roots of original scoring reach back to silent cinema, when live accompaniment was used to soften projector noise and help a roomful of strangers feel the same beat at the same time. By the 1920s and early 1930s, some films were being given fully composed scores of their own, and the arrival of synchronized sound made that work central rather than incidental. Sources on film music history point to early landmark scores in German and French cinema, while the Academy’s own rules define an original score as a substantial body of original dramatic underscoring. In Hollywood, composers such as Max Steiner and Erich Wolfgang Korngold helped establish the lush, motif-driven language that many listeners still hear as classic film music. Steiner is widely described as a founder of film music, and Korngold is likewise recognized as one of the founders of American film music; both were pivotal in turning the original score into a durable studio-era craft rather than a one-off novelty.
Notable artists
- JWJohn Williams
- HZHans Zimmer
- EMEnnio Morricone
- MSMax Steiner
- EWErich Wolfgang Korngold
Essential listening
- 1
- 2
- 3
Explore connected genres
Sources and further reading
- Oscar music category rules
- Film score
- en.wikipedia.org
Max Steiner is widely described as a major founder of film music, and Erich Wolfgang Korngold is also recognized as one of the founders of American film music.
- John Williams: Biography
- Ennio Morricone official website
- Academy Award for Best Original Score