Of the first six from this episode of Great Film Composers, I had only heard of one. This decade was described as giving us "some of the most exciting and innovative" music and was so much a "fusion of styles".
Alexandre Desplat came from a musical family and composed the music fro a huge number of films in France. But it was 2003's Girl with a Pearl Earring that brought him to the attention of Hollywood. The music was described as a "wonderful, exquisite, perfect score, full of restraint and mood". Syrianna in 2005 was a much more exciting score for this political thriller but still "delicate and haunting". For his Oscar nominated music to The Queen in 2006, Desplat blended trumpets with something more lyrical and romantic. (His work in the next decade is even more amazing).
Argentinian Gustavo Santaolalla is a champion of his home country's folk music and formed a band mixing that with rock. He moved to the USA as a solo musician and was chosen to score 21 Grams (2003) and The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) where he used a guitar to clash with percussion. However he is best known for his "sensual score" for Brokeback Mountain in 2005 for which he won the Academy Award. Again this was guitar focused, The following year he won another Oscar for his score for Babel. The programme described how Santaolalla accompanied director Aledranjo Inarritu to locations all over the world. Using a guitar yet again, he conjured up a sound that sounds "almost improvised".
At last a composer I had heard of. A R Rahman. He was a prolific composer in Indian TV and film before Danny Boyle chose him to score 2008's Slumdog Millionaire, an inspired choice. The pulsating soundtrack combined Indian music with a western feel and won the Academy Award for best score and best song. Jai Ho backed one of the best song and dance sequences I have ever seen.
Cliff Martinez made his early career as drummer for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and captain Beefheart, But it was his work with computers and new technology that led him to be chosen by Steven Soderbergh to compose the score for his first 1989 feature Sex, Lies and Videotape. Martinez went on the score ten of the director's movies. These included the critically acclaimed Traffic in 2000, and Solaris in 2002. Here he used a baritone steel drum that gave an effect that was described as "cosmological". (Again the next decade proved equally fruitful for this composer.)
Marco Beltrami is another talented musician who, amongst many other films, is noted for composing the "music" for The Hurt Locker in 2008. A percussion driven score full of industrial noises that was said to be "a highlight of the decade".
Dany Elfman (the last of this series of composers who I did not know) also had a rock band background and has composed the music for seventeen of Tim Burton's moves. These included Batman in 1989 and Spiderman in 2002. We were given an extract from the latter's great music for the end credits.
Hans Zimmer had already been applauded in an earlier episode, but here the contributors concentrated on 2000's Gladiator for which he was nominated for an Oscar. The opening dream sequence was described and Ian Nathan was impressed as Zimmer "finds his moment".
Of the many movies scored by the English composer John Powell, the programme chose 2002's The Bourne Identity. That particular pulsating beat came from a limited budget after the score form the original composer was rejected.Powell went on to score the sequels and many other films in that decade.
Howard Shore (who also appears in the previous episode) brought a classical orchestral score for the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I was amazed to hear that he composed different themes for each character, plot and location.
Towards the end of the decade, new mainstream popular musicians turned to composing for feature films. Johnny Greenwood from Radiohead was acclaimed for his core for There Will Be Blood in 2007. This was described as an interesting mix of his own work and classical music from the past. It proved that musicians from all different backgrounds could be successful in writing film scores.
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