Goldstein's Best Scores of 2022

With December days growing colder and darker, it can only mean one thing... The end of 2022 is nigh! And so, in what is becoming an annual tradition at Goldstein, it’s time to take a look back on the best film and television music of the year via our end-of-year playlist.

Our mix opens with Terence Blanchard - the prolific jazz trumpeter and five-time Grammy winner, best known for his scores for the films of Spike Lee. He reunited with director Gina Prince-Bythewood this year for West African historical epic ‘The Woman King’, having previously collaborated for her 2000 debut, ‘Love & Basketball’. 

Other major mainstream hits on our list include ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’, ‘Nope’ and ‘The Batman’. Horror veteran filmmaker John Carpenter, meanwhile, composed music for the Stephen King-penned ‘Firestarter’, as well as the latest instalment in his own ‘Halloween’ franchise.

Indie cinema was a hotbed for great music in 2022, as well. Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough’s score for ‘The Northman’ utilised traditional Viking instruments and percussion, while Son Lux’s for ‘Everything, Everywhere, All At Once’ reportedly took three years to complete! Howard Shore, meanwhile, returned to the Lord of the Rings via ‘Rings of Power’ - but his best work came via the title theme for David Cronenberg's philosophical sci-fi ‘Crimes of the Future’.

There were great new offerings from Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch (‘Living’) and Jung Jae-il (‘Broker’), as well, after they impressed in 2021 via ‘Censor’ and ‘Squid Game’ respectively. Cellist Oliver Coates, meanwhile, staked his claim as breakthrough film composer of 2022, with emphatic scores for bleak Australian true crime feature ‘The Stranger’ and intimate indie drama ‘Aftersun’.

Music in the world of television was similarly outstanding. Our highlights include Danny Elfman’s reimagining of the Addams Family theme for Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’, Nicholas Britell (‘Succession’)’s introduction to the Star Wars universe via ‘Andor’, and Cristobal Tapia de Veer’s title theme revamp for the second season of ‘The White Lotus’.

Check out all of this, and more, on our ‘Best Scores of 2022’ playlist, below.