Show of hands: how many of you watch vintage Hollywood movies like Dr. Zhivago (1965) Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Further back in time is the four-hour romance epic, Gone with the Wind (1939) based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell. The film is probably alien to today’s younger set, never mind that it won no less than eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Admittedly, the film, like so many other period movies, is more relatable at the time than it is now. But it is an iconic film with an iconic film score. Indeed, Tara’s Theme (the film score) influenced generations of film music and is partly the reason why even today, we have film composers instead of just digital compilations in the background.  

Tara’s Theme is introduced in the opening scene and remains the main theme throughout the movie. Its composer is Austrian-born Max Steiner, a child prodigy who came to Hollywood in 1929. After scoring King Kong (1933), he composed a number of important works of which Tara’s Theme was the most famous, joining the list of the most recognizable film scores of all time.