Popular Film Scores

Film scores have a funny way of sneaking up on you. You might not remember every line of dialogue or even how the film ends, but years later you can still hear the piano theme in your head, note for note. The piano, when it’s done right, doesn’t shout. It sits there quietly wrecking you emotionally while pretending it’s just a few simple chords. Here are five of the most popular and enduring film scores where the piano does the heavy lifting, and does it brilliantly.

Titanic

Let’s start with Titanic (1997), because there’s no getting away from it. James Horner’s score is best known for My Heart Will Go On, but strip away the vocals and what you’re left with is a piano-led theme that carries the entire film’s emotional weight. Horner uses the piano sparingly, often letting it drift in and out like a memory rather than a statement. It’s simple, almost fragile, and that’s exactly why it works. You don’t notice it consciously at first, but by the time the ship’s going down, the piano has already done its job and you’re emotionally finished.

Amélie

Then there’s Amélie (2001), which is practically the poster child for piano-based film scores. Yann Tiersen’s music is inseparable from the film itself. The piano pieces are playful, melancholic, slightly wonky, and full of character, much like Amélie herself. Tracks like Comptine d’un autre été became global favourites, not because they’re flashy, but because they feel human. You can play them in a quiet room and suddenly Paris exists in your head, even if you’ve never been anywhere near Montmartre.

The Piano

If you want piano music that doesn’t mess about emotionally, The Piano (1993) is the heavyweight. Michael Nyman’s score is relentless in the best possible way. The piano isn’t just an instrument here, it’s the voice of the main character, who barely speaks throughout the film. The repeating motifs, especially in The Heart Asks Pleasure First, are hypnotic and intense, building obsession, desire and frustration into something that feels almost physical. It’s one of those scores where the piano doesn’t decorate the film, it is the film.

Interstellar

Jump forward to something more modern and you get Interstellar (2014). Hans Zimmer is known for wall-of-sound scores, but at the core of Interstellar is a deceptively simple piano theme. Zimmer wrote much of the music before seeing the full script, and it shows in the purity of it. The piano plays these looping patterns that feel suspended in time, which fits a film obsessed with time, distance and memory. Even when the organ and orchestra kick in, the piano remains the emotional anchor. It’s cold, beautiful, and oddly comforting.

La La Land

Finally, there’s La La Land (2016), a film that wears its love of the piano openly. Justin Hurwitz’s score is unapologetically piano-driven, especially in Mia & Sebastian’s Theme. The piano here isn’t background music; it’s part of the story. Sebastian is a pianist, jazz is the heartbeat of the film, and the recurring piano motifs mirror the characters’ relationship as it evolves. What starts as light and hopeful becomes more complex and bittersweet by the end, all without needing words.

What ties all these scores together isn’t technical brilliance or showy playing. It’s restraint. The piano works in film because it leaves space for the audience to feel something themselves. A few notes, well placed, can say more than a full orchestra going flat out. These scores have stuck around because they understand that, and because once you’ve heard them, they tend to move in rent-free and refuse to leave. Obviously having a great instrument such as a Nord, Korg or even a Steinway is essential.

Others Worth A Mention

There are plenty of others circling just outside that top tier too, the ones that might not always make the official “greatest ever” lists but still get under your skin. Forrest Gump (1994) is a good example. Alan Silvestri’s main theme leans heavily on a gentle, almost hesitant piano line that perfectly matches the film’s innocent, reflective tone. It’s soft, unassuming, and quietly devastating if you let it sink in. You hear it and immediately think of a feather drifting through the air, which tells you how tightly the music and imagery are stitched together.

Another one worth mentioning is The Shawshank Redemption (1994). Thomas Newman’s score isn’t showy, but the piano cues scattered throughout the film add a sense of hope and patience, the kind that builds slowly over time. It’s subtle to the point of being almost invisible, but that’s exactly why it works. Like the film itself, the piano doesn’t rush, doesn’t shout, and trusts you to feel it when it matters.