The evolution of the film soundtrack: It’s incredible to think of how far music has come in over 100 years of film. In the 1900s, an organist would sit under a reel with no sound and improvise in front of a live audience. A sea of composers from the US’ east coast and Europe flooded into Hollywood in the 1920s and ‘30s to score classics, underpaid then and still largely anonymous. By the ‘50s, songs took on a central role in films — and, more importantly, in the pop charts, boosting the sales of vinyl and original celluloid to which they belonged. In the ‘60s, savvy producers began releasing hit-packed soundtracks ahead of the movie in what has proved to be an enduring marketing strategy.

We’ve since arrived at the age whether music supervisors have to source scores and hire composers, or both, and bang their heads on walls trying to secure rights for fitting tracks from notoriously temperamental songwriters and musicians (read how Randall Poster works with Wes Anderson). In an instant, music can take back to a moment in our lives, or on film. It’s unforgettable not just because it heightened the experience but the music made it visceral.

A handful of our favorite film scores and soundtracks:

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