Jewish composer tops the charts at Classic FM

A Jewish composer has made history with the highest-ranking film score ever in Classic FM’s annual Hall of Fame survey.

The Lord of the Rings by Howard Shore climbed five places to number 8 in the chart, also becoming the highest-placed piece by a Jewish composer in this year’s Top 300. The poll, which has been running on the station since 1996, drew nearly 90,000 votes and was revealed to listeners over the Easter weekend. For the first time, it was topped by a living composer, with Sir Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace displacing Sergei Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2.

Shore’s Oscar-winning film theme was the first appearance in the top 10 by a Jewish composer since Debbie Wiseman’s The Glorious Garden in 2022. Another living composer, Jay Ungar, had the second-highest Jewish composition in the 2026 chart, with The Ashokan Farewell rising a place to number 15. This was followed by Jewish composer George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, a 1924 favourite at number 28.

John Williams was the most successful living composer, with seven pieces, including the theme music to the film Schindler’s List. He was followed by Classic FM Composer in Residence Wiseman, with six entries, whose 2025 A Day May Come (Anthem For VE Day 80) was the highest new entry at number 61.

Another popular living Jewish composer was Hans Zimmer, with five entries in the chart. Zimmer’s Gladiator theme was the most successful of his compositions, at number 39.

A record number of 40 film scores appeared in this year’s chart, with the achievements of Jewish composers in the world of film and television contributing to their success in the Hall of Fame. Overall, the number of pieces by Jewish heritage composers was up slightly, from an estimated 39 in 2025 to 42 in this year’s countdown.

Jewish film and TV composers represented elsewhere included Nigel Hess (Ladies in Lavender), Michael Kamen (Band of Brothers), Elmer Bernstein (The Magnificent Seven) and James Horner (Braveheart). Claude-Michel Schönberg was a new entry with Les Miserables, while Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story re-entered the list.

One notable piece by a non-Jewish composer which remained in the list at number 223 was Kol Nidrei by Max Bruch. Its success originally led many to assume that Bruch was Jewish himself. While the Nazi Party were in power, performances of his music were restricted because he was thought of as a “possible Jew” for having composed music with an openly Jewish theme. Meanwhile, Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Die tote Stadt (which includes Marietta’s Lied) at number 206 was banned by the Nazis because its composer was Jewish.

While Mozart’s 12 entries saw him remain the most popular composer on the chart, there were also appearances by traditional Jewish classical composers such as Gustav Mahler, Felix Mendelssohn, Johan Strauss I (who had a Jewish paternal great grandfather), sitting alongside more contemporary names like Gerald Finzi, Carl Orff (whose paternal grandmother was Jewish) and Aaron Copland.