[Thor Joachim Haga]

Born 1937:

Michael Gibbs — retired?

I sometimes confuse him with Richard Gibbs, but I always thought he was younger. When I saw his name attached to John Woo’s HARD BOILED (1992) way back when, I did not expect it to be a guy who was already in his mid 50s when he did that. His score for BEING HUMAN is also good, but otherwise I don’t know a lot about him.

Philip Glass — still active

Icon. Nothing much else to say. Good to see him keeping busy, even with scores – as late as 2023 and Reggio’s ONCE WITHIN A TIME. My favourite is another Reggio collaboration. Not any of the -QATSIs (although they are fine), but the suggestive 2013 score for VISITORS.

Anthony Hopkins — still active

His composing chops are of course totally overshadowed by his acting chops (he’s my second favourite actor of all time). But he’s done some pretty decent stuff. The waltz he wrote awhile back is fairly simplistic, but some of the scores – often for his own films – have been interesting. The best is unquestionably the warm and breezy AUGUST (1996).

David Shire — retired?

I say retired, but I’ve seen him attend various events in recent years. So he’s still out and about, even if he doesn’t write music anymore, AFAIK. Of course, he made a “comeback” of sorts with David Fincher’s ZODIAC (2007). My favourite as a “concept” is probably the 12-tone jazz he wrote for THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1-2-3, but otherwise maybe brief score for THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP. I heartily recommend the promo compilation he released in 2002, which displays all his “faces” as a composer.