Tangerine Dream and Vangelis might be more renowned for their soundtrack work, but Brian Eno was also in the vanguard of electronic composers challenging the dominance of traditional orchestration in film and TV. Yet what sets his work apart from those other artists is the humanity he injects into his music; rather than presenting electronic textures and atmospheres as signifiers of modernity or the future, he uses them instead as channels for emotion and abstraction. After all, Eno’s concept of ‘ambient music’ is perfect for the movies – sonic mood pieces that enhance what’s happening onscreen rather than overpowering it.
With hundreds of pieces of his music used in films and TV programmes, the 17 songs included on Film Music