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I can disagree (politely) with the music from "The Piano" but my opinion could be biased because I didn't like the movie. The music for "To Kill a Mockingbird" was original (in a modern kind of way) but also very lyrical and affective.
I'm with you on the Taxi Driver soundtrack; Bernard Herrmann was great...and Schindler's List is massive and grave.
A lot of my favorite soundtracks are from horror movies. They really exploit tension & release, dynamics and color to the fullest. Off the top of my head...
-The song at the end of The Ring is wickedly good. I don't care for that movie, but Hans Zimmer did the soundtrack and he knows what he's doing. Very gruff, low bass viols, rhythmic and jagged like Bartok or Herrmann.
-THE OMEN SOUNDTRACK. C'mon people. And I mean the original one, by Jerry Goldsmith. It's pure evil.
-The Changeling. This one is a little obscure. George C. Scott plays a composer living in a haunted house and there's lots of nifty solo piano, some original and some by Brahms and Mozart (neat A Minor Rondo I'd never heard).
-The Children of the Corn soundtrack is kind of cheap but effective. Same with the theme from Nightmare on Elm Street.
As others have said, things by John Williams. Also I would point peoples attention to the slow melodies written by Williams.
Another one for the mix is Sharkey's Machine. Burt Reynolds was the star. I can't remember who wrote the score but there's some fantastic jazz being played most of the way through the film.
- Gladiator - The Mexican - Chocolat - Phantom of the Opera
While it's not a favorite, I'm quite fond of how the new Dark Knight movie introduces the chilling Joker theme before he comes on screen. You can feel it coming.
