9. "I Could Have Got More..." (Schindler's List, 1993)
The maestro's fifth Academy Award came with Spielberg's black-and-white holocaust masterpiece Schindler's List. Before Liam Neeson became Zeus, Qui Gon Jinn and Aslan, he delivered this great scene in which the industrialist and benefactor Oskar Schindler breaks down because, despite saving hundreds of Jews, he was unable to save even more. Williams' versatility enabled him to step away from the epic orchestral scores that had defined his music throughout the '80s. He explores a more intimate and delicate style rooted in the Hebrew music tradition. He convinced Jewish violinist Itzhak Perlman to play the solo violin on the score, something Perlman agreed to only after witnessing the power of the film's rough cut. The two would work together once more, along with cellist Yo Yo Ma, for 2005's Memoirs Of A Geisha.