Franz Waxman (né Wachsmann; December 24, 1906 – February 24, 1967) was a German-born composer and conductor of Jewish descent, known primarily for his work in the film music genre.

At the age of three Waxman suffered a serious eye injury involving boiling water tipped from a stove, which left his vision permanently impaired.

That year Waxman suffered a severe beating by Nazi sympathizers in Berlin that led him to leave Germany and move with his wife first to Paris,[5] and soon after to Hollywood.

"[9] In 1943, Waxman left MGM and moved to Warner Bros., where he worked alongside such great film composers as Max Steiner and Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

[11] Waxman's goal with the LA Music Festival was to bring the thriving town to "European cultural standards", according to Tony Thomas.

[6] In addition to performing the work of great masters such as Stravinsky, he also collaborated with his colleagues, such as Miklós Rózsa, conducting his Violin Concerto.

[13] Waxman had used classical forms before: the climactic "Creation" cue from The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), as Christopher Palmer expresses it, "is in effect a fantasia on one note.

The score is fast-paced and powerful, utilizing various techniques to highlight the insanity of Norma Desmond, including low pulsing notes (first heard in The Bride of Frankenstein) and frequent trills.

According to Mervyn Cooke, Richard Strauss's opera Salome was the inspiration for the wild trills heard during Desmond's insane final performance.

Charles Gerhardt and the National Philharmonic Orchestra played highlights from various Waxman scores for an RCA Victor recording in the early 1970s that utilized Dolby surround sound.

The music for Taras Bulba has been recorded by the [City of Prague Philharmonic/Nic Raine, on 2 cd Tadlow013-2] The American Film Institute ranked Waxman's score for Sunset Boulevard No.