Ever wondered what soundtracks you might find in Mr Newman's CD-player? Well, Entertainment Weekly asked him to pick his top five soundtracks of all time. This is what he came up with:
In another interview, he was asked by Darren Cavanagh what composers influenced him most and why. Newman: "I like Charles Ives a lot just because he is constantly surprising, a true American composer in-so-far as he seemed more interested in expression for its own sake as opposed to expression that reflected a Western European aesthetic. I like his spirit an awful lot. Who else do I like? I guess I have an ultimate appreciation for John Cage who seems to have inspired everybody who is working today. From rap down to anybody. How we appreciate sound and how sound travels into our ears." Newman also admitted he doesn't listen to much film music, "not because I don't like to, I just haven't. If the other question is what film composers I like? I like a lot of Jerry Goldsmith's work. It's hard to say whether I've been influenced that much by film music though."
Fred Steiner asked him in a recent interview if he had any favorite scores among the classics: "Bernard Herrmann is my big favorite. He created such a strong presence. And having been down that road, I admire his courage. I admire the fact that he had something to say and he took the bull by the horns and sait it no matter what. And I like a lot of Jerry Goldsmith's stuff. I thought the score to Chinatown was an exquisite piece of Hollywood writing. And John Williams."