I have put together a list of my top ten most relaxing soundtrack cues. They are individual tracks from various original score soundtracks. Some of these come from soundtracks with many relaxing cues, while others are part of a more diverse score. Piano and string instruments are pretty common here, as well as romantic or tragic themes. If you want some soundtrack music to relax to, these are the cues I recommend.

1. Central Park from King Kong by James Newton Howard. James Newton Howard has recently become one of my favorite composers with his mastery of emotional themes. In King Kong, most of the music is centered around the film’s action. “Central Park” is cued for a break from the action to enjoy a beautiful moment of friendship. The melody starts briefly with a woodwind, soon to be taken over by piano. As it builds, the woodwind appears again and strings join in. The theme is simple, but the variations in instruments and back up sounds give it a nice feeling of progression.

2. The Portrait from Back to Titanic by James Horner. Winning an Academy Award for Titanic, James Horner composed a very beautiful and tragic score “The Portrait” is a soft piano piece which uses the love theme from the movie. The theme is used throughout the soundtrack, but this is the only track where it is played on a piano. The result is a very beautiful piece of music.

3. Theme From Schindler’s List from Schindler’s List by John Williams. Although John Williams excels at big orchestrated epic soundtracks, he is also quite skilled at producing slower and more emotional soundtracks, such as Schindler’s List, for which he won an Oscar. Iztak Perlman on the violin dominates the soundtrack, providing a voice for the tragic movie. “Theme From Schindler’s List” is primarily Perlman on the violin with a few supporting instruments. The theme is a minor melody which perfectly conveys the sadness felt in the movie.

4. The Vote from The Village by James Newton Howard. In my opinion, The Village is James Newton Howard’s best score, and it was Oscar nominated. Although the movie was at many times tense and suspenseful, the soundtrack only contains a little tense music. The majority of it is beautiful melodies featuring violinist Hilary Hahn. “The Vote” is one such cue, and I chose it because it maintains the peaceful tone of the violin without the tension that appears in some other cure. However, “The Gravel Road” is my favorite cue, and many others are quite nice too.

5. Pan’s Labyrinth Lullaby from Pan’s Labyrinth by Javier Navarrete. A Spanish film, Pan’s Labyrinth is a dark fantasy filled with haunting moments. The score captures the feelings of the movie brilliantly. The main theme is a lullaby, which is hummed at the beginning of the film and used throughout in other forms. As the credits roll at the end, “Pan’s Labyrinth Lullaby” is a cue which uses a string version of the melody. It is wonderfully emotional and tragic. Many other cues in the soundtrack use the lullaby as their base, and are also very enjoyable.

6. A Way of Life from The Last Samurai by Hans Zimmer. While The Last Samurai has quite a bit of action in it, the score also focuses on the more cultural aspects of the film. “A Way of Life” uses Japanese instruments to create a peaceful atmosphere for the Japanese culture. This is one of Hans Zimmer’s best scores, and I was quite surprised it was ignored by the Oscars. In addition to the quiet atmospheric cues, there is also a wonderfully epic main theme, which can be heard near the end of “A Way of Life”.

7. Ice Dance from Edward Scissorhands by Danny Elfman. Known for his scoring of horror, sci-fi, and “odd” movies, Danny Elfman creates unique and memorable scores. Edward Scissorhands is no exception, and “Ice Dance” is a cue filled with wonder. A choir provides the main melody, supported by string instruments. The cue starts out slow and quiet, and picks up about halfway through to include the main theme of the movie. Quite a few other tracks on this soundtrack have similar sounds and beauty.

8. Kyrie for the Magdalene from The Da Vinci Code by Hans Zimmer. Hans Zimmer has scored a number of action movies, so the soundtrack for The Da Vinci Code took me a little by surprise. It is less epic and more mysterious. He acheives an amazingly reverent tone in “Kyrie for the Magdalene” through his use of choir and Latin lyrics. The music is very fitting for a movie about religious conspiracy.

9. Evenstar from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by Howard Shore. All three Lord of the Rings movies featured some amazing scoring by Howard Shore. His use of choral music and development of musical themes was incredible. “Evenstar” features the love theme between Aragorn and Arwen. The primary melody is sung by Isabel Bayrakdarian, with backup vocals and strings. The cue is similarly calming to the musical themes for the elves.

10. A Gift of a Thistle from Braveheart by James Horner. James Horner was nominated for an Academy Award for Braveheart, and along with Titanic, it is one of his best scores. “A Gift of a Thistle” begins the romantic theme of the movie. A short track, it starts softly with a woodwind, and as the piece builds, a bagpipe comes in. In the second half of the track, strings take over, finally leading back to the woodwind to finish it. The piece is filled with wonder and a touch of sorrow.

Honorable Mentions

I had a hard time picking just ten relaxing soundtrack cues, so here are a few more.

• The Funeral from Firefly by Greg Edmonson. Firefly is not a movie, it is a television show produced by Joss Whedon, which only saw one season before being cancelled. Then there was enough fan support to create a movie based on it, Serenity, proving that the cancellation was premature. As a “western in space”, the music for Firefly includes a lot of cultural music, which varies quite a bit from episode to episode. “The Funeral”, however, stands out as the best cue. It features a violin melody supported by other strings and piano to mourn the death of a character in the episode. However, since the show cancellation news was recent, the music was also composed to mourn the death of the show, and the tone obtained is appropriately tragic.

• The Council of Elrond from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by Howard Shore. Although I already chose a cue from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I thought it deserved another one. “The Council of Elrond” features the theme used for Rivendell, the home of the elves, and vocals by Enya create the main melody. Enya has a very calming voice, and this cue is no exception. In the latter half of the cue, the music breaks to the fellowship theme and the hobbit theme, which aren’t quite as relaxing, but are still enjoyable.

• The Last Man from The Fountain by Clint Mansell. The first cue in The Fountain soundtrack, “The Last Man” is composed completely of string instruments. It provides a very simple melody which is very calming, and would be appropriate for an activity like meditation.