Who composed the music for the 1974 film adaptation?

Nelson Riddle composed the music for the 1974 film adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

The 1974 film was directed by Jack Clayton and starred Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby, Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan, and Sam Waterston as Nick Carraway. Nelson Riddle supplied the film’s nostalgic period score, helping evoke the music and glamour of the Jazz Age depicted in Fitzgerald’s novel.

Riddle was already famous as an arranger and bandleader, especially for his work with Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, and other major singers. His Gatsby work combined orchestral scoring with period-style popular music. Singer Nick Lucas, for example, recorded new arrangements of songs for the soundtrack under Riddle’s musical direction.

Riddle’s contribution was also recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: he won the Oscar for Best Music, Scoring Adaptation, for the film. Elmer Bernstein and Max Steiner were prominent film composers, while Craig Armstrong scored the much later 2013 adaptation, making them plausible but incorrect alternatives.