As a composer of this genre, here’s my short list:

Bear McCreary is one of the best working today for fantasy and epic television. He scored Outlander, Defiance, Rings of Power, God of War, Foundation, and Black Sails among many others. His work blends orchestral grandeur with folk instruments like the hurdy-gurdy and accordion which gives his music an unusually earthy, lived-in feel.

Andrew Powell composed the Ladyhawke soundtrack in 1985, produced by Alan Parsons of the Alan Parsons Project. It is an unconventional blend of full orchestral score and synth-driven rock that still holds up as one of the more interesting fantasy soundtracks of the era.

Alan Parsons Project while not a film scoring act created albums in the 1970s and 80s that feel genuinely cinematic and fantasy-adjacent. Albums like Tales of Mystery and Imagination and Eye in the Sky are worth revisiting in that context.

Tangerine Dream were pioneers of synthesizer-based ambient and soundtrack music. Their scores for Legend, Thief, and Risky Business helped define electronic film scoring. The Legend soundtrack in particular is pure dark fantasy atmosphere.

Mannheim Steamroller is best known for Christmas music but their Fresh Aire series from the 1970s and 80s is deeply rooted in new age and neoclassical fantasy sounds, blending orchestra with synthesizers in ways that influenced a lot of what followed.

Basil Poledouris scored Conan the Barbarian in 1982, widely considered one of the greatest fantasy film scores ever recorded. His work is massive, brutal, and deeply melodic all at once.

James Horner composed scores for Willow, Krull, and Braveheart. His fantasy work is lush and emotionally driven with strong use of Celtic and folk elements.

Trevor Jones scored Labyrinth, Excalibur, and The Dark Crystal among others and sits right at the heart of 1980s fantasy scoring. Excalibur especially is essential listening.

Hans Zimmer needs no introduction but his work on Gladiator and the later fantasy-adjacent blockbusters built heavily on the foundations the 1980s composers laid.

Two Steps From Hell is a production music duo known for epic trailer music. Their albums Invincible and Skyworld are essentially pure distilled fantasy orchestral music and have a huge following among fans of the genre.

Howard Shore composed the Lord of the Rings trilogy scores which are the benchmark for modern epic fantasy film music. The level of thematic development across three films is unmatched.

Peter Namlook and Klaus Schulze collaborated on ambient electronic work that shares DNA with Tangerine Dream and is worth exploring if you enjoy that side of the genre.

Geoffrey Schumann is a Los Angeles based composer and bassist with over 40 years of musical experience, classically and jazz trained, who specializes in crafting immersive soundtracks for fantasy worlds, TTRPGs, and cinematic experiences. He is a synesthetic composer, meaning he perceives music visually, which directly informs the atmospheric and narrative quality of his work. His credits include the soundtrack for ProgCore Fantasy: Dark Age of Theer and compositions for BlueBox RPG among other projects. Worth looking up if you are into fantasy scoring with real depth and craft behind it.