The great composers of Sherlock Holmes.

Way back in 1996, Varese Sarabande produced a CD of music called Sherlock Holmes -- Classic Themes from 221B Baker Street. It led with Patrick Gowers's theme music from the Jeremy Brett series, which was state-of-the-Sherlock back then, and wandered through the musical filmography of Sherlock Holmes, hitting Stephen Sondheim, Miklos Rozsa, and Henry Mancini before it was done. Very cool for 1996. But twenty years have passed, and Sherlock Holmes really needs a two (or three) volume set now if he is going to be represented on vinyl or CD.

Seeing Hans Zimmer including a little Sherlock Holmes in a program of movie music he was doing inspired this little reverie. Zimmer's music for Robert Downey Jr.'s time as Sherlock has a marvelous feel to it, capturing Holmes in a way unlike any before him. (And got an Oscar nomination for score.)

We also now have the work of David Arnold and Michael Price on BBC's Sherlock, which won an Emmy award, as well as Sean Callery's theme for CBS's Elementary, which may not have won an Emmy but did get nominated.

There are some serious contenders for composer of "best Sherlock Holmes music" these days. Folks with some serious credits to their names coming in to do very good work. But being completist collectors, a modern compilation would surely not stop with those heavy hitters.

We'd also like to see a track from Chris Ridenhour's soundtrack to "Sherlock Holmes and Dinosaurs," as it is affectionately known, from The Asylum films. (The guy did the Sharknado music, as well as a boatload of other such films.)

John Barry's score to They Might Be Giants needs representation. I mean, John Barry! Even if you forget Bond films, he was winning BAFTAs before most Americans knew what BAFTAs were.

And while that earlier CD I mentioned, did have a Henry Mancini track from Without A Clue, what about Mancini's work on The Great Mouse Detective, which one could argue had more real Sherlock Holmes than Without A Clue. Definitely need some of that on there!

An while we're talking animated, Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century has a theme song that's an earworm which will not be denied. Eric Allaman is the composer credited with the show's music, and he also did the music for Sherlock Holmes and the Incident at Victoria Falls, so he definitely deserves inclusion.

What else? A bit of Colin Towns from Hands of a Murderer? Madeline Khan singing with Gene Wilder from The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes's Smarter Brother?  (With all the fuss over Eurus Holmes of late, how can we forget Sigerson Holmes? And damned if I wouldn't pay to see Eurus and Siggy in a movie together.)

 The music that's been created for and inspired by Sherlock Holmes over the years is a deep, deep rabbit hole, and one that deserves collecting in its own right. Actors may stand front and center for any Sherlock Holmes production, but the music . . . ah, the music is always what takes a production over the top. And Holmes has had some great stuff, even when the Holmes in front of it wasn't necessarily so great.

Perhaps one day, we'll see it all gathered in one place for a long, thoughtful tour of his tunes. I sure hope so.