Hans Zimmer could have easily won for his score in Gladiator also. That being said I'm glad that Tan Due won for Crouching, Tiger, Hidden Dragon not only was the score great it featured some great solo work by Yo-Yo Ma who also is a big fan of Ennio Morricone. He has a album where he covers some of Morricone's best work "Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone".