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James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American composer and conductor. He worked on more than 160 film and television productions between 1978 and 2015. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements alongside traditional orchestrations, and for his use of motifs associated with Celtic music.
Horner won two Academy Awards for his musical composition to James Cameron's Titanic (1997), which became the best-selling orchestral film soundtrack of all time. He also wrote the score for the highest-grossing film of all time, Cameron's Avatar (2009). Horner's other Oscar-nominated scores were for Aliens (1986), An American Tail (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Apollo 13 (1995), Braveheart (1995), A Beautiful Mind (2001), and House of Sand and Fog (2003). Horner's other notable scores include (1982), Willow (1988), The Land Before Time (1988), Glory (1989), The Rocketeer (1991), Legends of the Fall (1994), Jumanji (1995), Casper (1995), Balto (1995), The Mask of Zorro (1998), Deep Impact (1998), The Perfect Storm (2000), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), Troy (2004), The New World (2005), The Legend of Zorro (2005), Apocalypto (2006), The Karate Kid (2010), and The Amazing Spider-Man (2012).
Horner collaborated on multiple projects with directors including James Cameron, Don Bluth, Ron Howard, Joe Johnston, Edward Zwick, Walter Hill, Mel Gibson, Vadim Perelman, Jean-Jacques Annaud, Nicholas Meyer, Wolfgang Petersen, Martin Campbell, Phil Nibbelink and Simon Wells; producers including Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, David Kirschner, Brian Grazer, Jon Landau, and Lawrence Gordon; and songwriters including Will Jennings, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Adding to his two Academy Awards win, Horner also won six Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, and was nominated for three BAFTA Awards.
Horner, who was an avid pilot, was killed in a single-fatality crash while flying his Short Tucano turboprop aircraft. He was 61 years old. The scores for his final three films, Southpaw (2015), The 33 (2015) and The Magnificent Seven (2016), were all completed and released posthumously.
Horner started playing piano at the age of five. He also played violin. He spent his early years in London, where he attended the Royal College of Music, where he studied with György Ligeti. He returned to America, where he attended Verde Valley School in Sedona, Arizona, and later received his bachelor's degree in music from the University of Southern California. After earning a master's degree, he started work on his doctorate at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he studied with Paul Chihara, among others. After several scoring assignments with the American Film Institute in the 1970s, he finished teaching a course in music theory at UCLA, then turned to film scoring.MacDonald, Laurence E. The invisible art of film music: a comprehensive history. Ardsley House Publishers, 1998: p. 328 [3]
Horner's big break came in 1982 when he was asked to score . It established him as an A-list Hollywood composer. Director Nicholas Meyer quipped that Horner was hired because the studio could no longer afford the first Trek movie's composer, Jerry Goldsmith; but that by the time Meyer returned to the franchise with , the studio could not afford Horner either.
Horner continued writing high-profile film scores in the 1980s, including 48 Hrs. (1982), Krull (1983), (1984), Commando (1985), Cocoon (1985), Aliens (1986), Captain EO (1986), *batteries not included (1987), Willow (1988), Glory and Field of Dreams (both 1989). Cocoon was the first of his many collaborations with director Ron Howard.
In 1987, Horner's original score for Aliens brought him his first Academy Award nomination. "Somewhere Out There," which he co-composed and co-wrote with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil for An American Tail, was also nominated that year for Best Original Song.
Throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, Horner wrote orchestral scores for family films (particularly those produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment), with credits for An American Tail (1986); The Land Before Time (1988); The Rocketeer, Once Around and (1991); Sneakers (1992); Once Upon a Forest and We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993); The Pagemaster (1994); Casper, Jumanji and Balto (1995); Mighty Joe Young (1998); and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000).
In 1990, Horner conducted a new fanfare for Universal Pictures which was first used in Back to the Future Part III.
Horner scored six films in 1995, including his commercially successful and critically acclaimed works for Braveheart and Apollo 13, both of which received Academy Award nominations.
Horner's biggest critical and financial success came in 1997 with his score for James Cameron's Titanic. At the 70th Academy Awards, Horner received the Oscar for Best Original Dramatic Score, and shared the Oscar for Best Original Song with co-writer Will Jennings for "My Heart Will Go On". The film's score and song also won three Grammy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. (Ten years earlier, Horner had vowed never to work with Cameron again, referring to the highly stressful scoring sessions for Aliens as "a nightmare.")
After Titanic, Horner continued to compose for major productions, including The Perfect Storm, A Beautiful Mind, Enemy at the Gates, The Mask of Zorro, The Legend of Zorro, House of Sand and Fog and Bicentennial Man. He also worked on smaller projects such as Iris, Radio and . He received his eighth and ninth Academy Award nominations for A Beautiful Mind (2001) and House of Sand and Fog (2003), but lost on both occasions to composer Howard Shore.
Horner composed the 2006–2011 theme for the CBS Evening News, which was introduced during the debut of anchor Katie Couric on September 5, 2006. He wrote various treatments of the theme, explaining, "One night the show might begin with the Iranians obtaining a nuclear device, and another it might be something about a flower show... The tone needs to match the news."Brooks Barnes, "CBS, Katie Couric Have Already Made Sweet Music Together", Wall Street Journal, September 5, 2006, p. A1.
Horner collaborated again with James Cameron on his 2009 film Avatar, which became the highest-grossing film of all time, surpassing Cameron's own Titanic. Horner worked exclusively on Avatar for over two years. He said, " Avatar has been the most difficult film I have worked on, and the biggest job I have undertaken... I work from four in the morning to about ten at night, and that's been my way of life since March. That's the world I'm in now, and it makes you feel estranged from everything. I'll have to recover from that and get my head out of it."
Avatar brought Horner his tenth Academy Award nomination, as well as nominations for the Golden Globe Award, British Academy Film Award and Grammy Award, all of which he lost to Michael Giacchino for Up.
After Avatar, Horner wrote the score for the 2010 version of The Karate Kid, replacing Atli Örvarsson. In 2011, he scored Cristiada (also known as For Greater Glory), which was released a year later; and Black Gold. In 2012 he scored The Amazing Spider-Man. In an interview on his website, Horner revealed that he did not return to compose the score for the sequel because he did not like how the movie resulted in comparison to the first movie, calling it "dreadful." He was replaced by Hans Zimmer. James Horner's theme for The Amazing Spider-Man would later be incorporated into the film , composed by Michael Giacchino.
In early 2015, after a three-year hiatus, Horner wrote the music for the adventure film Wolf Totem, his fourth collaboration with director Jean-Jacques Annaud.
At the time of his death, Horner had scored two films yet to be released: Southpaw, a boxing drama directed by Antoine Fuqua (Horner wrote the score for free, due to his love for the film) and The 33, for director Patricia Riggen.
In July 2015, a month after his death, it was discovered Horner had also written the score for the 2016 remake of The Magnificent Seven, planning it as a surprise.
Horner's scores are also heard in trailers for other films. The climax of Bishop's Countdown, from his score for Aliens, ranks as the fifth most commonly used soundtrack cue in trailers.
Horner also wrote the theme music for the Horsemen P-51 Aerobatic Team, and appears in The Horsemen Cometh, a documentary about the team and the P-51 Mustang fighter plane. The theme is heard at the team's airshow performances.
The heroic theme from Willow is based on that of Robert Schumann's Rhenish Symphony. Field of Dreams includes cues from the "Saturday Night Waltz" portion of Aaron Copland's ballet Rodeo and Copland's score from Our Town. Horner blended part of an early theme from the third movement of Shostakovich's Symphony no. 5 into an action scene in Patriot Games. Musical motifs from 48 Hrs. are recycled into Commando, Red Heat, and Another 48 Hrs.. The climactic battle scene in Glory includes excerpts from Richard Wagner and Carl Orff. "Glory", in The score from "Prometheus" borrows from "Glory." Filmtracks: Modern Soundtrack Reviews (1998, 2006).
Some critics felt these propensities made Horner's compositions inauthentic or unoriginal.Thomas Muething, "Wen immer es angeht" (To Whom It May Concern), in: Der Deutsche Film Musik-Dienst, Nr.30/1995 (in German)Alex Ross, "Oscar Scores" , in The New Yorker, March 9, 1998.Lukas Kendall & Jeff Bond, "Letters about James Horner's Titanic," In a 1997 issue of Film Score Monthly, an editorial review of Titanic said Horner was "skilled in the adaptation of existing music into films with just enough variation to avoid legal troubles".
Several critics have noted stark similarities between Bravehearts "Main Theme" and an earlier theme song, Kaoru Wada's "Pai Longing" from the 1991 Japanese anime series 3×3 Eyes.
On at least one occasion, Horner's musical "borrowing" almost led to litigation. Horner's main title for Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) incorporates cues from the score by Nino Rota from Federico Fellini's film Amarcord (1973) and Raymond Scott's piece "Powerhouse B" (1937), the latter often referenced in Carl Stalling's Warner Bros. cartoon scores. Scott's piece was used without payment or credit, leading his estate to threaten legal action against Disney. Disney paid an undisclosed sum in an out-of-court settlement and changed the film's cue sheets to credit Scott.
Post-accident investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed that the leading cause of the accident was Horner's inability to maintain clearance from terrain during low-level airwork. During the flight, Horner contacted the Southern California Air Route Traffic Control Center, from whom he received advisories while flying over the Chumash Wilderness area. The NTSB interviewed two witnesses of the flight, who were in their homes when Horner flew over them; one said that the plane was flying at between . FAA radar data showed that the plane had made multiple low-altitude turns and performed rapid altitude change maneuvers, flying low through Quatal Canyon and skimming mountain ridgelines by less than .
In addition to Horner's failing to maintain clearance, the NTSB determined there were other key factors that led to the accident. Foremost among these was Horner's use of prescription medications for pain relief and headaches. Toxicology testing found butalbital, codeine and ethanol in Horner's body (although the ethanol may have been due to ingestion or produced by microbial activity after his death).
Many celebrities, including Russell Crowe, Diane Warren and Celine Dion, also gave their condolences. Dion, who sang "My Heart Will Go On", one of Horner's most popular compositions, which is considered Dion's signature song, wrote on her website that she and husband René Angélil were "shaken by the tragic death" of their friend and "will always remember his kindness and great talent that changed her career".
Leona Lewis, who recorded Horner's "I See You" for Avatar, said working with him "was one of the biggest moments of my life." The final films for which he composed the score, Southpaw, The 33 and The Magnificent Seven, were all dedicated to his memory, as was the film Hacksaw Ridge. , which Horner was set to work on before he died, was also dedicated to his memory (as well as actor Bill Paxton, who died in 2017 and appeared in films Aliens and Titanic scored by the composer).
In October 2013, Horner received the Max Steiner Award at the Hollywood in Vienna Gala, an award given for extraordinary achievement in the field of film music. James Horner to receive Max Steiner Award, January 24, 2013. Retrieved March 4, 2013
Personal life
Horner was also a qualified private pilot and owned several small airplanes. His studio was filled with small automatons and objects which he purchased and collected over time. After his death, Horner's widow and daughter disclosed that he was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome.
Death
Horner was killed on June 22, 2015, when his turboprop aircraft, a Short Tucano with registration number N206PZ, crashed into the Los Padres National Forest near Ventucopa, California. Horner was the only occupant of the aircraft when it took off after fueling at Camarillo Airport. Three days later, on June 25, the Ventura County Medical examiner's Office ruled the crash an accident.
Tributes
Contemporaries and collaborators around the world paid their respects to Horner, including composers Hans Zimmer, John Williams, Paul Williams and Alan Menken, and directors Ron Howard and James Cameron. Horner was reported to have been committed to the Avatar franchise; Cameron said "There's so much music he could have done. We were looking forward to our next gig." Horner's assistant, Sylvia Patrycja, wrote on her Facebook page, "We have lost an amazing person with a huge heart and unbelievable talent who died doing what he loved."
Legacy
Horner's extensive papers and archives are preserved and available for researchers at the UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library Special Collections and Archives. The film, The World of James Horner – Hollywood in Vienna (2013), directed by Sandra Tomek was dedicated to Horner.
Awards and nominations
Horner won two Academy Awards, for Best Original Dramatic Score ( Titanic) and Best Original Song ("My Heart Will Go On") in 1998, and was nominated for an additional eight Oscars. He also won two Golden Globe Awards, three Satellite Awards, three Saturn Awards, six , and was nominated for three British Academy Film Awards. Czech American Timeline by Miloslav Rechcigl, Jr. (2013), pp. 402
AFI
In 2005, the American Film Institute unveiled their list of the top twenty-five American film scores. Five of Horner's scores were among 250 nominees, making him the most nominated composer to not make the top twenty-five.
List of accolades
Academy Awards 1987 Best Original Score Aliens Best Original Song "Somewhere Out There" (from An American Tail; shared with Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann) 1990 Best Original Score Field of Dreams 1996 Best Original Dramatic Score Apollo 13 Braveheart 1998 Titanic Best Original Song "My Heart Will Go On" (from Titanic; shared with Will Jennings) 2002 Best Original Score A Beautiful Mind 2004 House of Sand and Fog 2010 Avatar BAFTA Awards 1996 Best Film Music Braveheart 1998 Titanic 2010 Avatar Chicago Film Critics Association 1995 Best Original Score Apollo 13 1997 Titanic 2001 A Beautiful Mind 2009 Avatar Golden Globe Awards 1987 Best Original Song "Somewhere Out There" (from An American Tail; shared with Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann) 1990 Best Original Score Glory 1992 Best Original Song "Dreams to Dream" (from ; shared with Will Jennings) 1995 Best Original Score Legends of the Fall 1996 Braveheart 1998 Titanic Best Original Song "My Heart Will Go On" (from Titanic; shared with Will Jennings) 2002 Best Original Score A Beautiful Mind 2010 Avatar Best Original Song "I See You" (from Avatar; shared with Kuk Harrell and Simon Franglen) Grammy Awards 1987 Best Instrumental Composition Aliens 1988 Song of the Year "Somewhere Out There" (from An American Tail; shared with Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann) Best Song Written Specifically For A Motion Picture Or Television Best Album Of Original Instrumental Background Score Written For A Motion Picture Or Television An American Tail 1990 Best Instrumental Composition Field of Dreams Best Album Of Original Instrumental Background Score Written For A Motion Picture Or Television 1991 Best Instrumental Composition Written For A Motion Picture Or For Television Glory 1996 Best Song Written Specifically For A Motion Picture Or Television "Whatever You Imagine" (from The Pagemaster; shared with Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann) 1999 Record of the Year "My Heart Will Go On" (from Titanic; shared with Will Jennings) Song of the Year Best Song Written For A Motion Picture Or For Television 2003 Best Score Soundtrack Album For A Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media A Beautiful Mind 2011 Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media "I See You" (from Avatar; shared with Kuk Harrell and Simon Franglen) Best Score Soundtrack Album For A Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media Avatar Satellite Awards 1997 Best Original Score Titanic Best Original Song "My Heart Will Go On" (from Titanic; shared with Will Jennings) 2001 Best Original Score A Beautiful Mind Best Original Song "All Love Can Be" (from A Beautiful Mind; shared with Will Jennings) 2003 Best Original Score The Missing 1983 Best Music Brainstorm Krull Something Wicked This Way Comes 1985 Cocoon 1986 An American Tail 1989 Honey, I Shrunk the Kids 1995 Braveheart 2000 How the Grinch Stole Christmas 2009 Avatar
List of scores
External links
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