James Horner

 

Born: August 14, 1953
Died: June 22, 2015









James Horner began playing the piano by the age of 5 and spent some of his early years in London where he attended the Royal Academy of Music. Horner composed his first major score for the 1979 film The Lady in Red, however his big breakthrough came with writing the score for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in 1982, followed by Star Trek III: The Search for Spock  in 1984.

1995 is considered by many to be the best year in Horner's career, as he composed six film scores, namely: Braveheart, Apollo 13, Casper, Jade, Jumanji and Balto.

James Horner had a long-running relationship with the Amblin Entertainment studio and composed many of the film scores for their children's movies including: An American Tail, The Land Before Time and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. Horner finally won two Academy Awards in 1997, one for Best Original Score for Titanic and the other for Best Original Song for "My Heart Will Go On," also for Titanic. In 2009, Horner composed the score for the smash hit Avatar and before his untimely death had been contracted to compose the music for the sequels.


Biography of James Horner- Wikipedia

On June 22, 2015, James Horner tragically died at the age of 61 when his airplane crashed into the Los Padres National Forest. The crash was ruled an accident and his death was confirmed the next day. Horner was survived by his wife and two children. The film industry mourned his passing, with tributes coming from Hans Zimmer, Ron Howard and James Cameron.

New York Times Obituary

For further information on James Horner's music and films he composed for, check out these two links below:
James Horner Film Music
James Horner IMDb


Notable Films of James Horner
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan- Wikipedia

The second Star Trek feature film is undoubtedly the film that made James Horner famous. After Star Trek: The Motion Picture received a less-than-ideal response, Gene Roddenberry and the creative team were determined that the next film should go in a different direction. To that end, when James Horner was brought on as the composer, he was explicitly told that he should write a main theme that did not sound like the theme created by Jerry Goldsmith. That is why the main theme of Wrath of Khan sounds so different from The Motion Picture.

• The Difficult Journey of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• Remembering Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan-30 years later

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock- Wikipedia

Having composed the scores for two Star Trek films back to back, Horner was once asked in an interview if he preferred one over the other. Horner replied that while he enjoyed both, he actually preferred the score to The Search for Spock because it was in the latter film that he was able to fully develop themes begun in Wrath of Khan. He also stated that he considered the two scores to be one giant composition, the score for the latter picking up musically where the first one left off.

• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock isn't 'Trek-Lite'

Aliens- Wikipedia

Believe it or not, it is only a coincidence that two of James Horner's most famous scores (Wrath of Khan and Aliens) immediately followed films scored by Jerry Goldsmith (The Motion Picture and Alien). The sequel to the 1979 smash hit differed significantly from its predecessor in several ways. First, the sequel was clearly planned out as an action film, whereas Alien belongs to the horror genre. Second, whereas the first film featured only one xenomorph, the sequel included dozens of the creatures, as well as the introduction of the terrifying Alien Queen. This change in tone necessitated a different style of music. And since Horner had recently done the score for The Search for Spock, his recent experience with science fiction may have influenced why he was chosen for this film. As several posts will note (see the Deja vu series for more), much of the music heard in Aliens was taken directly from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Though many criticize this decision,
I feel that the score is a perfect fit for an action film that is quite scary
but full of a good story as well.

• Aliens- Xenopedia

Krull- Wikipedia

Krull is one of those movies that often gets the short end of the stick with critics. Released in 1983, it is one of a number of movies released post-Star Wars that tried (and didn't quite succeed) to play on the science fiction craze that had gripped movie audiences. To that end, Krull is meant to be an amalgamation of high fantasy and science fiction (i.e the good guys fight with swords and "ancient magic" while the bad guys and his minions fight with laser weapons). Convoluted plot aside (it is never clearly explained why marrying the princess will ensure one is able to rule the galaxy aside from the fact that she possesses some magic), the movie is nowadays considered to be a cult classic and is noteworthy here because it features an excellent score by the young James Horner (Check the archive for a clip of "Ride of the Firemares," my favorite selection from that film).

• Schlock & Awe: Krull

The Land Before Time- Wikipedia

Besides composing epic science fiction music, James Horner also wrote many scores for children's films, primarily with Amblin Entertainment (a company co-founded by Steven Spielberg). One of these films was the 1988 animated film The Land Before Time. Horner composed a quirky score to follow the adventures of Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike as they are forced to work together to reach "The Great Valley," a haven full of food that will keep them safe from the menacing Sharptooth. The music is particularly haunting at times, especially with the cue that references Littlefoot missing his mother.

Cocoon- Wikipedia
An American Tail
Titanic
Avatar
Braveheart
Apollo 13
Casper
A Beautiful Mind
Troy