Horner, James

views updated May 14 2018

James Horner

Film composer

Feature Film Scores Propelled Popularity

Earned Acclaim for Titanic Score

Continued Feature Film Success

Selected discography

Sources

Beginning in the 1980s, James Horner has composed music for some of Hollywoods most successful films. He was a pioneer in the use of synthesizers along with traditional orchestras to great effect in his early projects like Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Krull, Wolfen, and Brainstorm. Later in his career, Horner became identified with Celtic themes, which culminated in his multiplatinum soundtrack album for the blockbuster Titanic and several Academy Award nominations. But his talent has not gone unquestioned. According to Filmtracks online, Horner is at the center of many soundtrack fans controversies and discussions. His styles and techniques have been questioned again and again about repetition and attribution.

A native of the United States, Horner grew up in England and began studying piano at Londons Royal College of Music. He moved to the United States in the early 1970s to earn his music degree from the University of Southern California, then took his masters from the University of California at Los Angeles. By the late 1970s Horner had begun to compose for the American Film Institute, a stepping stone to assignments on small, independent films. It was like lightning, he told Los Angeles Times reporter Steven Smith in 1995. I suddenly realized that I could be as expressive as I wanted. Each film was completely different. To me it was no different [than eighteenth-century composer Franz Joseph] Haydn being kept as a court composer, being paid, having the piece performed and given an orchestra. For a while Horner was associated with the legendary B movie producer Roger Corman, scoring low-budget science fiction and fantasy tales.

But even in those early days, there was talk of the influences of the young composer. In a 1982 interview by Randall Larson of Cinemascore, Horner acknowledged that some critics had compared his work to that of the established Hollywood composer Jerry Goldsmith. Im influenced by a lot of people, Horner remarked. A lot of people say that they hear Jerry Goldsmith [in my music], but thats only because they know Jerry Goldsmiths music. I mean, other people think they hear Debussys music or Mahlers music or Strausss music or Beethoven, it just depends on who one talks to.

Feature Film Scores Propelled Popularity

Horners high-profile feature debut came in 1982 with Star Trek II. His soaring orchestrations for that film led producers to hire him for such archetypical 1980s Hollywood fare as Field of Dreams, Cocoon, and Glory. With the animated feature An American Tail, Horner added songwriter to his credentials, penning the award-winning single Somewhere Out There.

Horner continued to rack up movie credits into the 1990s, combining big-budget scores with work for smaller, more serious films. In 1995 he burst back into

For the Record

Born on August 14, 1953, in Los Angeles, CA; married Sarah; children: two daughters. Education: Bachelors degree, University of Southern California; masters degree and Ph.D., music composition and theory, University of California at Los Angeles.

Film composer, 1982; feature-film debut Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; has composed scores and songs for more than 75 films, including Aliens, Cocoon, Glory, Legends of the Fall, Braveheart, Apollo 13, and The Perfect Storm; composer of orchestral scores Spectral Shimmers, 1978, and Titanic symphony; has toured with symphony orchestras.

Awards: Academy Awards, Original Dramatic Score for Titanic and Original Song for My Heart Will Go On from Titanic, 1997; Golden Globes, Best Original Score for Titanic and Best Original Song for My Heart Will Go On from Titanic, 1997; Grammy Awards, Song of the Year and Best Song Written for a Motion Picture for Somewhere Out There from An American Tail, 1987, Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture for Glory, 1990, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Song Written for a Motion Picture for My Heart Will Go On from Titanic, 1998.

Addresses: Agent c/o Gorfaine-Schwartz Agency, 3301 Barham Blvd., Suite 201, Los Angeles, CA 90068.

the national spotlight with an amazing streak of impressive scores, noted the Filmtracks website. Hot off the success of Legends of the Fall, Horner was nominated [for Academy Awards] for both Braveheart and Apollo 13 two ethnically opposite, but stylistically elevated scores. But it was one 1997 project that would propel Horner from industry figure to household name. As the composer recalled in a 1998 Entertainment Weekly article, he knew his life had changed when, at a checkout counter in Woodland Hills, California, a clerk recognized Horners name on his credit card. People began flocking around the musician, who thought he was being accused of shoplifting. But his new fans were merely seeking the autograph of the man who scored the record-breaking hit film Titanic.

Earned Acclaim for Titanic Score

Titanic, based on the true story of the doomed ocean liner, was the second teaming of Horner and director James Cameron. The two had worked together on Camerons feature debut, Aliens. It was a very difficult experience for both of us, Horner recounted in a Hollywood Reporter article by Ray Bennett, because there was so little time for such a mammoth job. I wasnt able to give him every thing he wanted. The two didnt work together again until Titanic. I got a script and I realized that this was a movie I really wanted to do, Horner told Bennett. As it turned out, Cameron loved Horners work on Braveheart. When we finally communicated, we went in for a meeting and the past lasted for about a minute. We just started talking about Titanic

The composer and the director agreed on some salient points: Jim and I both did not want a Hollywood 1940s type big-drama score, said Horner. I also desperately wanted to avoid that precious 1912 English sound, which has also been done many times. The voice, or the color, that I decided to go with was primarily [synthesizers] and vocals because I could do so much with them. Titanic notably employed the Celtic sounds that Horner had developed in Braveheart and other films. Im a fanatic about Irish music, he was quoted on the Filmtracks website. I love its moody, modal and timeless quality. As for his use of vocals, Horner revealed in a 1997 interview for National Public Radio that he preferred voices for their tremendous human quality. I wanted, in Titanic, to give the sense of voices without being a choir. I was scared to death of it becoming like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and a sort of holier-than-thou type of church sound. He synthesized the voices to achieve a sort of quasi-electronic [sound], noting that in the scenes of the ships sinking, theres this whole sort of wailing moaning like a wind, this weird thing. It was sort of the culmination of all of this human quality that I wanted to give it.

The films three-hour-plus length necessitated a long score of 138 minutes, minus the period music played by the ships onboard combo. Still, Horner was compelled to add an original songa lullaby, as he put it in Hollywood Reporter for the end credits. It was more of a compositional decision than a commercial one, he remarked. I never really thought of the commercial side of it. Horners tune, set to the lyrics of Will Jennings, became the ballad My Heart Will Go On, a hit for singer Celine Dion. The Titanic soundtrack, featuring the single, hit record stores in time for Christmas 1997 and quickly soared to the top of the Billboard 200 list. By February of 1998 the Titanic album had gone triple-platinum and became the best-selling film score to that date after ten weeks in stores.

Continued Feature Film Success

Horner released a follow-up album, Back to Titanic, in 1998. This collection featured new orchestrations on the Titanic themes arranged for the London Symphony Orchestra, plus previously unreleased songs from the film. John Puccio of Sensible Sound listened to the collection and pronounced Horner a success. I cant remember when I last sat through and reviewed a movie soundtrack recording. I usually find them repetitive and dull. But I thoroughly enjoyed this second album. Horner returned to watery themes in 2000 with his score for the fishing-boat disaster epic, The Perfect Storm. With the new millennium came new films for Horner to score. Director Ron Howard, who had worked with Horner in Apollo 13, called on him again for How the Grinch Stole Christmas and A Beautiful Mind. Horner also scored the acclaimed sleeper hit, Iris.

Asked by Smith about the secret behind his continuing popularity with directors, Horner replied, I think people hire me for the slightly weird angle that I bring. Part of the trick is keeping it sort of simple; you have to give the impression of not that much music playing when theres really a lot.

Selected discography

Soundtracks

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Crescendo, 1982.

Cocoon, Polydor, 1985.

An American Tail, MCA, 1986.

Aliens, Varese Sarabande, 1987.

Field of Dreams, BMG Novus, 1989.

Glory, Virgin, 1989.

Legends of the Fall, Epic Soundtrax, 1994.

Apollo 13, MCA, 1995.

Braveheart, Polygram, 1995.

Titanic, Sony Classical/Sony Music Soundtrax, 1997.

Deep Impact, Sony Classical, 1998.

The Mask of Zorro, Sony Classical, 1998.

Back to Titanic, Sony Classical, 1999.

The Perfect Storm, Sony Classical, 2000.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Interscope, 2000.

A Beautiful Mind, Decca, 2001.

Enemy at the Gates, Sony Classical, 2001.

Iris, Sony Classical, 2001.

Sources

Periodicals

Entertainment Weekly, January 9, 1998, p. 67; February 6, 1998, p. 60; July 14, 2000, p. 51.

Hollywood Reporter, January 1998.

Los Angeles Times, February 13, 1995.

People, February 16, 1998, p. 26.

Sensible Sound, January 1999, p. 103.

Online

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, http://www.oscar.com/legacy (April 28, 2002).

A Conversation with James Horner, James Horner, http://www.hornershrine.com/interviews/interview1.html (April 15, 2002).

Filmtracks, http://www.filmtracks.com/composers/horner.html (April 28, 2002).

James Horner, Internet Movie Database, http://us.imdb.com (April 15, 2002).

National Public Radio Interview 12/97, James Horner, http://www.hornershrine.com/interviews/NPR.html (July 29, 2002).

Sony Classical, http://www.sonyclassical.com (April 28, 2002).

Susan Salter

Horner, James 1953–

views updated May 09 2018

HORNER, James 1953–

PERSONAL

Full name, James Roy Horner; born August 14, 1953, in Los Angeles, CA; married; wife's name, Sarah; children: two daughters. Education: University of Southern California, B.A.; University of California, Los Angeles, M.A. and Ph.D.; also attended Royal College of Music, London, England; some sources also cite attendance at University of the Pacific.

Addresses: Agent—Gorfaine–Schwartz Agency, 13245 Riverside Dr., Suite 450, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423.

Career: Composer, arranger, musician, music director, and music producer. American Film Institute, scorer of student films, late 1970s; New World Pictures, scorer, beginning c. 1978; composer of music for Captain EO, a short film shown at Disney theme parks, beginning c. 1986; composer of promotional music for film studio tags and production company tags; toured as a performer with symphony orchestras. University of California, Los Angeles, instructor of music theory.

Member: American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.

Awards, Honors: Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, best music, 1982, for 48 Hrs.; Saturn Award, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, best music, for Brainstorm; two Saturn Award nominations, best music, 1984, for Krull and Something Wicked This Way Comes; Grammy Award nomination, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, best instrumental composition, 1986, Film and Television Music Award, American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, top box office film, and Academy Award nomination, best original score, both 1987, all for Aliens; Academy Award nomination, best original song, and Golden Globe Award nomination, best original song for a motion picture, both 1987, Film and Television Music Award, one of the most performed songs from motion pictures, and Grammy awards, song of the year and best song written specifically for a motion picture or for television, all 1988, all with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, for "Somewhere Out There," An American Tail; Grammy Award nomination, best album of original instrumental background score for a motion picture or television, 1988, for An American Tail; Academy Award nomination, best original score, and Grammy Award nomination, best album of original instrumental background score written for a motion picture or television, both 1990, for Field of Dreams; Film and Television Music Award, top box office film, 1990, for Honey, I Shrunk the Kids; Golden Globe Award nomination, best original score for a motion picture, 1990, and Grammy Award, best album or instrumental composition written for a motion picture or for television, 1991, both for Glory; Golden Globe Award nomination (with Will Jennings), best original song for a motion picture, 1992, for "Dreams to Dream," An American Tail: Fievel Goes West; Film and Television Music Award, top box office film, 1993, for Patriot Games; Film and Television Music Award, top box office film, 1994, for The Pelican Brief; Golden Globe Award nomination, best original score for a motion picture, 1995, for Legends of the Fall; Film and Television Music Award, top box office film, 1995, for Clear and Present Danger; Academy Award nomination, best original dramatic score, Golden Globe Award nomination, best original score for a motion picture, and nomination for Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, all 1996, for Braveheart; Film and Television Music Award, top box office film, and Academy Award nomination, best original dramatic score, both 1996, for Apollo 13; Film and Television Music Award, top box office film, 1996, for Casper; Grammy Award nomination (with Mann and Weil), best song written specifically for a motion picture or for television, 1996, for "Whatever You Imagine," The Pagemaster; two Film and Television Music awards, top box office film, 1997, for Courage under Fire and Ransom; Academy Award, best original dramatic score, Golden Globe Award, best original score for a motion picture, Golden Satellite Award, International Press Academy, outstanding original score, Chicago Film Critics Association Award, best original score, Film and Television Music Award, top box office film, and nomination for Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music, all 1998, and American Music Award, outstanding movie soundtrack, 1999, all for Titanic; Academy Award, best original song, Golden Globe Award, best original song for a motion picture, Golden Satellite Award, outstanding original song, and Sierra Award, Las Vegas Film Critics Society, best original song, all 1998, Film and Television Music Award, one of the most performed songs from motion picture, and Grammy awards, record of the year and best song written specifically for a motion picture or for television, all 1999, all with Jennings, all for "My Heart Will Go On," Titanic; two Film and Television Music awards, top box office film, 1999, for Deep Impact and The Mask of Zorro; Saturn Award, best music, and Film and Television Music Award, top box office film, both 2001, for How the Grinch Stole Christmas; Film and Television Music Award, top box office film, 2001, The Perfect Storm; Golden Satellite Award (with Jennings), best original song, 2002, for "All Love Can Be," A Beautiful Mind; Academy Award nomination and Chicago Film Critics Association Award nomination, both best original score, Golden Globe Award nomination, best original score for a motion picture, Golden Satellite Award nomination, best original score, and World Soundtrack Award nomination, soundtrack composer of the year, all 2002, Film and Television Music Award, top box office film, and Grammy Award nomination, best score soundtrack album for a motion picture, television, or other visual media, both 2003, all for A Beautiful Mind; Academy Award nomination, best original score, 2004, for House of Sand and Fog; Golden Satellite Award nomination, best original score, 2004, for The Missing.

CREDITS

Film Work:

Music adaptor, The Lady in Red (also known as Guns, Sin and Bathtub Gin), New World, 1979.

Music conductor, The Dresser, Columbia, 1983.

Music conductor, Krull (also known as Dragons of Krull, Dungeons and Dragons, The Dungeons of Krull, and Krull: Invaders of the Black Fortress), Columbia, 1983.

Music director, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Paramount, 1984.

Music producer, Commando, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1985.

Music conductor and arranger, Aliens, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1986.

Instrumental soloist, Field of Dreams, Universal, 1989.

Musician, Class Action, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1991.

Musician, Sneakers, Universal, 1992.

Music conductor, Swing Kids, Buena Vista, 1993.

Music conductor, We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (animated), Universal, 1993.

Musician, Bopha!, Paramount, 1993.

Orchestra conductor, The Pelican Brief, Warner Bros., 1993.

Music producer and conductor, Jumanji, TriStar, 1995.

Orchestrator, Casper, Universal, 1995.

Orchestrator and keyboard soloist, Braveheart, Paramount, 1995.

(Uncredited) Orchestrator, music producer, and conductor, Apollo 13, Universal, 1995, released as Apollo 13: The IMAX Experience, 2002.

Music conductor, Ransom, Buena Vista, 1996.

Orchestrator, Courage under Fire, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1996.

Orchestrator, The Spitfire Grill (also known as Care of the Spitfire Grill), Columbia, 1996.

Song producer, score orchestrator, and instrumental soloist, Titanic, Paramount, 1997.

Orchestrator, The Mask of Zorro, TriStar/Sony Pictures Entertainment, 1998.

Orchestrator and music conductor, Mighty Joe Young (also known as Mighty Joe), Buena Vista, 1998.

Orchestrator, music producer, and conductor, Deep Impact, Paramount, 1998.

Orchestrator, song producer, and conductor, Bicentennial Man (also known as Der 200 Jahre Mann), Buena Vista, 1999.

Music conductor, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (also known as The Grinch and Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas), MCA/Universal, 2000.

Orchestrator, The Perfect Storm (also known as Der Sturm), Warner Bros., 2000.

Orchestrator, A Beautiful Mind, Universal, 2001.

Orchestrator, Enemy at the Gates (also known as Duell—Enemy at the Gates), Paramount, 2001.

Orchestrator and music conductor, The Four Feathers, Miramax/Paramount, 2002.

Orchestrator and music conductor, Windtalkers, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer, 2002.

Orchestrator, House of Sand and Fog, DreamWorks SKG, 2003.

Orchestrator, Radio, Columbia, 2003.

Orchestrator, Troy, Warner Bros., 2004.

Film Appearances:

(Uncredited) Enterprise crew member, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (also known as Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan), Paramount, 1982, released as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan—The Director's Edition, 2002.

Television Work; Movies:

Music performer, Freedom Song, TNT, 2000.

Television Appearances; Awards Presentations:

The 70th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1998.

The 41st Annual Grammy Awards, CBS, 1999.

RECORDINGS

Albums; Soundtrack Recordings:

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Crescendo, 1982.

Cocoon, Polydor, 1985.

An American Tail, MCA, 1986.

Aliens, Varese Sarabande, 1987.

Field of Dreams, BMG Novus, 1989.

Glory, Virgin, 1989.

Legends of the Fall, Epic Soundtrax, 1994.

Apollo 13, MCA, 1995.

Braveheart, Polygram, 1995.

Titanic, Sony, 1997.

Deep Impact, Sony, 1998.

The Mask of Zorro, Sony, 1998.

Back to Titanic, Sony, 1999.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Interscope, 2000.

The Perfect Storm, Sony, 2000.

Battle beyond the Stars/Humanoids from the Deep, 2001.

A Beautiful Mind, Decca, 2001.

Enemy at the Gates, Sony, 2001.

Iris, Sony, 2001.

The Four Feathers, 2002.

Windtalkers, c. 2002.

Music from the Motion Picture Troy, 2004.

Videos:

Himself, Superior Firepower: The Making of "Aliens," Twentieth Century–Fox Home Entertainment, 2003.

WRITINGS

Film Scores:

The Watcher, 1978.

The Lady in Red (also known as Guns, Sin and Bathtub Gin), New World, 1979.

Up from the Depths, 1979.

Battle beyond the Stars, New World, 1980.

Humanoids from the Deep (also known as Humanoids of the Deep, Monster, and Monsters), New World, 1980.

Deadly Blessing, United Artists, 1981.

The Hand, Warner Bros., 1981.

The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper, Universal, 1981.

Wolfen, Warner Bros., 1981.

48 Hrs., Paramount, 1982.

P. K. & the Kid, Castle Hill, 1982.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (also known as Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan), Paramount, 1982, released as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan—The Director's Edition, 2002.

Brainstorm, United Artists, 1983.

The Dresser, Columbia, 1983.

Gorky Park, Orion, 1983.

Krull (also known as Dragons of Krull, Dungeons and Dragons, The Dungeons of Krull, and Krull: Invaders of the Black Fortress), Columbia, 1983.

Something Wicked This Way Comes, Buena Vista, 1983.

Space Raiders (also known as Star Child), New World, 1983.

Testament, Paramount, 1983.

Uncommon Valor, Paramount, 1983.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Paramount, 1984.

The Stone Boy, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1984.

Black Fire, 1985.

Cocoon, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1985.

Commando, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1985.

Heaven Help Us (also known as Catholic Boys), TriStar, 1985.

In Her Own Time, Direct Cinema, 1985.

The Journey of Natty Gann, Buena Vista, 1985.

Let's Go, 1985.

Volunteers, TriStar, 1985.

Wizards of the Lost Kingdom (also known as El mago del reino perdido), New Horizons/Concorde, 1985.

Aliens, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1986.

(And song "Somewhere Out There" with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil) An American Tail (animated), Universal, 1986.

The Name of the Rose (also known as Der Name der Rose, and Il nome della rosa, Le nom de la rose), Twentieth Century–Fox, 1986.

Off Beat, Buena Vista, 1986.

Where the River Runs Black, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer/United Artists, 1986.

*batteries not included, Universal, 1987.

Project X, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1987.

Cocoon: The Return, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1988.

(And song "If We Hold on Together" with Will Jennings) The Land before Time (animated), Universal, 1988.

Red Heat, TriStar, 1988.

Vibes, Columbia, 1988.

Willow, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer/United Artists, 1988.

Dad, Universal, 1989.

Field of Dreams, Universal, 1989.

Glory, TriStar, 1989.

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Buena Vista, 1989.

In Country, Warner Bros., 1989.

Tummy Trouble (animated short film), Buena Vista, 1989.

(With Ernest Troost) Andy Colby's Incredibly Awesome Adventure (also known as Andy and the Airwave Rangers), Concorde, 1990.

Another 48 Hrs., Paramount, 1990.

I Love You to Death, TriStar, 1990.

(And songs "Dreams to Dream,""The Girl I Left Behind," and "Way Out West" with lyrics by Jennings) An American Tale: Fievel Goes West (animated), Universal, 1991.

Class Action, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1991.

My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys, Samuel Goldwyn, 1991.

Once Around, Universal, 1991.

The Rocketeer, Buena Vista, 1991.

Patriot Games, Paramount, 1992.

Sneakers, Universal, 1992.

Thunderheart, TriStar, 1992.

(And songwriter) Unlawful Entry, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1992.

Bopha!, Paramount, 1993.

A Far Off Place, Buena Vista, 1993.

House of Cards, Miramax, 1993.

Jack the Bear, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1993.

The Man without a Face, Warner Bros., 1993.

(And songs "He's Gone Back,""Once upon a Time with >Me," and "Please Wake Up" with lyrics by Jennings) Once upon a Forest (animated), Twentieth Century–Fox, 1993.

The Pelican Brief, Warner Bros., 1993.

Searching for Bobby Fischer (also known as Innocent Moves), Paramount, 1993.

Swing Kids (musical), Buena Vista, 1993.

(And song "Roll Back the Rock") We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (animated), Universal, 1993.

Clear and Present Danger, Paramount, 1994.

The Land before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure (animated), 1994.

Legends of the Fall, TriStar, 1994.

(And song "Whatever You Imagine" with Mann and Weil) The Pagemaster, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1994.

(And song "Reach for the Light") Balto (animated), Universal, 1995.

Braveheart, Paramount, 1995.

Casper, Universal, 1995.

Jade, Paramount, 1995.

Jumanji, TriStar, 1995.

The Land before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving (animated), 1995 Apollo 13, Universal, 1995, released as Apollo 13: The IMAX Experience, 2002.

Courage under Fire, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1996.

(And songs "If We Hold on Together" and "Land before Time") The Land before Time IV: Journey through the Mists (animated), MCA/Universal Home Video, 1996.

Ransom, Buena Vista, 1996.

The Spitfire Grill (also known as Care of the Spitfire Grill), Columbia, 1996.

To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, Triumph Releasing, 1996.

The Best of Roger Rabbit (animated; also known as Disney and Steven Spielberg Present The Best of Roger Rabbit), Walt Disney Home Video, 1997.

The Devil's Own, Columbia, 1997.

(And song "My Heart Will Go On") Titanic, Paramount, 1997.

Deep Impact, Paramount, 1998.

The Land before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock (animated), Universal Studios Home Video, 1998.

(And song "I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You") The Mask of Zorro, TriStar/Sony Pictures Entertainment, 1998.

(And song "Windsong") Mighty Joe Young (also known as Mighty Joe), Buena Vista, 1998.

Bicentennial Man (also known as Der 200 Jahre Mann), Buena Vista, 1999.

Epic Journeys: The Great Migrations, Houston Museum of Natural History, 1999.

(And songwriter) How the Grinch Stole Christmas (also known as The Grinch and Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas), MCA/Universal, 2000.

(And song "Yours Forever") The Perfect Storm (also known as Der Sturm), Warner Bros., 2000.

(And song "All Love Can Be" with lyrics by Jennings) A Beautiful Mind, Universal, 2001.

Dramatic underscore, Enemy at the Gates (also known as Duell—Enemy at the Gates), Paramount, 2001.

Iris, Miramax/Paramount, 2001.

The Four Feathers, Miramax/Paramount, 2002.

Land before Time IX: Journey to the Big Water (also known as The Land before Time: Journey to the Big Water), Universal Studios Home Video, 2002.

Windtalkers, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer, 2002.

Beyond Borders (also known as Jenseits aller Grenzen), Paramount, 2003.

House of Sand and Fog, DreamWorks SKG, 2003.

The Missing, Columbia, 2003.

(And song "Eyes of the Heart") Radio, Columbia, 2003.

Bobby Jones, Stroke of Genius, Film Foundry Releasing, 2004.

The Forgotten, Columbia, 2004.

(And song "Remember Me") Troy, Warner Bros., 2004.

Legend of Zorro, Sony Pictures Entertainment, 2005.

The Da Vinci Code, Columbia, 2006.

Horner's music and songs have been used in other films as well as in television programs and videos. Also composer of unused scores for films.

Television Music; Series:

Fish Police (animated), CBS, 1992.

Theme song, Crossroads, ABC, 1992–1993.

Television Scores; Movies:

Angel Dusted (also known as Angel Dust), NBC, 1981.

A Few Days in Weasel Creek, CBS, 1981.

A Piano for Mrs. Cimino, CBS, 1982.

Rascals and Robbers—The Secret Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, CBS, 1982.

Between Friends (also known as Nobody Makes Me Cry), HBO, 1983.

Surviving (also known as Surviving: A Family in Crisis and Tragedy), ABC, 1985.

Extreme Close–Up (also known as Home Video), NBC, 1990.

Freedom Song, TNT, 2000.

Television Scores; Specials:

Michelle Kwan Skates to Disney's Greatest Hits, ABC, 1999.

Television Music; Episodic:

"Alamo Jobe," Amazing Stories (also known as Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories), NBC, 1985.

"The Pied Piper of Hamelin" (also known as "Pied Piper"), Faerie Tale Theatre (also known as Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre), Showtime, 1985.

"Cutting Cards" (also known as "Dead Right" and "The Switch"), Tales from the Crypt (also known as HBO's Tales from the Crypt), HBO, 1990.

Soundtrack Albums; With Others:

The Great Fantasy Adventure Album, Telarc, 1994.

Video Music:

Bringing Down the House, Columbia/TriStar Home Video, 1999.

Lions and Monkeys and Pods … Oh My! The Special Effects of "Jumanji," Columbia/TriStar Home Video, 1999.

Krull: Marvel Comics Video Adaptation, Columbia/TriStar Home Video, 2000.

From Morf to Morphing: The Dawn of Digital Filmmaking, Twentieth Century–Fox Home Entertainment, 2001.

Raptor, New Concorde, 2001.

East Meets West: "Red Heat" and the Kings of Carolco, Lions Gate Films, 2004.

I'm Not Russian, but I Play One on TV, Lions Gate Films, 2004.

A Stuntman for All Seasons: A Tribute to Bennie Dobbins, Lions Gate Films, 2004.

Video Game Music:

(Uncredited) Titanic Explorer (also known as James Cameron's Titanic Explorer), 1997.

Orchestral Compositions:

Spectral Shimmers, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis, IN, 1978.

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

Contemporary Musicians, Volume 38, Gale, 2003.

Periodicals:

Entertainment Weekly, February 6, 1998, p. 60; July 14, 2000, p. 51.

Hollywood Reporter, January, 1998.

Los Angeles Times, February 13, 1995.

People Weekly, February 16, 1998, p. 26.

Sensible Sound, January, 1999, p. 103.

Horner, James

views updated May 29 2018

JAMES HORNER

Born: Los Angeles, California, 14 August 1953

Genre: Soundtrack

Best-selling album since 1990: Music from the Motion Picture Titanic (1997)

Hit songs since 1990: "My Heart Will Go On (Love Theme from Titanic )"


James Horner is one of Hollywood's most successful soundtrack composers, having won Academy Awards for Best Original Dramatic Score and Best Original Song for the huge commercial smash Titanic (1997). A prolific composer equally comfortable with epic and personal emotions, period and futuristic settings, romances, horror movies and music for children's stories, he has also been honored with nominations for Apollo 13, Braveheart, Field of Dreams, Aliens, and A Beautiful Mind.

In more than one hundred films that Horner has scored since late 1979, he has demonstrated mastery of both conventional symphony instrumentation and synthesizers. He delights in spicing his works with traditional Irish colors and references, and favors strong melodic motifs with dramatic counterthemes or contrasting backdrops. He has forged an especially productive creative relationship with the filmmaker Ron Howard.

Horner grew up in London, began studying piano at age five, and attended the Royal Academy of Music. Relocating to California in the early 1970s, he earned a B.A. degree in music from the University of Southern California and then a Ph.D. in music composition and theory at UCLA. While teaching music theory there, he was offered the job of scoring a film by the American Film Institute. He took to scoring as an opportunity to have his compositions heard and continued collaborating on AFI projects until being lured by horror movie-maker Roger Corman to his New World Pictures.

Horner's first several picturesincluding two Star Trek movies of a series he inherited briefly from the veteran composer Jerry Goldsmithdepended on his use of electronics to enhance and amplify live musicians. Horner has credited music friends such as Ian Underwood, a former member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, as sources of inspiration on his efforts. But he proved equal to full symphony orchestras with his scores for Willow (1988) and Land Before Time (1988).

The next year, the commercial success of Field of Dreams (1989) and critical acclaim for Glory (1989) brought new attention to Horner's contributions. His theme for the latter, a Civil War drama, was licensed several times for commercial use. Horner's songwriting abilities came to the fore with An American Tail (1986), an animated musical about a Jewish mouse immigrating to the United States, and its sequel, An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991). He had a banner year in 1995, producing Academy Awardnominated scores for Apollo 13 and Braveheart, as well as soundtracks for the animated films Casper and Balto, and the Robin Williams vehicle Jumanji.

Horner's score for Titanic (1997) secured his future. The love theme, a ballad sung grandly by Celine Dion, is countered by ghostly pipes and percussion, lush but not cloying string sections, choirs, and harps. He had employed similar Irish touches in previous soundtracks, most notably Patriot Games (1992) and Braveheart (1995). After Titanic Horner exhibited a new interest in cinematic personal portraits, such as those of the writer Iris Murdoch in Iris (2001) and mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr. in A Beautiful Mind (2001). Horner's music for Windtalkers (2002) depicts a Marine's crisis of conscience guarding a Navajo code-talker in the Pacific threater during World War II.

Nothing succeeds in the movie business like success, and it seems that Horner's past accomplishments will provide him with further opportunities to exploit his favorite tropesespecially his use of Irish motifswhile also giving him the chance to expand his array of devices and source materials.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (GNP Crescendo, 1982); Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (GNP Cresendo, 1984); Cocoon (Polydor, 1985); An American Tail (MCA Records, 1986); Willow (Virgin, 1988); The Land Before Time (MCA, 1988); Field of Dreams (Novus/RCA, 1989); Glory (Virgin, 1989); An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (MCA, 1991); Patriot Games (Milan, 1992); Thunderheart (Intrada, 1993); Legends of the Fall (Epic Soundtrax, 1994); Apollo 13 (MCA, 1995); Braveheart (London, 1995); Casper (MCA, 1995); Jumanji (Epic Soundtrax, 1995); Titanic (Sony Classical, 1997); The Devil's Own (Beyond Music, 1997); The Mask of Zorro (Sony Classical, 1998); How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Interscope, 2000); The Perfect Storm (Sony Classical, 2000); Iris (Sony Classical, 2001); A Beautiful Mind (Decca, 2001); Windtalkers (RCA Victor, 2002).

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James Horner

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