James Horner 1953-2015

[crumbs 14,300]

 

[Thor 7,464]

I think many of us remember where we were when we heard the news. I was actually woken up by a text message on my phone, and to my disbelief read a message from a friend who had been up early and caught the news. I quickly woke and rushed to the computer to read the Facebook and messageboard posts that were coming in, and subsequently the obits. Shocked, of course, to a far greater extent than any other previous composer death; or, in fact, any celebrity death.

 

I'm not in the habit of setting aside a day to play his music, even if it's a birth or death anniversary. I play Horner regularly, when I feel like it, on any given day. Might even get into a "Horner groove" occasionally. But my collection grew considerably after his death (I count 73 albums now), and I aim to get a few more. It will keep me going for a while. He will probably always remain in my top 5 film composers.

[crocodile 7,983]

6 hours ago, Kühni said:

Six effin' years. Jesus. Yet I'm glad he went out with scores that almost perfectly summarised his music. My single highlight from 2015 is:

 

 

It is actually strangely fitting this was the last score to come out while he was still alive. I absolutely adore this album. Not because it is original or anything like that, but because it fuses a lot of the familiar elements---grand ethnic epics, children/adventure scores and some more recent touches --- into one neat package under 60 minutes. As far as the development of his voice this score is nothing to write home about but as (an unplanned) career summary it makes for a really tightly structured album and a fantastic breezy listen on its own. I really don't need to ever watch this film to enjoy fine musical storytelling on display here. Plus in 2015, I didn't really care if some of it sounded familiar as the landscape was this barren. Better the devil you know...

 

Karol

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I remember how hypocritical so many were when he died. So many of his biggest haters suddenly became fan bois and band wagon jumpers when he was killed. Even today people seem to downplay  the quality of his scores. 

 

He was such a great talent who had a distinct style that allowed easy recognition of his music. 

He is missed. 

[Jay 37,281]

5 hours ago, JoeinAR said:

I remember how hypocritical so many were when he died. So many of his biggest haters suddenly became fan bois and band wagon jumpers when he was killed.

 

I don't recall something like this happening.  Have any specific examples, or links to this?

 

5 hours ago, JoeinAR said:

Even today people seem to downplay  the quality of his scores. 

 

Why are people not allowed to have their own opinions on his scores, today or while he was alive?

[Tom Guernsey 2,280]

5 hours ago, JoeinAR said:

I remember how hypocritical so many were when he died. So many of his biggest haters suddenly became fan bois and band wagon jumpers when he was killed. Even today people seem to downplay  the quality of his scores. 

 

He was such a great talent who had a distinct style that allowed easy recognition of his music. 

He is missed. 

I always find it strange how distinctive his music is given how many influences he has and I say that as someone who loved his music while he was alive and still do...

 

I was in Rhodes on holiday when I got the news, I remember trying not to sob too conspicuously having a drink in a bar when I saw the news. Very sad, but so much great music to remember him by.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

2 hours ago, Jay said:

 

I don't recall something like this happening.  Have any specific examples, or links to this?

 

 

Why are people not allowed to have their own opinions on his scores, today or while he was alive?

You don't recall but I do. They are allowed their opinion. I am allowed to criticize them. There are still some here who enjoy their Horner dig with their standard comment about his danger "motif". 

Mostly it was at fsm less so here

[Jay 37,281]

5 minutes ago, JoeinAR said:

Mostly it was at fsm less so here

 

Oh OK that makes sense

[Edmilson 7,384]

I remember the day Horner died. I was listening to Georges Delerue and scrolling my Facebook feed when I saw the news that he was on a plane that crashed. Hours later, came the confirmation: he was really dead.

 

It was the first time I experienced the death of a composer I loved, since when Barry and Goldsmith died I didn't know who they were because I didn't listen to film scores back then.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I remember Stefan and Ren and I were discussing it. Still his music lives on.

[Jay 37,281]

Who?