Horner's magnificent work simply needs no introduction - and so I won't bother to give one! We all know it, know the movie, many even know how hacked up the score is in the movie. I was against this sudden idea of mine at first because I was scared of having to do too much editing and guessing - but little did I know the difficulty would lie in completely different places than initially expected! I provided some technical notes, but obviously not a full breakdown of what was used or not and exactly what the fim tracks where - there's already a cue list out there that does that.
A huge, huge thank you to @NL197 for his technical assistance and resources, including a regraded Cinemascope copy to approximate the theatrical cut, his own previous similar work that assisted me greatly especially for the shorter less distinct cues, and the cue list breakdown of the LLL.
Many of the cues have little, some have zero documentation on where they were supposed to fit - with two cues I addressed this more extensively than with others, but remember: a large part of this is just my (and @NL197's) guesswork.
Let's have a quick look at the treasure trove of themes before jumping right in:
Adventure - The de facto main theme of the first quarter/third of the score, simultaneously for Brock Lovett's quest to find the Heart of the Ocean and for the excitement of the passengers of Titanic going on a large cruise towards a new life.
Memories - Much closer to being the main theme of the entire score, a sadly reflective piece often functioning as the love theme.
Love Theme - A clearer association than Memories, this is basically My Heart Will Go On - 2 parts, verse and chorus.
Southampton - A multiple part motif mostly on synth voices, it's associated with the grandeur and technical marvel of the ship as it leaves for its maiden voyage. In addition to its multiple parts, it also has two versions, shorter and longer - longer obviously has some more notes added to it, changing its rhythmic pattern completely. They cannot be simply called an "older" and a "newer" version - the earliest-scored Trailer features an early rendition of the shorter version, next came the first Southampton and Leaving Port which used the longer version and Take Her to Sea, Mr. Murdoch which actually uses both, then Southampton and Leaving Port were revised to use the shorter version, then Take Her to Sea, Mr. Murdoch was revised, but only its ending, and still kept both versions of the theme in.
Doom - Descending notes mostly on strings, mostly associated with the wreck.
Iceberg - Ascending notes mostly on brass with an obvious association, making a fitting pair with Doom.
The Heart of the Ocean - Piano, synth textures and voices with a clear association, the MacGuffin of the present day plot.
Rose - Solo piano in multiple scenes associated with her.
Discoveries - A loosely associated motif popping up in the present day scenes
The Main Program
Logos / Main Title
Logos treats us to a solo uillean pipe rendition of the Adventure theme immediately solidifying it as a main theme, while Main Title introduces Memories with Sissel's vocals.
Logos was presumably meant to play over the Fox, Paramount and Lightstorm logos in some version and order. There are some lines I will not cross and playing the Fox logo with something other than the Fox music is way too far over the line - so you can imagine it yourselves in any order
The LLL actually replicates the film tracking here for Main Title (splitting the second half of the revised Promise Kept somehow, probably utilising the multitracks).
Sc002 2½ Miles Down / Sc014 To the Keldysh
Immediately we jump into one of the least syncable cues - 10 minutes of music for 6.5-7 minutes of footage. The opening could be easily padded out with some script pages, but the rest was total wild west - I picked some moments to try and sync to and tried to find bits that fit them. I ended up playing the ending twice, you can decide for yourself which part of the music it fits better over.
After some dark drones and notes, the most obvious first sync point/association is the first appearance of the wreck scored by the Doom motif. As I synced it up, Discoveries scores Snoop Dog's descent in the stairwell and the closeup shots of the sunken relics. After minutes of flowing synth and voices, a rhythm starts up when they enter the stateroom, Doom helping with adding weight, strings adding excitement in the bedroom. Then we jump back. Synth punctuates the rhythm further, Memories adds poignancy. In this second sync, the direct urgency stops here when entering the bedroom. After some percussive determination, elements of Heart of the Ocean are introduced to hopefully signal the safe's contents.
We go seamlessly into To The Keldysh, which satisfyingly cleans up the atmosphere with an excited orchestral Adventure.
Sc015 Rose Revealed
A proper formal introduction of the Heart of the Ocean as it first appears onscreen.
Sc017 Distant Memories
Heart of the Ocean kicks up a notch as Rose notices the news, the synth voices enter with its proper melody as she sees herself. After an orchestral transition back to the Keldysh, we're treated to a french horn+harp Adventure and an oboe Discoveries when Brock starts talking to Rose, which then transitions to full orchestra and another full-bodied Adventure when we cut to the helicopter.
Sc024 My Drawing
A slower synth Heart of the Ocean as Rose remembers her past.
Sc028 Relics & Treasures
The way I synced it up, the harp+french horn Adventure scores the end of Brock's story about the diamond when it starts connecting to Rose, and Heart of the Ocean scores her playing with her salvaged relics, fading out at her emotional reaction to the comb.
Sc034-R Southampton - Revised
The new Titanic's reveal is scored by Adventure, which soon transitions to Southampton A (short version). Rose's car and reveal bring back Adventure on synth voices and strings/clarinets respectively. After an interlude, it comes back on synth voices again as Cal hurries the ladies along, Adventure B finishing the cue as they enter the ship.
Amazingly, no picture edits were needed for this cue.
Sc037-R Leaving Port - Revised
An uillean pipe accompanies a high-tempo excitedly rushing Southampton A (short) as Jack and Fabrizio run along with their lucky tickets. Southampton B scores the quick debate with the officer, but the tempo kicks back up again with Adventure and Southampton A (short) alternating for the launch.
Similarly amazingly to the previous one, only one gap had to be covered in this cue.
Sc047-R Take Her to Sea, Mr. Murdoch - Revised
Southampton B introduces the ship on its way freely on the seas, then after some descriptive scoring for it picking up speed, Adventure scores Jack and Fabrizio's excitement - note the hard cut difference in scoring the huge machinery and furnaces below deck and the outside shots of the ship gracefully gliding across the water. Southampton A (short) comes in for a majestic helicopter shot, more Adventure variations then bridge us to a gorgeous unique motif and maybe confusingly, Southampton A (longer) interplaying for the shots of the dolphins. Adventure and an extended fanfare has the final word over the "Million Dollar Shot", closing this section of the film/score.
This scene must've been edited down pretty late, since the revision only for the ending was recorded the day after the previous two cues' revisions, but unlike for those, here I had to make many many edits, I even looped footage to cover up gaps.
Sc056 First Sighting
The Love Theme verse is introduced on synth, interrupted by Rose, also introduced here.
Sc059 Rose’s Suicide
After some distraught music, Memories on flute scores Jack staring at the stars and Doom scores Rose approaching the stern railing.
Sc061 Jack Saves Rose
A wonderful one-off melody and some simple but effectively reactive scoring.
Sc069 Promenade
Rose comes back for the end of this scene where she starts making a connection with Jack.
Sc094-R Rose - Revised
For the romantic scene featuring their first kiss, Horner presents almost a concert piece of the Love Theme including verse and chorus played on synth, synth voices and sung by Sissel, with occasional supporting highlights of Memories on flute.
Sc099 Butterfly Comb
Another clean Rose rendition in a faster, if you will, more excited tempo.
Sc100 The Portrait
A lovely all-synth/sampled rendition of the love theme, verse and chorus.
Sc107 Lovejoy Chases Jack and Rose
A lively celtic dance for the chase, with a highly embellished barely recognisable Memories at the end, under which I chose to play the deleted shot rather than the transition to the storage room.
Sc118 Lovemaking
A Rose intro transitions to more of the Love Theme verse on samples and chorus on synth voices, with a dark and partially unscored interlude for the cutaway and Rose coming back in for the end.
Here I chose to separate the cue into two instead of cutting the picture to it.
Sc122-R Hard to Starboard - Revised / Sc146 Hard to Starboard Extension
After more Love Theme chorus, the Iceberg motif suddenly rears its head together with its namesake. For the initial panicked actions, the music turns violently erratic with full orchestra and strings, then it's stripped back to a slower but tense rhythm (with more Iceberg appearances) when there's nothing more to do but wait for the result. The tempo picks up when the fatal hit happens, Iceberg comes back as it moves past the ship, then we get more, even more panicked material for the boiler rooms flooding and the compartment doors closing. As once again there's nothing more to do, the music lets us take a breath, Iceberg once again pops up for the berg moving away and for Smith's reaction to the news.
Extension is another Iceberg rendition for a helicopter shot of the ship and the initial discussion of it.
The cue mostly fits nicely, but the material had to be extended in some places - I chose to shorten and insert the rightly cut cutesy Molly Brown shot as there was a gap to be filled right in its place, and I also restored the shot of Jack and Rose discussing the hit for the Extension.
Sc173 Rose Frees Jack
This is where all science and reason stops and we enter the murkiest of waters. I found 2 good enough ways to sync it up, both could be explained away but with the nature of the cue (long indistinct synth chords) and the total lack of evidence, neither would be more correct than the other. Pick your favourite!
Sc192A Intro to A Building Panic
Synced up this way, this cue scores the third class passengers' first attempts at getting out.
Sc192 A Building Panic
Aside from an Iceberg, as far as I can tell this cue doesn't use any other themes of the score, the musically highlighted sync points and mood changes speak for themselves.
This is the section of the film with probably the most deleted scenes and the cue is barely used, the final cut mostly uses bits here and there from all over the score. This is the cue I dreaded the most but I was highly surprised to find it pretty straightforward and simple to sync up. I actually removed some shots - IMO no sane person would spot and prominently score the band playing source music onscreen, discussing what to play next, then starting to play something else onscreen.
Sc209 Unable to Stay, Unwilling to Leave
A woodwind intro suggests the Love Theme chorus' contours, then after some dark synths, Sissel comes back with Memories to score Rose's descent, the Love Theme verse comes in as the final nail, then Memories erupts on flute and pipe while Love Theme chorus plays underneath on sampled strings (which then join in for Memories' B phrases) as she jumps back and reunites with Jack.
This one I didn't fear at all, it's easily the biggest cue that's used as is in the final cut (aside from the dialed out pipe), still fitting perfectly.
Sc213 / Sc213A Trapped on “D” Deck
Aside from the contours of the Love Theme chorus being suggested multiple times again, the cue is another athematic one. The revised ending connects it to Death of Titanic.
Again, I didn't expect this one to be so simple to sync up, only little editing needed, and obviously restoring the deleted scene. The actual challenging part would have been to join the revised ending into the previous full cue - so challenging or dare I say musically impossible in fact, that I ended up not bothering at all and just doing the original take and the revised ending separately.
Sc234 Murdoch’s Suicide
Another cue that is near impossible to definitely sync up. The most concrete help is the entrance of the lower voices, which is here synced to the trail of blood.
Nearer My God to Thee
Mostly used pretty much as score, it just belongs in the main program. Surprised to say it doesn't actually sync up, I had to lengthen a shot.
Sc242-R The Sinking / Sc244 The Death of Titanic
Since most of the footage is my hackjob and invented/guesswork sync points, there's not much to talk about The Sinking with its two Love Theme choruses.
The Death of Titanic continues seamlessly and presents a much more clearly reactive cue scoring each phase of the ship's rising, breaking, going upright and finally descending to its grave, with many Love Theme choruses or suggestions of it popping up for Jack/Rose shots (as well as a cameo Theme from Schindler's List ).
The Sinking was the unexpected mess I feared Building Panic to be. 5 minutes of score for 3 minutes of footage. I cut it all to bits and pieces and find suitable places for them (the funnel crashing was the most obvious one, as well as the ending, I put cuts to Jack&Rose under the two Love Theme choruses, tried to match cuts to wides of the ship to choral segments), then tried to fill in as much of the rest as possible with bits of footage from under Nearer My God to Thee, and also added back the deleted shots of Cora's family trapped on the stairs. The Death of Titanic was a lot easier with more intact footage and very obvious phases of the sinking to cut to.
Sc273 A Promise Kept (partial) / Sc273-R A Promise Kept - Revised
After a dark crawl through the aftermath, the score interestingly brings back Heart of the Ocean on synths, which slowly gives way to Memories as Rose starts to realise she's now on her own. The outline of the Love Theme chorus comes back as she starts blowing the whistle, keeping her promise to survive.
I chose to keep the opening of the original take, since it was not revised.
Sc278 Never an Absolution pt 1
A full, formal rendition of Memories.
The second half could have gone over the part with Cal looking for Rose among the steerage survivors, but I like how that scene's unscored in the final cut and chose to use a shortened version of the deleted scene instead, trying to keep the slow dreamlike atmosphere of Rose's daze up all throughout the cue.
Sc284 Never an Absolution pt 2
A lovely woodwind Memories headlines the Love Theme verse for the closure of Rose's story, with a variation on the chorus scoring the subs leaving the wreck of Titanic to its deep rest.
Sc289 An Ocean of Memories / A Hymn to the Sea
Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. With zero information on what the cue actually scored, it's all guesswork. In fact I found 3 good enough or interesting ways to sync it up, for the main one here I chose the combination of the final deleted scene and the film finale.
In this assembly, the cue starts with Heart of the Ocean as Brock throws his cigar away and Lizzy comforts him, then continues with a fuller rendition when we cut to Rose. The following new one-off theme scores the scene from her impish POV, about to drop the diamond into the ocean, rather than from Brock and Lizzy's shocked and scared POV. Adventure caps off Brock's quest as he finally holds the diamond in his hand, descending harp and a brass part related to Iceberg accompany the necklace's descent. Noble brass accompanies Brock's transition, taken over by Memories. Heart of the Ocean comes back for the pan across Rose's pictures, proof of a life she finally let go together with the theme's namesake, a life in the shadow Jack, of accomplishing everything they talked about. A variant of Memories plays as we approach the wreck, the soundscape clears up beautifully satisfyingly with the transition to the brand new ship, and Memories plays once again over Rose finally joining all the souls lost on the ship.
The original approach to the credits is a reverent assembly that lists renditions of Memories A and B, Love Theme chorus, Adventure, and in Horner's usual mirroring technique, is capped off with Doom, which was the first melodic idea heard in 2 1/2 Miles Down.
The Bonus Section
Trailer
The Trailer introduces Doom, Discoveries, Adventure, Southampton short (an early version), the Love Theme's chorus, and material that ended up in The Death of Titanic, as well as unique action and connecting material.
The final trailer uses an edited version of the cue for its first half, then switches to Hard to Starboard's temp track. Initially it seemed simple, it was only a bit shorter than the cue, but as I kept watching it, more and more sync point mismatches started popping up, so I had to do some major reshuffling and reediting in the end - but it was pretty fun and liberating!
Logo (Alternate)
As opposed to Adventure, this version opens with Memories on uillean pipe, then transitions to a strangely dark and militaristic swell containing something reminiscent of Doom.
Same goes for the logos themselves here as for the main program. The Main Title part is so different that I tried to assemble something different for it.
Sc002-R 2½ Miles Down - Revised
Seemed pretty obvious that this minimalistic synth approach is for the final part of the scene.
Sc034 Southampton
This early version is a good minute longer, doesn't have Adventure yet at the very opening, features the longer instead of the shorter Southampton motif, including a reprise in the latter half of the cue that's left out of the revision. Thankfully I found fitting script parts to fill it in.
Sc037 Leaving Port
Also more than a minute longer than the final cut for the scene, and also features the longer instead of the shorter Southampton version. The cue is generally more awed, less excitedly rushing than the revision.
Sc047 Take Her to Sea, Mr. Murdoch (partial)
The original ending, used in the film, is much more restrained than the extended fanfares of the revision.
Sc094 Rose
Compositionally very similar, the main differences in this cue are balance and orchestration, as well as Memories entering earlier.
Lovejoy Chases Jack (Alternate)
A much more measured, lower energy celtic dance, the reactiveness mostly coming from the percussion.
Sc273 A Promise Kept
The original take is much quieter in the first half, with only a clarinet melody and strings over soft synth. Rose's initial calls to Jack are scored by the Love Theme verse, which then gives way to a quite different Memories/Love Theme chorus assembly. I especially love the themes' entrances and stops scoring certain beats in this version.
Ocean of Memories - Alternate option 1
For this one, I chose to sync it up to the deleted scene only, because a lot of it works remarkably well. The opening of the cue would overlap previous cues, the new theme kind of works as a lullaby for Titanic, and score for the party. Adventure scores Brock letting go of his quest and Rose walking towards the stern, the dark brass scores Brock and Lizzie running to her, the brass scores the reveal of the diamond, the Heart theme after Memories scores Brock finally holding it, the moment he lets go is specially emphasised, the music clearing up could be explained away as either holding our breath to see his final reaction or his mind finally becoming clear, the final, in this context joyous Memories doesn't score the ending badly, and even the falling star at the end is emphasised.
Ocean of Memories - Alternate option 2
For this one, I chose to sync it up to the final cut, so the ending lines up the same as in my main program. The beautiful new theme in this context is for Rose's new name and life beginning and her story coming to a close, Adventure scores Brock's adventure coming to a close as far as the theatrical cut goes, the dark section scores Rose approaching the stern railing, Memories is for the diamond's reveal, Heart coming back is for the diamond actually sinking, then we continue as in the main program assembly.
Finale / My Heart Will Go On / End Credits (After Song)
Once I made the decision to include the song together with the post-song piece, this one felt right to include. The (IMO fantastically working) film assembly for the finale uses Rose (Revised), Unable to Stay, Unwilling to Leave (uillean pipes still dialed out), and a flute Memories ending that could be unique, could be from Rose and artificially lengthened for all I know. It transitions well to the song, which is of course using the Love Theme Verse and Chorus, as well as Memories highlights. End Credits (After Song) joins to the OST version seamlessly, and is basically a shortened version of Horner's other credits option, Hymn to the Sea, a still reverently slow assembly of Adventure B on synth choir, Adventure on uillean pipes, and Doom to cap it off.
While I was at it, I also wanted to shortly look at what the fantastic new pieces from Back to Titanic consist of (seriously, assembled together like this instead of thrown over songs, it's amazing, I can't recommend it enough).
The Titanic Suite - An assembly that is at its core an assembly of variations of film material - 2 1/2 Miles Down's opening, Logo, Never an Absolution, Hymn to the Sea, Southampton (first version), Take Her to Sea, Mr. Murdoch, Leaving Port (first version), a unique connecting bridge before extended Never an Absolution again, a new brass chorale, unique Love Theme chorus material, Unable to Stay, Unwilling to Leave, and a unique ending.
Jack Dawson's Luck - A new assembly of celtic dances for fiddle and percussion not used in the film.
Lament - Slow woodwind, fiddle and uillean pipe variations on one of the dances from the previous track.
A Shore Never Reached - Starts with an extension of the Suite's new brass chorale, then transitions to solo uillean pipe playing Memories, with the brass coming back under its final long-held note.
The Deep and Timeless Sea - Largely based on Hymn to the Sea and Ocean of Memories, until it gives way to the Love Theme chorus repeated gorgeously and insistently on oboe with choir embellishments and Memories coming in on uillean pipes and by Sissel - then after a unique bridge calling back the choir, piano and fiddle for quick solo parts, the finale is again reminiscent of Hymn to the Sea, with Doom again mirroring the Suite's (2 1/2 Miles Down's) opening.
I was thinking about how a map cue variation of Helena's theme might sound in the upcoming movie, and I had a cool idea. In this clip, I play my idea on the piano. I tried to compose in the style of John Williams. Perhaps you guys will enjoy this.
I like From Russia with Love, You Only Live Twice and The Living Daylights the most, but I'll buy any and all new Barry Bond expansions that come our way.
This is such a damn good score, great performance, great recording, great release - I can't really think of other JW/MMs around this time with significant flaws in these either but there's just something specially perfect about this one, every time I listen it feels like a benchmark release.
I never understood the hate that accompanied A.I. For me it was a masterpiece from day one. While Minority Report (the following year) was good and instantly respected...A.I. along with Schindler's List were the two best films, in a long list of great films, of his career.
I never understood the hate that accompanied A.I. For me it was a masterpiece from day one. While Minority Report (the following year) was good and instantly respected...A.I. along with Schindler's List were the two best films, in a long list of great films, of his career.
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