Composer Threads The Official James Horner Thread

[Jean-Baptiste Martin 254]

To celebrate the one year anniversary of the concert, the video of Spectral Shimmers is now available.

 

[Henry Sítrónu 494]

On 26/4/2023 at 1:07 PM, Trope said:

I would love expansions of Bicentennial Man and Deep Impact. I know they're full of recycled Horner-isms, but they're just so good! 

yes, the unreleased parts in Deep Impact (first part of the movie)  are soooo good. Piano, Synths, bass … gosh I love this stuff. 

[karelm 2,911]

It is crazy to imagine if James Horner were still alive, he would only be 69.  He would probably still be a major figure in the scoring world.    

 

In contrast, Silvestri is 73.  Zimmer is 65.  Elfman is also 69.  James Newton Howard is 71.  

[pete 907]

Yeah... Actually I have mixed feelings about how I feel about his death, partly because I feel some of my feelings are selfish in that since I never met him, I feel like I'm mourning music I'll never get to hear rather than the human being, father, husband, etc, that I never knew. Certainly I think that's a loss for me and the world, but after seeing his studio and his family talk about him and just generally learning more about him as a human being, then yes, I think my feelings are perhaps superficial. Just some random weird thoughts. Then again, I can't deny the joy his music gave me, so perhaps its not so selfish to mourn the fact that the person responsible had died.

 

I have a vivid memory of first learning about the plane crash as I was stepping into a taxi, while checking out Facebook - I think Intrada's page was where I first saw the news, and my heart just sank. It really felt like a punch in the gut. It wasn't clear then if he had been in his plane, it was just confirmed that his plane had crashed. And I saw some posts on Facebook from people a little angry that his death was alluded to at least prematurely and felt there was a chance someone else was flying his plane... but I never held such hope, and then it was confirmed maybe an hour or so later.

[Muad'Dib 1,801]

Horner gets a couple of shout-outs and praises in this video, particularly this one and one near the end

 

 

It's not anything out of this world, but hey, it warms my heart to see Horner remembered.

[Henry Sítrónu 494]

I met him in Vienna and to this day I feel sad and stupid that I had nothing better to do than asking him to sign the concert brochure. I wish I would have told him that his music was part of my childhood and youth and growing up. Then again, I’m sure he got to hear that plenty of times before…

[Tallguy 3,381]

9 hours ago, karelm said:

He would probably still be a major figure in the scoring world.

 

I'm not sure that he felt that he would have been.

[Edmilson 7,426]

I still remember what I was doing when I first saw the news: listening to Georges Delerue while browsing Facebook, then I saw the news on Variety. When it was confirmed, I understood exactly what fans feel when their favorite rock/pop stars die, particularly when they die young.

[Thor 7,490]

It's one of those moments where most of us remember where we were at the time. I woke up from an SMS ticking in on my phone. It was from a rather distant acquaintance of mine that has some interest in film music, and he had woken up earlier and seen the news online. I quickly got up and rushed to the laptop to read more, in a rather shocked, half awake state of mind.

[Tallguy 3,381]

Yeah, I had just moved across the US with my wife and kids, we were living with my parents while we shopped for a house, and my grandmother was in hospice (she would pass away a week or so later).

 

Then I read the news about Horner.

[Tom Guernsey 2,282]

I was on cruise in the Mediterranean and we were in Rhodes and I'd logged onto the wifi of a cafe while having a drink and I saw an email from, I think, BSX which said "remembering James Horner" which initially I just thought was just a bit of a strange email heading and then I read more... not gonna lie, I cried. I know we'll never quite know how we'll react to things, but it seemed far more of a shock than, say, when Jerry died. Guess the age and manner made it feel all the worse. Anyway, I gave this cheeky little number a spin today... pretty much of a patchwork of 80s Hornerisms without a defining "thing" to make it stand out, but if the worst thing you can say is that it's a patchwork of 80s Hornerisms, it's not so bad.

 

[Bayesian 1,359]

On 15/5/2023 at 5:49 PM, karelm said:

It is crazy to imagine if James Horner were still alive, he would only be 69.  He would probably still be a major figure in the scoring world.    

I have doubts that would have been the case. He had noted in the early ‘10s that film scoring needs were shifting away from his aesthetic. I seem to recall around the time of The Amazing Spider-man him saying that he was either surprised or lucky to have gotten the job and that his future gigs appeared to lie with small pics.

[Edmilson 7,426]

11 minutes ago, Bayesian said:

I have doubts that would have been the case. He had noted in the early ‘10s that film scoring needs were shifting away from his aesthetic. I seem to recall around the time of The Amazing Spider-man him saying that he was either surprised or lucky to have gotten the job and that his future gigs appeared to lie with small pics.

If he was alive, worst case scenario he still would've done at least the Avatar sequels. I don't think Cameron would've chosen anyone other than Horner to score them - even without Horner, he turned to his second in charge.

[Bayesian 1,359]

7 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

If he was alive, worst case scenario he still would've done at least the Avatar sequels. I don't think Cameron would've chosen anyone other than Horner to score them

Ah yes, you’re right about that. 

[pete 907]

I recall reading he had signed on for a few movies. One was The Wall, the Matt Damon Great Wall of China movie. I haven’t seen it but it had fantasy elements so that and the setting could have made for an epic score 

[DangerMotif 1,037]

41 minutes ago, pete said:

I recall reading he had signed on for a few movies. One was The Wall, the Matt Damon Great Wall of China movie. I haven’t seen it but it had fantasy elements so that and the setting could have made for an epic score 

He said he was going to compose the score for hacksaw ridge on record

[pete 907]

Here's the source for The Great Wall. 

http://filmmusicreporter.com/2016/09/08/james-horner-revealed-as-original-composer-for-the-great-wall/

[NL197 368]

The end credits of Hacksaw Ridge have Horner’s name  “in memoriam”.  Not sure about Great Wall though.  

[crocodile 7,999]

4 hours ago, pete said:

I recall reading he had signed on for a few movies. One was The Wall, the Matt Damon Great Wall of China movie. I haven’t seen it but it had fantasy elements so that and the setting could have made for an epic score 

That would have been great. 

 

Karol

[JTN 2,002]

It’s interesting because James Horner passed away relatively young, yet he has such a rich and full body of work that I somehow don’t feel that he could have done much more, because he already did so much at such a young age.
He’s kind of like Mozart who, at just 35, left behind an enormous amount of work. Horner thankfully was a very prolific composer as well who, had he retired at the age of 50, still would be regarded as one of the best film composers with many classic scores under his belt.
With all that said, I miss his “voice” very much and he’ll always be one of my favorite film composers whose CDs I often listen to and collect.

[Edmilson 7,426]

10 hours ago, DangerMotif said:

He said he was going to compose the score for hacksaw ridge on record

Hacksaw Ridge could've been such a great score in his hands. Kinda like a new Enemy at the Gates or Windtalkers.

[Thor 7,490]

1 hour ago, JTW said:

It’s interesting because James Horner passed away relatively young, yet he has such a rich and full body of work that I somehow don’t feel that he could have done much more, because he already did so much at such a young age.
He’s kind of like Mozart who, at just 35, left behind an enormous amount of work. Horner thankfully was a very prolific composer as well who, had he retired at the age of 50, still would be regarded as one of the best film composers with many classic scores under his belt.
With all that said, I miss his “voice” very much and he’ll always be one of my favorite film composers whose CDs I often listen to and collect.

 

As we alluded to earlier in this thread, there's a LOT of unreleased Horner material out there, so we hopefully have a lot of "new" Horner to look forward to, even though he's passed away.

 

By the way, speaking about Horner projects that were in the making before his passing, another was the Norwegian war film THE 12TH MAN directed by Harald Zwart (Horner previously collaborated with Zwart on the NEXT KARATE KID movie). I don't think he ever wrote anything for it, and it ended up being scored by Christophe Beck (who I interviewed in 2017 here, about that project and other things).

[DangerMotif 1,037]

https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/james-horner-archive-ucla-library

[LSH 968]

2 minutes ago, DangerMotif said:

https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/james-horner-archive-ucla-library

 

Man, I'd kill for a few hours with all of that.

[filmmusic 1,825]

2 minutes ago, DangerMotif said:

https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/james-horner-archive-ucla-library

Ok, good news I guess, but it's so difficult most of the times for someone to have access to these scores collections, that I don't see the point why they are held in universities.

I guess only people who live in LA will have access on site.

[Thor 7,490]

 

Quote

Man, I'd kill for a few hours with all of that.

 

Indeed. Especially the completely unreleased stuff.

[karelm 2,911]

20 hours ago, DangerMotif said:

https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/james-horner-archive-ucla-library

 

I'll go check it out once it's accessible. 

[SyncMan 314]

Of particular interest is that UCLA's Royce Hall presents one LTP concert every November, courtesy of the Amercian Youth Symphony Orchestra.  Since 2015, their LTP concerts have all been from the production company 'Film Concerts Live', probably because one of the orchestra's board members, Steven Linder, is the co-founder of FCL.  In November 2019, the American Youth Symphony Orchestra presented the 'Apollo 13' LTP concert. 

 

The article says that the Horner collection will be available to researchers in the fall. I am wondering whether UCLA, the American Youth Symphony, and FCL will get together to present an LTP concert of a film featuring a Horner score this November as a way to inaugurate the collection--for awareness and/or fundraising opportunities.

 

Definitely a good way to spend a week-long vacation for a film-music fan--studying composer's scores for days and caping the final evening with an LTP concert.

 

[Corellian2019 386]

On 15/07/2023 at 9:25 AM, karelm said:

 

I'll go check it out once it's accessible. 

 

I plan to do the same if I return to visit LA. But if you beat me to it, I'd love to know the slates for Vibes and The Pelican Brief!

[enderdrag64 624]

On 14/07/2023 at 12:45 PM, filmmusic said:

Ok, good news I guess, but it's so difficult most of the times for someone to have access to these scores collections, that I don't see the point why they are held in universities.

I guess only people who live in LA will have access on site.

Actually it looks like they offer free digitization services:

https://www.library.ucla.edu/about/policies/lsc-duplication-and-copyright-policies/

 

[Jurassic Shark 12,051]

Poor UCLA library staff...

[neumation 12]

1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Poor UCLA library staff...

They won’t copy a complete score for free and the copies they provide aren’t very high quality—they are iPhone pics.

[Jurassic Shark 12,051]

That's not very professional. 

[neumation 12]

It’s not ideal, but they have moved in the right direction for accessibility. For awhile, it was impossible to get copies. It’s a great benefit to film music scholarship to have even meh quality copies, given how short staffed they are. The other university across town should take a leaf from UCLA in that regard…

[Corellian2019 386]

Kino Lorber just announced that a 4K release of Sneakers is coming soon. Perhaps it'll coincide with an expanded score reissue?

[crocodile 7,999]

48 minutes ago, Corellian2019 said:

Kino Lorber just announced that a 4K release of Sneakers is coming soon. Perhaps it'll coincide with an expanded score reissue?

Would be awesome!

 

Karol

[michael_grig 471]

Yesterday James Horner would have turned 70.

As a small tribute I made a reduction of "Casper's Lullaby", one of my favorite pieces by him:

[Tallguy 3,381]

Such a lovely score. Such a terrible movie.

 

Damn, I didn't realize how much of that time and place I had stored up in that tune. Ouch.

 

I didn't know it was his birthday. But I listened to The Perfect Storm anyway.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

21 hours ago, Tallguy said:

Such a lovely score. Such a terrible movie.

 

Agreed. Not even President Whitmore could save it 

[Tallguy 3,381]

Thinking back to 1995 - It was an interesting time Hollywood-wise. They were trying to make the next blockbuster but they weren't trying to make the same blockbuster. The effects industry was becoming more than just "ILM and then everyone else".

 

And James Horner and Jerry Goldsmith were movie score rockstars.

[Edmilson 7,426]

1995 was by far the best year in James Horner's career. Braveheart, Apollo 13, Casper, Jumanji, Balto... He was on fire during the 90s.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

1983 was, by far, the best year in James Horner's career. 

SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES

KRULL

TESTAMENT 

BRAINSTORM

THE DRESSER

GORKY PARK

UNCOMMON VALOR...

He was on fire, in the 80s 

 

 

[Yavar Moradi 2,593]

I think he's got other years that even compete with those two great ones... I don't know that I could declare *any* year in his career "by far the best".

 

Yavar

[Faleel 5,345]

7 minutes ago, Yavar Moradi said:

...he's got other years that even compete with those two great ones...

 

Yavar

1982! 1984!

[LSH 968]

I’ve always divided Horner’s career into two sections. Pre and post Titanic. Easy as that. I think it’s quite a good spot to begin noticing stylistic tendencies either side.
 

You can sub-divide obviously. For instance, 1991 to 1997 was a huge leap in his thematic ‘lushness’. Can’t think of a better word right now. His action music went up a notch during that era too.
 

One of my favourite sub-eras, shall we call it. But there are others.

 

 

[Tallguy 3,381]

16 hours ago, LSH said:

I’ve always divided Horner’s career into two sections. Pre and post Titanic. Easy as that. I think it’s quite a good spot to begin noticing stylistic tendencies either side.

 

That's hard for me to pick that as the line because in 1994 / 1995 he did Apollo 13 / Legends of the Fall / Braveheart. All very much in the Titanic mode.

 

Of course you could draw that line as to where he got a lot richer.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

Horner's career can be divided into two sections: "1982 - 1986", and "Everything Else".

[Edmilson 7,426]

Yeah, I agree that it is hard to pick a best era for Horner, because overall he was consistently great from 1982 to 2005. Sure, there were some high and lows during this time, but everything was still mostly great.

 

After that there were some stuff that weren't as good as before (Apocalypto, Avatar, etc) but judging by Wolf Totem he could've gone through a reinassance if he hadn't played pilot.

[Tallguy 3,381]

38 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Horner's career can be divided into two sections: "1982 - 1986", and "Everything Else".

 

An American Tail?

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

14 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

An American Tail?

 

To quote Max Kalba: "What of it?".