James Horner 1953-2015

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Really! Have you no respect for the dead Alex?

[RedBard 71]

As it turns out, we all loved you.

Some of us were just too shy to admit it.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

He always did seem youthful even as a bloke in his 60s. I noticed his weight dropped dramatically in the last few years. Was he sick?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

He did look emaciated

[RedBard 71]

He always did seem youthful even as a bloke in his 60s. I noticed his weight dropped dramatically in the last few years. Was he sick?

Maybe he was. Maybe he had a terminal illness of sorts.

If this were the case (and I'm not saying it is), I could possibly see a reason as to why he would go flying.

[A24 4,326]

Really! Have you no respect for the dead Alex?

Just because not everybody loved Horner's music doesn't mean they don't have any respect, Steef.

[RedBard 71]

All right, now.

Let's not turn a composer's death into a reason to piss all over each other's feelings.

[Sandor 796]

This is awful news.... Very saddened... Listening to Legends Of The Fall this evening....

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

All right, now.

Let's not turn a composer's death into a reason to piss all over each other's feelings.

It's OK. It's just Alex anyway. He doesn't care about any composer we discuss here. Even John Williams

[curlytoot 97]

Really devastated by this. Ironic; I had found myself just starting to get into his music more than usual, this summer.

[crocodile 7,982]

This is absolutely horrible. I'm completely shocked.

It's also horrifically ironic that he was killed by one of his biggest passions. In many ways this is so much more upsetting that Jerry Goldsmith or Michael Kamen.

And I absolutely enjoyed his work (yes, all things considered). He had quite a few very good scores lately that proved he's still young, fertile composer. I was looking forward to more... I seriously thought he was going through a renaissance in his music.

Fuck.

Karol

[Datameister 2,037]

Well shit.

Tonight, in his honor, I listened to all of TWOK and finally ordered both Titanic albums. Whatever his faults as a composer, he certainly knew how to generate "the feels", and he earned his place as a giant in the film score world. RIP.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I prefer to think of them not as "faults", but as "distinctive stylistic traits".

They were a part of his musical DNA. Without them it would be Horner.

[Jilal 569]

A truly shocking, god-awful piece of news. Rest in peace, dear James .

[EdwardHall 30]

James Horner was a brilliant composer. Over the years I think too many people, including me, were too hard on him for self-plagarizing. Yet all the while my Horner collection continued to grow. That is because Horner was a composer who always moved me emotionally. I used to watch the end credits of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" on VHS repeatedly to hear his music. Horner often claimed that he never wanted the audience to be aware of the music in the film, but with a composer of his caliber that was simply not possible. Some of the most memorable film moments in the past 30 years have had his music underneath. The death and funeral of Spock, the final suicide attack in "Glory," the Southampton sequence from "Titanic" and Jake's First Flight from "Avatar" are examples of how his music could soar, uplift, frighten, embolden the audience, always while supporting the picture on the screen. Horner was a treasure- in these days when many popular films are scored with generic synthesizer beats, Horner's music becomes even more valuable. My goodness, just look at how warm and comforting a scene such as the "Rooftop Kiss" in "The Amazing Spider-Man" is because of his beautiful music. (that oboe!) And let us not forget his french horns! How wonderfully ironic that a man named Horner could write such powerful and majestic music for the French Horn. "Stealing the Enterprise" from "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" has the most triumphant french horns I have ever heard. Ever. Conversely, it is ironic in a very sad way that Horner died while flying an airplane. His ability to express flight musically was remarkable. - The Rocketeer, Apollo 13, the concert piece "Write Your Soul." Horner deserves a special segment at the Academy Awards next year. I propose that we members of the John Williams Fan Network start a petition to send to the Academy. Thank you.

[filmmusic 1,823]

Just woke up and rushed to my pc to see what happened..

Very sad news.

Horner was one of the 2-3 composers that inspired me in my teens to wanting to become a film composer.

I remember Braveheart was my first Horner Cd, and I couldn't believe the beauty of the music (hadn't seen the film yet), especially in the Secret Wedding track..

[King Mark 3,624]

Does the Hornershrine still exist?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

To be a Horner fan means that one had to deal with the fact that amidst even some of his most brilliant cues there could all of a sudden be a theme, rhytm, melody or phrase that was taken pretty much verbatim from one (or many) or his earlier works, or that of someone else.

Its ironic that despite accusations of plagiarism that would follow him throughout his career, Horner had a very definable and distinctive musical voice.

Like his fellow great film composers, Williams, Goldsmith, Barry etc etc, you could reconize a cue as Horners without even knowing what it was.

I remember watching Die Hard in my teens and immediately knowing that the final cue before the end credits was Horners. Even though I had not seen Aliens or heard that score.

[Gnome in Plaid 219]

I just made an 11-hour drive with my mother, and after bickering over music for a good half of it, we settled on something we could both agree on: three listens of the Apollo 13 recording sessions.  I still can't believe the news I only heard after arriving.  I'm really too tired to articulate my thoughts on the matter, so I'll just leave what remains, even 12 years after the release of House of Sand and Fog, the saddest piece of music I've ever heard:

 

[Quintus 5,399]

RIP one part of my Holy Trinity of film composers.

https://youtu.be/qzXM6s8LE9Q

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Lee your video is private

[Quintus 5,399]

Should work now.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It does, thanks

[buysoundtrax 32]

http://www.buysoundtrax.com/Horner_obit_6_15.html

Randall Larson's Obit at Buysouondtrax.com for Mr. Horner

[Quintus 5,399]

To think he wrote 1:48 of this for a fucking cartoon when 99% of living composers couldn't dream of turning in such skill for one of their own "mature" epics.

https://youtu.be/dVm_UNRgYMc

[BigKenLittle 6]

While I will admit, in the last few years I haven't really followed James Horner's music much, I must say he had a profound influence on my youth. I have been listening to James Horner's music since the early 80's. I sought out the original Rhino records vinyl release of "Battle Beyond the Stars". In 1981, I paid over thirty bucks for this LP, because I was so enamored of the new young composer. So many more came afterwards; "Wrath of Khan, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Cocoon, 48 Hours, Krull, Aliens... and so many more.

Two in particular stood out for me. It was 1983 and I knew Horner's music, but then came Brainstorm. This was a music I had never heard before. I was, at first, completely lost listening to this "noise" as I called it, but I was determined to follow it to the end. So I played the LP (best audio ever from Eric Tomlinson BTW). And at the end I played it again. But then something happened, as I was listening to the track "Lillian's Heart Attack" I heard the strangest thing, I found the melody and counterpoint in all that cacophony. It was right then I realized that music is much more than a march in 4/4 time. There is a depth to be sought out. A shallow moment, true, but I was only 16. And then... Ahhhhhhh, James Horner's greatest moment. "Michael's Gift To Karen". Sublime. Beautiful. I mean it sincerely when I say this is James Horner's crowning achievement. So much so, and I've never said this before, but my late wife Tamara chose this for her march down the aisle. I still get goosebumps to this day.

I will play a James Horner medley all day today. I will even dig out my Brainstorm LP, even though I have long since added the CD to my collection. Something about the low frequency rumble of the turntable will make me feel like a kid again.

And then this...

[Amer 2,080]

Horner had really matured as a composer quite earlier on and his compositions were often on par with John Williams talents.

[filmmusic 1,823]

Horner had really matured as a composer quite earlier on and his compositions were often on par with John Williams talents.

Yes, i was astonished when I found out that he wrote the masterful Star Trek II at so young age!

[DreamTheater 131]

To think he wrote 1:48 of this for a fucking cartoon when 99% of living composers couldn't dream of possessing such mastery for one of their own "mature" epics.

https://youtu.be/dVm_UNRgYMc

Land Before Time has about 20 sequels, but that one is the one to remember, if only for the score. It's gorgeous.

To be a Horner fan means that one had to deal with the fact that amidst even some of his most brilliant cues there could all of a sudden be a theme, rhytm, melody or phrase that was taken pretty much verbatim from one (or many) or his earlier works, or that of someone else.

Its ironic that despite accusations of plagiarism that would follow him throughout his career, Horner had a very definable and distinctive musical voice.

Damn right about his musical voice which has always been about conjuring up emotion and excitement for the listener. I've never had an issue with his overuse of certain motifs or repeating melodies or whatnot when he was alive and I'll be even more forgiving from now on.

For example the whole Braveheart lift in For Greater Glory: there are two scores with that melody. It has never bothered me and never will.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

Last time I spoke to JH he was scoring for a kid at AFI. 2 Oscars and he agreed to score a student film! What generosity. #RIPJamesHorner

— Marc Webb (@MarcW)

23 Juin 2015

[Jim Ware 526]

James Horner was the composer that sparked my interest in film music many years ago. Devastating news.

[Quintus 5,399]

Horner had really matured as a composer quite earlier on and his compositions were often on par with John Williams talents.

Agreed. When he was on form, he was outrageous.

For me Horner was the soul man of the scoring craft.

[crocodile 7,982]

You were one of my childhood heroes, James. Thank you for the inspiration, you will be greatly missed.

— Michael Giacchino (@m_giacchino)

June 23, 2015

No words. My sadness is so deep that it is difficult to process. Perhaps God needed someone to help write His music. Godspeed Maestro.

— John Debney (@JohnDebney)

June 23, 2015

So saddened by the loss of James Horner, an incredible inspiration and a brilliant composer. I just can't believe it.

— Brian Tyler (@BrianTylerMusic)

June 23, 2015

pic.twitter.com/RgGvRtQjV7

— Doug Adams (@DougAdamsMusic)

June 23, 2015

Karol

[chuck 154]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/composer-james-horner-dies-plane-804366?utm_source=twitter

Celine Dion - "Rene and I are deeply saddened by the tragic death of James Horner. He will always remain a great composer in our hearts. James played an important part in my career. We will miss him. We offer his family and friends our deepest sympathy."

Alexandre Desplat - "It is a tragedy for all composers to hear about James Horner's accident. We have lost one of our most talented and respected colleagues. His music will remain always."

Alan Menken - "I count James Horner among the very best film composers of our generation. His work is stirring, emotionally powerful and broadly evocative. Although we only met on a few occasions, I will always cherish the memory of him and his wonderful work."

Marco Beltrami - "James Horner was one of the great film composer legends. I can't help feeling that his passing marks the end of an era."

Marc Shaiman - "James Horner's music is filled with melody and emotion, and his passing fills my heart with both."

[Jonesy 55]

I can't believe it...

R.I.P. Mr. Horner

[publicist 4,643]

RIP James Roy Horner – a bit of soapboxing

One of those elusive creatures of the movie world that magically appeared at the right time at the right place - Spielberg's music-craving “new“ Hollywood, to be precise – James Horner was a most successful but also odd film composer, who reigned popular culture for a long time, longer than usual for most of his contemporaries. The end of an era, indeed.

Often the butt of jokes for several right and twice as many wrong reasons (mostly his idiosyncratic ways of musical expression), he possessed a talent to enhance movies, especially those with a big trust in their musical collaborator, with an uncanny ability. His insistence on often long and classically structured pieces that were fluid and, when called for, breathtakingly orchestrated betrayed the unmistakable hand of a musical purist – a feat that is doubly impressive in his chosen field which is still dominated by musical wheeziness and lack of structure.

Mistakenly confused as heir to Spielberg's John Williams, partly due to both men’s heavy penchant for the russian masters, Horner actually had more in common with his short-time mentor Jerry Goldsmith, with whom he formed a strange love-hate relationship in later years. Though in many respects polar opposites, the gruff hemingwayesque Goldsmith vs. the more effeminate, shy Horner, there was a shared belief for catching a movie’s core with a simple, direct theme, augmenting it with more textural and motivic ideas and also, more importantly, a passion for experimentation and unusual instruments and timbres.

Horner, like Goldsmith, was a workhorse, though maybe with a slightly different motivation. Since his early days - he was only 25 when he started to enter the movie world - he was steadfast in establishing himself as a quintessential Hollywood animal, doing all kinds of movies, often up to 5 a year, in virtually all genres.

It was clear from the outset that his biggest gift was for melody and a willingness to break out of established musical memes, not afraid to cook up either shamelessly sentimental tunes that played like dusted-off reminders of the golden MGM era or assembling Bulgarian street musicians that hardly could understand a word of English in posh London recording studios for creating most wondrous synergies between orchestra and world music - it is to Horner’s credit that he early on was a vocal critic of the subdued racism and snobbish attitude of the conservative musical establishment.

The prize of big Hollywood success may have robbed us of some of Horner’s inventiveness though: with the heavy workload it soon became apparent that his biggest Achilles heel was his tendency to recycle material mercilessly (his own and that of others), a trait that worsened with later years.

Also, the formula and manipulative approach of many commercial pictures he worked on brought forth a likewise superficial side in his music that often helped to flatten potentially complex characters and situations to simple stereotypes that often sold even pictures for adult audiences like fairy tales, often with a heavy dose of sugar.

This of course made him a logical and sought-after collaborator for fantasy and children’s movies: those were his haven and while he abandoned them in later years for more portentous epics , there was an irresistible sweep to them, maybe the final proof that only movies as the one new art form of the 20^th century, were able to release and contain the best of the past and the dazzling innovations of the future all at once, often within a single person.

Horner was able to go deeper when he wished: with more idiosyncratic artists like Mel Gibson he made a remarkable pair of pictures, ranging between bittersweet Americana of THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE to the ambitious BRAVEHART, a then-unexpected epic that made Horner a runaway success and which, apart from a few too-populist touches, also confirmed Horner’s attachment to strict classical forms and his eagerness to expose younger audiences to the beauty of, say, Vaughan-Williams modal writing – and finally, the less-beloved stepbrother APOCALYPTO saw Horner return to the wholly experimental realms of his early days with its almost abstract synth-and-percussion approach.

In the fast-changing world of movies, Horner became somewhat of a bitter recluse in recent years. From what could be gathered from interviews, he felt hurt and rejected by the lack of loyalty and integrity of former collaborators but also betrayed a more wistful perspective on his profession.

His colourful approach to music is less and less in demand these days and even his slick SPIDER-MAN score, while fitting this picture, seemed hopelessly refined and pushing emotions that big tentpole pictures have long abandoned by now. He still hit home from time to time – though mostly for reliable standby’s like James Cameron or Jean-Jacques Annaud.

It remains an open question why he stubbornly refused to let go of certain trademarks that did their share to tarnish his reputation. It may have been for psychological reasons not easy to understand but for a composer who could with so much ease dream up fluid 10-minute pieces, it seems a bit puzzling.

I may close with a quote that is attributed to Billy Wilder and William Wyler, who at the burial of their admired colleague Ernst Lubitsch muttered to each other “Oh God, no more Lubitsch”, to which the other replied “Even worse, no more Lubitsch films!”.

So especially for this reason with a heavy heart, Goodbye James Horner!

[crocodile 7,982]

Great write-up, pub.

Just learned that there were plans of him visiting Krakow in 2017.

Karol

[Sir Hilary Bray 235]

Woke to see this just a little while ago, very sad, very shocking. It'll always be his Star Trek films I'll think off or love. Whatever you think of him, just unbelievable...this news.

[HornerIsTheMan 4]

I'm speechless. Absolutely speechless.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Started crying like a little girl

[Bespin 8,475]

[Brónach 1,301]

this is surreal

[Luke Skywalker 1,792]

oh my very sad news

[DreamTheater 131]

I literally can't think of anything else. I'm at work, my body is present, but my thoughts are with his music, and the sad fact that he is no more.

It's a giant of film music that has left us. I've yet to shed a tear, but once I'll get home and put on some of my favourite scores, I'll be unable to stop.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Only Williams is left now!

[crocodile 7,982]

Conrad Pope:

Devastated by the news of James Horner’s senseless death. He was a born film composer. His music was like the man: emotional, direct, and imaginative. The notes he wrote breathed life into every frame it accompanied.

To be selfish for a moment, I cannot begin to estimate the impact and influence his life had on mine. I learned so much from James. He was one of my heroes. Indeed, his is one of the two greatest influences on my working, creative life in Hollywood. Without James there is no "me". How does one thank someone for that?

As anyone who worked with and for James can attest, working with and for him could be difficult and, assuredly, always challenging—however, we always knew we were in the service of a genius, a man of vision and a man of enormous passion.

We and Hollywood are so much the poorer for his passing. If there is a bright side to this tragedy it is that he died pursuing his passion for flight. He made every film he scored soar. And he made my life, when we worked together,soar as well.

The poem “High Flight” says:
" Lifting mind, I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of god."

Below is one of the first cues I orchestrated for James. I remember vividly delvering this cue to John Neufeld at 3 in the morning and playing through it at the piano. I also remember when James first “played it down”.

Vale, James. Thank you for all you’ve given us. For those of us who knew you, the world is a much sadder place.

Thank you for making my life richer, better, more meaningful than it would have been without you and your music.

Karol

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

It feels so unfair for him to be taken so soon, especially by a non-natural death.

[crocodile 7,982]

It feels so unfair for him to be taken so soon, especially by a non-natural death.

I know that it might seem like a strange thing to say but at least he died quickly and while doing something he loved.

Karol

[Wojo 2,453]

I tried to sleep in today. I didn't want to wake up into a world where James Horner was gone so soon, I was hoping last night was just all a bad dream.

[Quintus 5,399]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/composer-james-horner-dies-plane-804366?utm_source=twitter

Celine Dion - "Rene and I are deeply saddened by the tragic death of James Horner. He will always remain a great composer in our hearts. James played an important part in my career. We will miss him. We offer his family and friends our deepest sympathy."

Alexandre Desplat - "It is a tragedy for all composers to hear about James Horner's accident. We have lost one of our most talented and respected colleagues. His music will remain always."

Alan Menken - "I count James Horner among the very best film composers of our generation. His work is stirring, emotionally powerful and broadly evocative. Although we only met on a few occasions, I will always cherish the memory of him and his wonderful work."

Marco Beltrami - "James Horner was one of the great film composer legends. I can't help feeling that his passing marks the end of an era."

Marc Shaiman - "James Horner's music is filled with melody and emotion, and his passing fills my heart with both."

Where's Williams'?