James Horner - Appreciation Thread

[AndyDursin]

WOLF TOTEM is traditional and THE 33 sounds like it could be a heart tugger as it was written for a film about the rescue of the South American miners.

Not surprised SOUTHPAW was synth -- the project sounded incredibly atypical for him.

[Jedbu]

Hollywood Reporter has it official: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/j ... ser-804365

For FIELD OF DREAMS, GLORY, STAR TREK II & III, TITANIC, ALIENS, MASK OF ZORRO, COCOON, AVATAR, THE ROCKETEER, APOLLO 13, BRAVEHEART, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN....

I know that a lot was written about how a lot of his scores sounded the same and even Jerry Goldsmith supposedly said after someone saw a preview of a film that Horner scored-"Oh, how was I?" to point out what some felt was stealing on his part, but damn, that man wrote some gorgeous melodies AND managed to produce the biggest selling OST ever and a song that to many is an earworm but for many more is a great romantic song.

Vaya con dios...

[Paul MacLean]

I got home from work at 12:45 and thought I'd quickly check facebook before going to bed.

Instead I've been on for over an an hour, pouring over links to obituaries, and tributes from many different people.

This is utterly devastating, to say the very least. James Horner wrote some of my favorite music, and his death is so uselessly tragic. He had many more years ahead of him and had so much more to say. And he was one of the few remaining composers who created work that was musically -- and emotionally -- nuanced, and served as a much-needed antidote to the blunt, unsubtle white sound that passes for film scoring these days. I was greatly looking forward to his score for Mel Gibson's next project (which we will never get to hear).

We film music fans tend to think that no one else notices or cares about film music, but James Horner genuinely touched the lived of many people beyond the borders of our geekdom. He was -- like John Williams -- a rare breed: a composer of work with that was rife with great classical artistry, yet one who expressed himself in an unpretentious way that resonated with audiences. And it's not just that he was lucky enough to score popular films (plenty of popular movies had scores that went almost unnoticed). James Horner was a special talent, and his passing has left a void -- a void which there is no one good enough to fill anymore.

[AndyDursin]

I still can't even believe it Paul...another hole is driven into a medium that has nobody to replace him.

[sprocket]

61 is too young.

Thinking about my favourite Horner scores, mostly I remember the 10 minutes from them that I really liked; the rest of those scores usually didn't make much impression. Ten minutes from Rocketeer, 10 minutes from Willow, 10 minutes from A Far Off Place ...

Funnily, just now those 10 minutes are drowned out in my head by the song My Heart Will Go On.

RIP Mr Horner.

[AndyDursin]

My ten favorite Horner scores, in alphabetical order:

BRAVEHEART
GLORY
KRULL
THE MASK OF ZORRO
THE NEW WORLD
THE PERFECT STORM
THE ROCKETEER
STAR TREK II
TITANIC*
TO GILLIAN ON HER 37TH BIRTHDAY

*please don't shoot me

[Eric W.]

This is pretty surreal I must say.

[DavidBanner]

This is sad news, and it's at this point been pretty much confirmed. His agents have said it was him in the plane, and the people at the airport where he took off have confirmed he's the one who was piloting it. At this point, the only thing left is for the coroners to be able to confirm identification - which will take a little time as they do the usual tests - my understanding is that the plane burned after crashing, which is the reason ID was delayed.

Horner had several scores I liked very much. In no particular order:

1. 48 Hours
2. Testament
3. Star Trek II
4. Clear and Present Danger (mainly for the Main Theme)
5. Deep Impact
6. Wolfen
7. Brainstorm

Many of his scores did tend to borrow from the earlier ones, but he had a wonderful emotional sense to his work. I remember when he first came to everyone's attention in the 80s and people thought he would be the next Jerry Goldsmith. He didn't, as his work tended to be more derivative for some time, but he did give us several very nice pieces that continue to stand the test of time. I greatly appreciated the candor of his interviews for the Aliens DVDs - particularly in how he and Cameron were able to patch things up ten years later to do Titanic.

[jkholm]

I've been on vacation and have been catching up on this sad news. I was at the Fountains at Bellagio tonight and they played My Heart Will Go On. Not sure if it was an intentional tribute, but it sure worked as one for me.

[Eric W.]

http://www.filmmusicsociety.org/news_ev ... 62415.html

[Paul MacLean]

My top five favorites would include:

5) Apollo 13
4) The Land Before Time
3) Braveheart
2) The Rocketeer
1) Krull -- his greatest epic (and a score I much prefer to his more popular Willow).

Sadly, I never got around to buying The Rocketeer until a couple of months ago -- and unfortunately the douchebag Amazon seller I ordered it from never sent it (and Amazon cancelled the order before I had a chance to post negative feedback).

Looked into ordering it again tonight, only to find all the sellers have bumped-up the prices to north of $60, likely to capitalize to the composer's death (the bastards).

[sprocket]

After quick look

http://www.tarantula-records.com/shop/a ... 3E%3Cbr%3E ?

http://www.priceminister.com/offer/buy/ ... Album.html

[Paul MacLean]

Thanks sprocket!

Priceminister is legit?

[sprocket]

To be honest, I haven't had much experience with Price Minister, just a couple of purchases. They weren't a problem, though, and a friend of mine used it all the time and recommends them. (He bought a lot of the Universal France CDs on PM. He was saying sellers may lower their price if you make an offer, too.)

Have to make sure the seller ships to the U.S.

[Eric W.]

A buffed up, remastered Rocketeer is overdue.