James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American film composer. He worked on more than 160 film and television productions between 1978 and 2015. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements alongside traditional orchestrations, and for his use of motifs associated withCeltic music.[1][2]
Horner, who was an avid pilot, was killed in a single-fatality crash while flying hisShort Tucano turboprop aircraft. He was 61 years old.[7] The scores for his final three films,Southpaw (2015),The 33 (2015) andThe Magnificent Seven (2016), were all completed and released posthumously.
Horner was born on August 14, 1953, in Los Angeles, California, to Jewish immigrant parents.[8][9][10][11] His father,Harry Horner, was born inHolice, Czech Republic, then a part of theAustro-Hungarian Empire. He emigrated to the United States in 1935 and worked as a set designer and art director.[12][13] His mother, Joan Ruth (née Frankel), was born to a Canadian family. His brother Christopher is a writer and documentary filmmaker.[11]
Horner's big break came in 1982 when he was asked to scoreStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It established him as an A-list Hollywood composer. DirectorNicholas Meyer quipped that Horner was hired because the studio could no longer afford the firstTrek movie's composer,Jerry Goldsmith; but that by the time Meyer returned to the franchise withStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, the studio could not afford Horner either.[19]
Horner scored six films in 1995, including his commercially successful and critically acclaimed works forBraveheart andApollo 13, both of which received Academy Award nominations.
Horner composed the 2006–2011 theme for theCBS Evening News, which was introduced during the debut of anchorKatie Couric on September 5, 2006.[26] He wrote various treatments of the theme, explaining, "One night the show might begin with the Iranians obtaining a nuclear device, and another it might be something about a flower show... The tone needs to match the news."[27]
Horner collaborated again withJames Cameron on his 2009 filmAvatar, which became the highest-grossing film of all time, surpassing Cameron's ownTitanic.[22] Horner worked exclusively onAvatar for over two years. He said, "Avatar has been the most difficult film I have worked on, and the biggest job I have undertaken... I work from four in the morning to about ten at night, and that's been my way of life since March.[timeframe?] That's the world I'm in now, and it makes you feel estranged from everything. I'll have to recover from that and get my head out of [it]."[28]
Avatar brought Horner his tenth Academy Award nomination, as well as nominations for the Golden Globe Award, British Academy Film Award and Grammy Award, all of which he lost toMichael Giacchino forUp.[29]
AfterAvatar, Horner wrote the score for the 2010 version ofThe Karate Kid, replacingAtli Örvarsson.[30] In 2011, he scoredCristiada (also known asFor Greater Glory), which was released a year later; andBlack Gold. In 2012 he scoredThe Amazing Spider-Man, starringAndrew Garfield. In an interview on his website, Horner revealed that he did not return to compose the score for thesequel because he did not like how the movie resulted in comparison to the first movie, calling it "dreadful."[31] He was replaced byHans Zimmer. James Horner's theme forThe Amazing Spider-Man would later be incorporated into the filmSpider-Man: No Way Home, composed byMichael Giacchino.
In early 2015, after a three-year hiatus, Horner wrote the music for the adventure filmWolf Totem, his fourth collaboration with directorJean-Jacques Annaud.[32]
At the time of his death, Horner had scored two films yet to be released:[33]
In July 2015, a month after his death, it was discovered Horner had also written the score for the 2016remake ofThe Magnificent Seven, planning it as a surprise.[35]
Horner's scores are also heard in trailers for other films. The climax ofBishop's Countdown, from his score forAliens, ranks as the 5th most commonly used soundtrack cue in trailers.[36]
Horner also wrote the theme music for theHorsemen P-51 Aerobatic Team, and appears inThe Horsemen Cometh, a documentary about the team and theP-51 Mustang fighter plane. The theme is heard at the team's airshow performances.
Several critics have noted stark similarities betweenBraveheart's "Main Theme" and an earlier theme song,Kaoru Wada's "Pai Longing" from the 1991 Japaneseanime series3×3 Eyes.[49][50][51]
On at least one occasion, Horner's musical "borrowing" almost led to litigation. Horner's main title forHoney, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) incorporates cues from the score byNino Rota fromFederico Fellini's filmAmarcord (1973) andRaymond Scott's piece "Powerhouse B" (1937), the latter often referenced inCarl Stalling'sWarner Bros. cartoon scores. Scott's piece was used without payment or credit, leading his estate to threaten legal action against Disney. Disney paid an undisclosed sum in an out-of-court settlement and changed the film's cue sheets to credit Scott.[52][53]
Horner was also a qualified privatepilot and owned several small airplanes.[54][55] His studio was filled with small automatons and objects which he purchased and collected over time.[56] In a documentary produced after his death, Horner's wife Sara stated that he described himself as havingAsperger syndrome; according to Sara "He would say himself, and did at the end of his life, that he had Asperger's, and he definitely had a different kind of neurological wiring."[57]
Post-accident investigation by theNational Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed that the leading cause of the accident was Horner's inability to maintain clearance from terrain during low-level airwork.[63] During the flight, Horner contacted the Southern California Air Route Traffic Control Center, from whom he received advisories while flying over the Chumash Wilderness area.[63] The NTSB interviewed two witnesses of the flight, who were in their homes when Horner flew over them; one said that the plane was flying at between 500 and 750 feet (150 and 230 m). FAA radar data showed that the plane had made multiple low-altitude turns and performed rapid altitude change maneuvers, flying low through Quatal Canyon and skimming mountain ridgelines by less than 100 feet (30 m).[64]
In addition to Horner's failing to maintain clearance, the NTSB determined there were other key factors that led to the accident. Foremost among these was Horner's use of prescription medications for pain relief and headaches. Toxicology testing foundbutalbital,codeine andethanol in Horner's body (although the ethanol may have been produced by microbial activity after his death).[64]
Contemporaries and collaborators around the world paid their respects to Horner, including composersHans Zimmer,John Williams,Paul Williams andAlan Menken, and directorsRon Howard[65] andJames Cameron. Horner was reported to have been committed to theAvatar franchise; Cameron said "There's so much music he could have done. We were looking forward to our next gig."[66] Horner's assistant, Sylvia Patrycja, wrote on her Facebook page, "We have lost an amazing person with a huge heart and unbelievable talent [who] died doing what he loved."[67] Many celebrities, includingRussell Crowe,Diane Warren andCeline Dion, also gave their condolences.[68] Dion, who sang "My Heart Will Go On", one of Horner's most popular compositions, which is considered Dion's signature song,[69] wrote on her website that she and husbandRené Angélil were "shaken by the tragic death" of their friend and "will always remember his kindness and great talent that changed [her] career".[70]Leona Lewis, who recorded Horner's "I See You" forAvatar, said working with him "was one of the biggest moments of my life."[71] The final films for which he composed the score,Southpaw,The 33 andThe Magnificent Seven, were all dedicated to his memory, as was the filmHacksaw Ridge.Avatar: The Way of Water, which Horner was set to work on before he died, was also dedicated to his memory (as well as actorBill Paxton, who died in 2017 and appeared in filmsAliens andTitanic scored by the composer).
Horner's extensive papers and archives are preserved and available for researchers at theUCLACharles E. Young Research Library Special Collections and Archives.[72] The film,The World of James Horner –Hollywood in Vienna (2013), directed by Sandra Tomek was dedicated to Horner.[73]
In October 2013, Horner received theMax Steiner Award at theHollywood in Vienna Gala, an award given for extraordinary achievement in the field of film music.[77]
