A terrible tragedy today for Horner's friends, family, and his fans. He will go down in history as one of the most influential and inspiring composers of all time. Someone mentioned the three J's - John, Jerry, and James. These are the guys I grew up with. It feels like I lost a family member today.
Let's compile a playlist together. I can drop it into a spotify playlist. What is YOUR Horner piece? Why? Just pick one. Please no "Hornerism" comments.
I'm sure this will be a consistent reason, but I'm going to go with one of the cues that got me into film music in the first place. I hear this piece in my head when I think of him:
The last 2 minutes of "Rendezvous At Griffith Park Observatory" and then "The Zeppelin" from THE ROCKETEER. I was just a kid when I saw the movie, and this absolutely blew me away. THIS is what film music should be. I still get goosebumps to this day when I think of Paul Sorvino's character uttering the line, "Go get 'em, kid."
We're now listening to Journey of Natty Gann which I remember listening to in the car during one of our first road trips through the mountains with our then-newborn daughter. I'll always associate that memory with this beautiful score.
The Deep and Timeless Sea is a piece I've returned to more and more over the years. It moves incredibly fluidly through so many of the themes of the score while taking a mature tone, sometimes wistful, sometimes peaceful. It carries even more significance now.
"Coming Home From The Sea" from THE PERFECT STORM. Never cared for the movie, but the score is a symphony and will always remind me of the stories my daughter and I would invent while listening to it.
I've been listening to my favorite James Horner pieces all morning and am saddened by the loss of a truly gifted composer. Looking back, there were so many great pieces of music that helped define my love for film music. It's hard to list one personal piece of music, but my top 3 would be:
Whispering Winds (The Land Before Time) The Place Where Dreams Come True (Field of Dreams) The Wedding (Bicentennial Man)
I was introduced to his music back in the day with Gorky Park. It sounded fresh and interesting. I'll pick Main Title from Gorky Park. Although I must say Braveheart should be included too, Murron's Burial for instance.
