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Posted: |
Jul 5, 2015 - 12:58 PM
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By: |
johnjohnson
(Member)
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No piece of news in film music history might have originated such an amount of connections, commentaries and internet links such as James Horner’s tragic death two Mondays ago. Something similar happened in 2004, when Jerry Goldsmith passed away, but the web was not so prominent at the time. Today everything is shared in internet and internet has spoken: James Horner was the most popular film music composer, for good and for bad. In fact his death has caused an unprecedented disclosure. When it seemed that only a few fans gathered around a couple of forums and websites to daily chat about his music, the tragic news of his untimely death have disclosed a phenomenon of global scale, transforming those few crazy fans into thousands.
But this “Horner phenomenon” was already undergoing major changes in previous years. And, above all, it was affecting several generations, until now silent. A curious moment, just last year: In the lead, last cue of the action score by Nathan Furst for Need for Speed, and a couple of four note motifs. The composer, perfectly aware of this fact, acknowledged in different interviews Horner´s influence and, these last days, he admitted in Twitter having lost a “mentor”.
But we had already heard other composers take Horner’s lead before: not being afraid of interacting with the viewer, sharing through him. From Desplat’s expressive colors in Girl with a Pearl Earring, clearly influenced by A Beautiful Mind, to James Newton Howard’s melody lines, vocals and resources in Maleficent, in the last two decades we started to hear hornerisms beyond his compositions.
The flood of feelings that his death has caused could represent a new step in the world of film music, making it brave enough to be emotional and to directly address the spectator, the same way the 3D signal is sent into each viewer to alter his vision. And, now that we are there, it could also come back to melody; something that Horner and many other composers before him understood as essential to enrich the movies: writing, telling and singing, instead of babbling, underlining or just being noisy.
Writing, telling and singing; that is James Horner’s legacy. A composer who brought together popularity (Avatar, Titanic, Star Trek) with the art of music, creating scores which equally gathered film music fans and moviegoers (Braveheart, Legends of the Fall, Glory). A composer who found in big drama, the one which interests the audiences no longer, the perfect canvas to express his feelings and knowledge, till the end of his days (Black Gold, For Greater Glory, Wolf Totem).
A unique composer. We will never hear again anything similar. A tragedy that goes beyond the ones we lived in 2004 with Goldsmith or Bernstein; or in 2006 with Poledouris. They passed away, but the fans still felt that others could carry on with their legacy. Today, nothing is left of the Hollywood which told transcending stories, with composers who were essential to carry out such work. Unless this legacy is shared with future generations. And that is our mission from now on, with the help of fans and professionals, starting today, remembering the genius who awoke in us the excitement of a way of storytelling.
http://www.asturscore.com/tribute-to-james-horner-1953-2015/
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ZapBrannigan, that's an absolutely amazing little interview you've found! So many nuggets. Considering he was not yet a 'name', the interview delves into things I wouldn't have expected him to talk about - deleted scenes, what Paramount didn't like, etc.
Thanks. Starlog is an amazing resource. And it doesn't just go back to 1976. They often did retro articles that spanned the whole 20th century in science fiction.
Has anybody figured out which Star Trek TOS love theme Horner was talking about for the Ceti eel business? I'm pretty sure there's no answer to that one. He might have started with a familiar melody, but that's not where he ended up.
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The theme in question can be heard at the beginning of Prime Specimen (The Cage). It plays a few times in TOS as a "beautiful/mysterious woman" theme.
That's amazing! Horner took that Courage "sexy/exotic" phrase and confused us all these years by calling it "the" Star Trek love theme. But he DID use a phrase from the TV series for the Ceti eels.
Trekfan: good effort, and with so little to go on regarding what Horner was talking about, you could just as well have been right.
I just wish I knew how Horner came to know that Courage cue. The GNP LP didn't come out until 1985. Did he watch syndicated reruns like the rest of us? And somehow not know that TOS had many love themes?
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