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JAMES HORNER FILM MUSIC | December 7, 2023 |

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JAMES CAMERON

James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian film director, film producer, deep-sea explorer, screenwriter, and editor.
In 1971, he shifted to United States to fulfill his dream of becoming a film director, and he worked as a truck driver to support his screen writing desire. In 1980 he got his first professional film job where he worked as an art director for the film Battle Beyond The Stars. In 1981 he directed this first film Piranha Part Two: The Spawning but he made his mark on Hollywood in following years where he had written and directed the successful science-fiction action films such as The Terminator in 1984 which was a huge success, Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), and True Lies (1994).
In 1997, his movie Titanic became the highest grossing film of all time and a worldwide box office hit with earnings of $2.18 billion. It was the first film to reach the billion-dollar mark ever and the only other film to cross that mark was his next epic science-fiction film Avatar in 2009. Avatar became the highest ever grossing film where it got $2.78 billion worldwide.
Cameron was nominated six times for the Academy Awards and he won three awards for Best Film and Best Director.

Source: wikipedia

 

THE RECONCILIATION BETWEEN JAMES HORNER AND JAMES CAMERON FOR TITANIC

To celebrate the Titanic Live event in California on June 22, 2019, we are publishing excerpts from an unpublished interview newly translated into English with James Cameron, originally published in 2005 in the French magazine Cinéfonia. The rest of the interview will be published in a project of which we will reveal some details soon.   April 1986 - London It has been four weeks since James Horner waited for a first edit of the Aliens film directed by James Cameron. When the first assembly was provided, instead of the six weeks originally planned for writing to the images, there were only two weeks

ERIC RIGLER SHARES AN ANECDOTE ABOUT TITANIC:

Following James Thatcher and Sara Horner, Eric Rigler shares a few words about the Titanic experience. We are happy to share some words from this extraordinary bagpipe player who moved us to tears in five scores by James Horner. Having had the privilege of meeting Eric several times, we can testify that the man is like his music: charming, sensitive and generous.   In this video, he shares an amusing anecdote from the recording sessions. Watch and listen as he discusses the sequence where Jack and Rose are chased by Lovejoy after the famous portrait scene.   © 20th Century Fox   New West Symphony

TITANIC BY JAMES HORNER: A LIFE SO CHANGED

It’s been twenty years now since James Horner was awarded two awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his work on Titanic (1997). James Horner Film Music looks back at this time and explores with Sara Horner, the composer’s widow, this defining moment in James’s career and in their lives.   The second half of the 90s undoubtedly placed James Horner at the top of music made for cinema. The main characteristic of this period is the impressive chain of important scores for box office successes. Indeed, over a very short period, we witnessed the creation of Legends

THE GLOBAL APPEAL OF TITANIC LIVE

The music James Horner composed in 1997 for the film Titanic is an inspirational phenomenon–there’s really nothing else quite like it in the whole corpus of film composition. Now, thanks to the marvel of ‘live’ orchestral performance synchronised with movie screenings, Titanic Live has embarked on a long career as an incredible cinematic experience with huge global appeal. Of course, other film scores have been given the ‘live’ treatment in recent years, but the concept seems to work more successfully with Titanic than any other movie. It was obvious from the raucous cheering and applause during the April 2015 Royal Albert

THE WORDS OF JAMES HORNER #5: SEVEN YEARS AFTER TITANIC

Now that La-La Land Records has released a behemoth four-disc set that pretty much closes the book on James Horner’s Titanic, we publish an interview given by the composer to Cinéphonia Magazine in 2005. Again, please remember that the original interview tapes have been lost and so for this English text we only had the French publication to go by. As always, we have tried to stay true to James Horner’s voice.   Cinéfonia Magazine: What do you remember today of the adventure that so profoundly impacted both the movie industry and film music ? James Horner : It’s always nice to go back to

THE WORDS OF JAMES HORNER #4: BACK TO TITANIC

To celebrate the release of Titanic in 4 CD edition by La-La Land (see our exclusive review here) we present an interview with James Horner never before published in English. This short interview was originally published in 1998 in the French magazine Dreams To Dream. One more unpublished interview in English, dating from 2005 at the release of the Special Collector's Edition DVD of the film, will follow. Recall: The Words of James Horner is a series of articles intended to republish some twenty interviews Didier Leprêtre and Jean-Christophe Arlon conducted between 1997 and 2006 and published only in French in

THE WORDS OF JAMES HORNER #3: TITANIC

To celebrate the release of Titanic in 4 CD edition by La-La Land (see our exclusive review here) we publish an archival interview of James Horner published in 1998 in the French magazine Dreams To Dream. This interview was originally published in French, English and German in issue 10 of Dreams to Dream...s. Two other unpublished interviews in English and related to Titanic will follow: one very short on the conception of the album Back To Titanic, the other dating from 2005 at the release of the Special Collector's Edition DVD of the film by James Cameron. Recall: The Words of

[EXCLUSIVE REVIEW] TITANIC EXPANDED: AN OCEAN OF DISCOVERIES

La-La Land Records has given us a total surprise! After the disappointing 2012 Anniversary Edition that offered identical content to previously released albums, who expected a full version to be released? At that time, many imagined that the most suitable moment to publish all the as-yet unreleased music had come and gone, and the unique opportunity would be lost. Sure, the music had been remastered, but fans had come to expect so much more. This November 28, 2017 – just one week shy of exactly 20 years after the first album released on December 7, 1997 – our dream becomes reality

TITANIC EXPANDED ALBUM FROM LA-LA LAND

Twenty years after the release of the once highest grossing film, La-La Land Records releases a long-awaited expanded release of James Horner's Titanic score. This four-disc set features the score on the first two discs, with several alternate cues, pieces from the original albums, and other additional music on the third disc (including the previously-unreleased trailer music). The fourth disc contains source music (including Come Josephine in My Flying Machine, and an expanded Nearer My God to Thee). Altogether, this release contains over three hours of score and over an hour of source music. (Note that the end credits song

JAMES CAMERON TALKS JAMES HORNER

Since his official statement and the two interviews published in late June 2015 in Hollywood Reporter and Entertainment Weekly, James Cameron has not yet commented his collaboration with James Horner.   This month we finally heard the director recall his work with James Horner, share anecdotes and above all superbly evoke the personality of the composer.   First, in the Blu-ray edition of 'Score: A Film Music Documentary' directed by Matt Schrader and released on September 4. James Cameron appears throughout the closing credits and returns to the famous portrait scene in Titanic. This passage is actually an excerpt from a longer 29-minute interview

JAMES HORNER: A LIFE IN MUSIC PROMO VIDEO

The Royal Albert Hall has released a new promotional video for their upcoming concert. James Horner: A Life in Music will be performed on October 24th in London, and will feature selections from Avatar, Braveheart, Legends of the Fall, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, and many others. There will be exclusive video commentary from frequent Horner collaborators: directors James Cameron, Ron Howard, Mel Gibson and Sir Richard Eyre, and producer Jon Landau. There will be “very special guests” in attendance. The promotional video features brief excerpts of commentary from Howard, Cameron, and Gibson. “He loved textures and sounds and beautiful things…. I

ALIENS LIVE 2016: OUR REVIEW

As Titanic Live once again returns to Royal Albert Hall where it began in 2015, we start off by reliving the experience of Aliens Live from November 2016, which was the second of James Horner’s scores to be presented in live form with the picture playing. As with Titanic 18 months before, the score was conducted by Ludwig Wicki. James Horner’s three collaborations with James Cameron offer three very distinctive scores, each with very different characteristics from the rest. The exotic and other-worldly music of Pandora in Avatar evokes different emotions than the Celtic influences in Titanic. Equally different is the

[CHARLIE ROSE INTERVIEW] JAMES HORNER: "I'M A ROMANTIC"

The interview with James Horner recorded on March 1, 2001 with Charlie Rose as part of the promotion of the film Enemy at the Gates is finally available. The composer covers several subjects during 19 minutes: His passion for film music, the role of film music, the new generation of directors, Titanic, Jean-Jacques Annaud, Braveheart … The video also features a short extract from the recording session of Enemy at the Gates.     "I think it-- for the first time I felt that the music was supporting something bigger than the music that had a more profound effect on an audience than just sitting

ALIENS LIVE ANNOUNCED

2016 marks the 30th anniversary of James Cameron's epic sci-fi action-packed horror, Aliens. To celebrate this event and after Titanic in 2015, Avex Classics International organizes a series of concerts in which James Horner’s thrilling score will be performed by a full orchestra while the motion picture is projected on a vast HD cinema screen. The two world premieres will take place on Sunday 6 November 2016 at 3:00 PM and at 7:30 PM. To purchase your ticket follow this link: Aliens Live – Royal Albert Hall   The official website : Aliens-live.com The trailer :

FOND MEMORIES - EPISODE 3: 1978-1980 - THE ROGER CORMAN MOVIES

This third episode of Fond Memories discusses the four scores James Horner wrote for Roger Corman. If you have any information that could supplement this episode, please do not hesitate to contact us.   Soundtracks covered in this episode: The Lady in Red (1979) Up From The Depths (1979) Humanoids From The Deep (1980) Battle Beyond The Stars (1980)   “When I look at the low-budget films I did, I say "God", but you have to remember they were structurally important to me, I learned my craft with them. I knew nothing about scoring movies until I started working on student films and low-budget films. So while I

JAMES HORNER'S 62ND BIRTHDAY: ALL IS THERE

Photo credit: © Sylvia Wells   James Horner left this world, leaving us stunned and inconsolable. It was the day after Father's Day, the second day of summer. After this tragic and absurd June 22, we ran as our headline, "All is Lost,” a track title from the beautiful The New World. Since the departure of the composer, we must learn to live in this new world. A world without James Horner. So many notes will not be written.   In an interview about The New World (and for now only available in French), James Horner said: "Timelessness is not what we are but what we

eDIT FILMMAKER’S FESTIVAL: MASTER CLASS WITH JAMES HORNER

Following several statements from James Horner from his Master Class talk conducted by Matthias Keller, Editor of Bavarian Radio, on 31 October 2011.   How he got into film music: I studied classical music and first wanted to become a classical composer. For getting commissions and grants you’re told to have a proper so-called power base. So I did the PHD and started writing ‘serious music’ (like Conversations and Spectral Shimmers). And one day I was asked to score a student film. And I agreed to it. I didn’t know anything about film. I wasn’t a great film buff. I was doing

BAFTA GURU: A CONVERSATION WITH JAMES HORNER

29 April 2015. With host Tommy Pearson and a small audience, an important 75 minutes was to unfold. It is disheartening to note that this, a typical but always insightful interview with Tommy Pearson, would be the last interview our late maestro would give before his sudden passing on June 22, 2015. With this in mind, the angelic manners of James Horner's conveyance of thought are ever more heartbreaking as he describes some of his career highlights and passions to Tommy and the audience. His wonderfully unique way thinking and speaking those thoughts will be as sorely missed as the mystical

WOLF TOTEM: JAMES AND THE WOLF

Hardly for the first time in a career comprised of more than 130 film scores did James Horner cross paths with the wolf, a fascinating mammal and a source of countless stories, rumors and legends. Their first meeting dates back to 1981, when Wolfen, a horror thriller by Michael Wadleigh (Woodstock) saw Indians-turned-wolves create havoc in the streets of New York. Distressing brass embodied the wolf’s dark side and its sharp fangs, continually threatening tender and innocent flesh. This musical darkness was reprised a few years later with Aliens (1986), where it evoked the stifling atmosphere created by James Cameron, illustrating the

AVATAR, HACKSAW RIDGE, 12TH MAN: AN UNWRITTEN FUTURE

We afford a small look at what had been on the horizon for James Horner, a window into what a few short weeks ago was certain but which now must be accepted as a reality that will never come to be. It had been known for quite some time that he was going to compose the scores for the sequels to Avatar. As late as this past April, he talked about how he had started putting together ideas, and James Cameron also stated after Horner’s death that he would have started work on the score later this year. However, there were also

TITANIC LIVE: PRESS REVIEWS

We regroup here the articles published on the Internet within the framework of the Titanic Live event.     *** Review: Titanic Live brings the famous film to life at The Royal Albert Hall by Hannah Brittr express.co.uk A positive report.       *** Review: Titanic Live Gives Famous Film A Breath Of New Life by Emma Griffiths sofeminine.co.uk A positive report.       *** Sissel Kyrkjebø kunne ha sunget «My heart will go on» by Ole Eikeland A Norwegian article about Sissel side2.no     Titanic vocalist Sissel talks about how James Horner approached her to sing on the score for Titanic after hearing her sing In Heaven There Is A Castle. During Titanic Live she also sang My Heart Will Go

TITANIC LIVE AT ROYAL ALBERT HALL: A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

Roughly a year ago, when Titanic Live was first announced, we knew this was an event not to be missed. This is the most popular soundtrack composed by James Horner, and to see it performed live in Royal Albert Hall seemed like it would be a very memorable experience. We were not disappointed. 27 April 2015. It is a little past noon when we enter the Royal Albert Hall, an imposing and majestic concert hall built almost 150 years ago, hosting over the course of decades many music legends: Richard Wagner, Arthur Rubinstein, The Beatles, Bob Dylan... The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra,

CONVERSATION WITH JAMES HORNER

"If you build it he will come ..." Just like Ray Kinsella, the character played by Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams, a voice (or rather my intuition) led me to create the Association and the James Horner Film Music website. Every minute, every hour spent working for this project was partly guided by an objective I held close in my heart: publish a new, previously unreleased conversation with James Horner. I gave myself five years to get there. Next January we will celebrate four years of JHFM... Unlike the composer, who never listens again to his old music and who never

AUSTRALIA, 1991: JAMES HORNER SEMINARS

Having published interviews given in the early 80's to the CinemaScore magazine (see our article), we continue our exploration of the archives of the past with the publication of the two seminars which James Horner participated in, December 1991 in Australia.   That year, the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) was celebrating film music with a series of courses and activities to recognize and celebrate the contribution that music makes to the screen experience. James Horner had made the trip to take part in a variety of national activities intended to stimulate an atmosphere of appreciation for the work of

INTERVIEW WITH JIM HENRIKSON

There are names you will often run into on James Horner’s album covers: Ian Underwood, Tony Hinnigan, Simon Rhodes ... For 25 years one of them has been present almost every time, proof of a collaborator who has become indispensable. James Horner speaks of him thus in the liner notes to the soundtrack album for Troy: "my wonderful friend without whose guidance and wise counsel I would be lost." This close and faithful staff member is the legendary music editor, Jim Henrikson. Prior to working with James Horner, he participated in projects for television (Star Trek: The Original Series) and classic

VIENNA 2013: INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC SYMPOSIUM

  Wednesday, October 2, 2013, Vienna. Around 3pm, James Horner arrived at the Max Reinhardt Seminar with Varese Sarabande executive producer Robert Townson and Dr. Sandra Tomek, Managing Director and Artistic Producer of Hollywood In Vienna.     For an hour and twenty minutes, before an audience of 200, the composer answered questions from Robert Townson and the public. The conference featured five video clips from the following films: A Beautiful Mind (Creating "Governing Dynamics"), Braveheart (A Gift of a Thistle), Legends of the Fall (The Ludlows), Avatar (Jake's First Flight), and finally Titanic (Rose). James Horner's emotion during each sequence, the precision of

VIENNA 2013: JAMES HORNER INTERVIEWED BY THOR JOACHIM HAGA

Thursday, October 3, 2013. Amidst the annual Hollywood in Vienna music event, James Horner was interviewed by Thor Joachim Haga for Celluloid Tunes and the Norvegian Web Magazine Montages.no. Included in this very worthy hour are interviews conducted with film composer David Newman, who conducted the orchestra in the above mentioned Hollywood event, as well as the concert producer Sandra Tomek. However, the obvious highlights are the few questions asked to James Horner himself, in between actual sound recordings from the concert itself. Clips including the title sequence from the 1982 space opera Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan, the

TITANIC ON BLU-RAY

  A quick note about this long awaited edition, released a few days ago. Packaging, image and sound quality are awesome. This is available in three different versions:   A 2D pack, which contains the film in 2D version both on Blu-Ray and on 2 DVD, and another Blu-Ray containing special features. A 3D pack, which contains the 3D version of the film on two Blu-Ray discs, another Blu-Ray with the 2D version of the film, and another Blu-Ray with special features. A gift box.   In the making-off documentary, James Horner makes a brief appearance. During a few seconds we can see him conducting the suite he