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Tuesday, June 23, 2015

James Horner, 1953-2015

As I was parking my car last night, I received the following text:

"James Horner died."

There was more to the text, but it took me a couple of minutes to recover from my shock and read it.

James Horner was one of the best film composers alive. He was a huge talent and this loss will be both felt and heard.

I wrote about him briefly in another post about film composers, but this is a good time to pay tribute to Horner.

The following may not be his best compositions, but they're my favorite. Although, his repertoire is long and there are plenty of his scores that I haven't heard.

I know attention spans aren't what they were, but try to listen to the songs all the way through.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - "Main Title" and "Epilogue"

Two pieces for this one because there's no way I could choose between them.



Braveheart - "Freedom"

When I last wrote about Horner I included "The Legend Spreads," however this piece is objectively the best one from Braveheart. It never fails to give me chills, and today it's making me cry. 


Apollo 13 - "Main Title"

I dare you to really listen to this one (don't multitask) and NOT have a physiological reaction to the trumpet. 


The Land Before Time - "The Great Migration"

This video punched me in the gut before the music even started. But apart from that, this music is perfection (as is the movie). 


An American Tale - "Somewhere Out There"

Who doesn't love this song? You don't have a soul if you don't love this song.


The Rocketeer - "Main Title"

It's been at least two decades since I've seen this movie, but the music still gets me. 


The Mask of Zorro - "Diego's Goodbye"

I loved this movie when it came out and the music was a huge part of that.