I’ve just learned of the terribly sad news of the loss of James Horner.

I don’t know how any of the rest of you feel, but the addition of a well-done film score has lifted, for me, many a mediocre film into the realm of memorable, or even beloved.
The Mask of Zorro, while notable for the chemistry between it’s stars (and an outstanding bit of swordplay), might have faded into obscurity, without Horner’s musical efforts.

His quoting of Shostakovich in Troy is interesting on so many levels.
Taking Star Trek II, and lifting its theme from the TV incarnation into the realm of epic, was… well… epic.
Braveheart.
A Beautiful Mind.
Avatar.
Titanic.

I’ve never seen Apollo 13, or The Land Before Time, but just listening to the clips above, I get a sense of what was at stake in the film, and how Horner’s music conveyed that to the audience.

There are, and have been, many outstanding film score composers in the short history of the genre. Elmer Bernstein. John Williams. Ennio Morricone. Hans Zimmer.

Today, we have lost one of the great ones.

Image found here.