Avatar Composer James Horner : The Master of Film Music

Films started with silent movies without dialogue and background music. Films evolved with the help of technology and the integration of music on movies.  Music puts color and  heart to a film bringing out the roller coaster ride of the emotional aspect of the movie. The scenes are brought to life through the background music which is called the film score.  While the soundtrack is the commercial release  which includes the collection of sounds and songs used in the movie.

And that what makes James Roy Horner a master of movie film scoring and soundtracks having numerous blockbuster movies like “Titanic”and “Avatar”. James is a composer, orchestrator, conductor of orchestral and film music.

Titanic movie soundtrack.

 Born on August 14, 1953 at Los Angeles California USA to parents Joan and Harry Horner. He was first influenced by his father who worked in the film industry as production designer, set designer and a film director.

At his early teen, his family moved to London and he begun studying music at Royal Academy of Music in London.  Then to University of Southern California, and finally at University of California Los Angeles (U.C.L.A) with a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and doctorate in music.  For a short period of time he taught music  in U.C.L.A before started to work in full time scoring.

Horner begun his film scoring on 1979 but his first biggest movie break as a composer wasthe 1982 movies “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” which  succeeded in box office.  it took him four and a half weeks to write the score for this film.

Large projects continue to come at his door with movies such as : Avatar(2009),A Beautiful Mind(2001), Titanic(1997), Braveheart (1995),Legends of the Fall(1994), Aliens (1986) Mask of Zorro(1998), and many more.

His success is already at hand working with top caliber directors like James Cameron and Ron Howard.
The 1997 “Titanic” James Cameron movie score had sold 27million copies, and Horner received two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes, and four Grammys for this top-grossing movie.

The 2009 “Avatar” movie scoring was done in two years and considered as one of the difficult film scores he had made. But the effort paid off as the movie became the biggest movie of the year.

The great impact of music on movies is undoubtedly proven in many years. James Horner music to movies are timeless and will continue to be played by other musicians to continue the legacy of his music. Truly, a composer like James Horner puts his soul and mind to a masterpiece which will last for a lifetime.

List of James Horner Filmography
Awards and Nominations