James Horner never forgot Titanic victims
mainThe film composer came to Liverpool last November for the world premiere of Pas de Deux, a double concerto for violin and cello that he had written for the Norwegian siblings, Mari and Hakon Samuelsen.
While in town, he sought out the memorial to the many victims of HMS Titanic who came from the port city.
photo (c) Sandra Parr/RLPO/Slipped Disc
The Pas de Deux recording is released this month on Mercury Classics, tragically coinciding with James’s death.
I was lucky enough to master this CD a few months ago and can heartily recommend the recording. The video linked here provides some context to the genesis of the piece and its premiere last year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPVzkrjyGUU
I think this will be the first Horner CD I buy in nearly 20 years.
I’ve enjoyed his filmscores, but never enough to actually buy one. They aren’t, in my opinion, the very best of Hollywood’s offerings.
Now it’s a shame the lovely concerto has to be paired with the overdone Fratres, and some new-agey garbage.
There’s a nice article here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/what-to-watch/james-horner-best-scores-soundtracks/
R.I.P. James Horner
“Nice” maybe, but inaccurate and rather blustery.
Among the excerpts posted as his “best” are some of his more obvious “borrowings” from other composers, and missing from the list are some of Horner’s truly GOOD scores/excerpts where his originality was most evident.
It doesn’t do his memory justice to point to scores popular with people who know very little about music, and then to ignore his scores where he truly DID shine through as potentially one of the better Hollywood composers after Williams and Goldsmith.
I’d be really grateful for your recommendations!
It is with regret that I learnt of the untimely passing of James Horner . From an industrial viewpoint Horner brought a tremendous amount of work to London and was a prolific employer of large numbers of orchestral and session musicians plus huge gothic choirs and specialised instruments for sound effects . As an ex -Player of the LSO I was involved in working with Horner on numerous films at Abbey Rd over the decades and it was never just another film to record but it was a “Horner Film”
He was a composer , conductor , controller of the studio, employer of musicians and was highly respected professionally by players and he achieved this all without being a prima donna . Not an easy combination in the artistic world
May he rest in peace – composing in the heavens.
Still missed till this day – his presence is lost and can never be replaced.