Horner, James

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biography of Horner, Jame

James Roy Horner
14 August 1953, Los Angeles, California, USA
'James Horner' (qv) began studying piano at the age of five, and trained at the Royal College of Music in London, England, before moving to California in the 1970s. After receiving a bachelor's degree in music at USC, he would go on to earn his master's degree at UCLA and teach music theory there. He later completed his Ph.D. in Music Composition and Theory at UCLA. Horner began scoring student films for the American Film Institute in the late 1970s, which paved the way for scoring assignments on a number of small-scale films. His first large, high-profile project was composing music for _Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982)_ (qv), which would lead to numerous other film offers and opportunities to work with world-class performers such as the London Symphony Orchestra. Currently, with over 75 projects to his name, and work with people such as 'George Lucas (I)' (qv), 'Steven Spielberg' (qv), 'James Cameron', 'Oliver Stone (I)' (qv), and 'Ron Howard (I)' (qv), Horner has firmly established himself as a strong voice in the world of film scoring. In addition, Horner composed a classical concert piece in the 1980s, called "Spectral Shimmers", which was world premiered by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.
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- Frequently uses a chorus or soloist (Ex: Glory, Titanic, A Beautiful Mind). Frequently represents bad guys with a distinctive four-note motif. Frequently uses the sakuhachi (Ex: Braveheart).

- Attended University of the Pacific in Stockton, California

- Has tagged several scores with a distinctive four-note trumpet blast during an important moment in the film.

- Many of his scores contain a wordless female voice (like 'Ennio Morricone' (qv) often does).

- Often uses a "crashing piano" to symbolize genius in his scores (_A Beautiful Mind (2001)_ (qv), _Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)_ (qv)).

- Son of 'Harry Horner' (qv).

- Brother of 'Christopher Horner (I)' (qv).

- His end-title themes for _Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)_ (qv) and _Glory (1989)_ (qv) have been heavily reused for various movie trailers.

- Although he studied Piano, he doesn't consider himself to be a good pianist.

- Has followed 'Jerry Goldsmith' (qv) by composing the scores for two sequels to movies Goldsmith scored: _Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982)_ (qv) and _Aliens (1986)_ (qv).

- Was nominated for Film Composer of the Year in 2009 by the International Film Music Critics Association.

- "Spectral Shimmers", classical composition performed by Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

- Composed music for Universal Pictures tag

- Composed music for tag of Icon Productions, 'Mel Gibson (I)' (qv)'s production company.

- Unused score, _Young Guns (1988)_ (qv)

- Two unused scores for _Heaven Help Us (1985)_ (qv)

- Unused score: _Streets of Fire (1984) _

- "The Horner Letter", Mark G. So, Editor, Pomona College, Box WK 733, 700 N. College Way, Claremont, California, 91711-6331, USA.

- I had no idea who 'Jerry Goldsmith' (qv) or 'John Williams (I)' (qv) were before I did _The Hand (1981)_ (qv). I'm sure that I was influenced by Goldsmith's large orchestral scores when I started out, and that was because the people who employed me wanted that kind of sound. I wasn't in a position to say, 'Go To Hell!'

- _Titanic (1997)_ (qv) -> $800,000 (plus $1.2$ per soundtrack CD sold)