Composing Greatness' Next Subject Is... James Horner!

Scene from Titanic

After a longer than expected hiatus, it's time for the return of Composing Greatness. The column recognizes the best in movie music composition by analyzing the work of greats through their Oscar-nominated work. Past subjects have included such figures as John Williams, Rachel Portman, and Thomas Newman. In the latest installment, I thought that I would shift focus to someone whose work holds a significant place in pop culture in a different way. This Oscar-nominated composer not only received nominations for three Best Picture winners but also worked on two of the highest grossing movies in box office history. Who is this amazing talent? Read on to find out!

While Composing Greatness has tended to focus on contemporary composers whose work continues to influence pop culture, I have decided to start looking towards the recent past. While James Horner's unfortunate passing is still within the past decade, his work spanning decades continues to be influential on modern audiences. It shows in his work on scores for films like Titanic, where he won two Oscars for Best Original Score and writing the Best Original Song winner "My Heart Will Go On." Even if he doesn't quite seem like a name on par with John Williams, his work definitely speaks for itself and his continual experimentation on music like A Beautiful Mind and Avatar leaves his work worthy of deeper scrutiny.

Over the course of the next few weeks, Composing Greatness will take a look at the work of Horner's Oscar-nominated and winning work. While this is a column dedicated to the Best Original Score category, this will include every nomination of Horner's, which will include "My Heart Will Go On." This will be paired with the Titanic entry, meaning that the list will be more truncated. Still, the hope is to better understand what made Horner an important composer as well as determine what made him great. While his legacy of composing three Best Picture winners and two of the highest grossing movies of all time speak for itself, it's important to understand why his work continues to resonate with audiences. 

So starting next week, make sure to keep an eye out for Composing Greatness' deep dive into the look of Horner's vast body of work. It's also the column's attempt to start looking into the past in order to better understand why film scores continue to be important to the bigger picture. While I've gone back to the '60s with John Williams, I haven't really chosen composers who haven't been nominated in the past five years. It has been almost 10 years since Horner was last nominated, making him a first dive into something older and reflective of the past. So please, enjoy this journey into the past with me and hopefully this will be the jump necessary to explore more composers who may have passed, but whose work continues to be important to the bigger picture.