Its not easy today to earn the mighty title of Master Composer, but James Horner has deftly earned it well, placing his name up alongside of other Maestro's such as Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams. It all began at the age of five, when Horner first learned how to play the piano. After high school, he went on to study at the Royal College of Music in London before moving to California to begin what would become a most impressive career in the area of Film Score Composition. Once obtaining his Ph.D. at UCLA in Musical Arts, Horner went on to score almost a dozen small films before landing his first major title. What better to start a career then to score the most eagerly anticipated movie of the 1980's: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn!
From here, his career hit the high road, and Horner composed works for movies including: Cocoon, the classic score for Aliens, Willow, the childhood favorite The Land Before Time, Glory, and Field of Dreams, just to mention a meager few of what he created. In the 90's Horner created his title of Master Composer. His masterful creations in The Rocketeer, Legends of the Fall, Apollo 13, Braveheart, all before the decade was even half over. Many of these films, and those to be listed henceforth, have all been nominated for Academy Awards. Even after scoring over 100 films, Horner is one of the most sought after composers in the entire world.
From the mid 90's until now, Horner has continued to amaze us, frighten us, make us cry, and make us laugh with his music. His score for Titanic in 1997 is considered by many to be his masterpiece work within his musical portfolio. Since then, he has scored a multitude of major motion pictures including: The Mask of Zorro, Deep Impact, Bicentennial Man, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Perfect Storm, Enemy at the Gates, and A Beautiful Mind. Even with all of these spectacular works under his belt, Horner doesn't stop. He already has planned to end this year composing the music for Windtalkers, The Four Feathers, Soul Caliber, and The Alamo, which is set for release in 2003.
James Horner says it best about why he chose this illustrious career when he said, "Films speak to me right away... I'm different from some other composers, because I don't look at this as just a job. I think of music as art."
