Biography

Having composed the music for more than 130 film and television productions, JAMES HORNER (1953–2015) was among the world’s most prolific and beloved film composers. He earned two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, eight additional Academy Award nominations, five additional Golden Globe nominations, and he won six Grammy awards.  

Known for his stylistic diversity, his film credits include Titanic, Braveheart, Avatar, A Beautiful Mind, Glory, The Perfect Storm, Aliens, Legends of the Fall, Field of Dreams, The Mask of Zorro, Clear and Present Danger, Courage Under Fire, The Missing, Patriot Games, Jumanji, An American Tail, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Ransom, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, The Land Before Time, Willow, The Rocketeer, Apocalypto, Cocoon, Gorky Park, and Star Trek II and III. His final feature film projects were Wolf Totem, The 33, and Southpaw.   

Horner likened his approach to composing to that of a painter, where the film serves as the canvas and musical color is used to describe and support the film’s emotional dynamics. He also composed several concert works including A Forest Passage, commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra, Pas de Deux, a double concerto for violin and cello, and Collage: A Concerto for Four Horns and Orchestra, premiered by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Tragically, Horner died in 2015 when the single-engine aircraft he was piloting crashed in a remote area of northern Ventura County, CA.