James Horner: “The cinema is my world and my life” – Le Figaro

DISAPPEARANCE – Le Figaro it had met a fortnight ago the composer of soundtracks Titanic and Avatar tragically died Monday in a plane crash. He had just completed the creation of a genuine concerto.

“James died doing what he loved,” soberly commented his assistant Sylvia Patrycja Monday evening (French time) after the confirmation of the death of James Horner, 61, in the crash of his private plane north of Santa Barbara, California. She might have added that this musician aviation enthusiast, to whom everything Hollywood has made yesterday a tribute, just realized one of his oldest dreams: to compose a true concerto for classical scenes. It is in the context of the discographic output of the latter ( No two , at Mercury) that we had the privilege of speaking to him, there was just fifteen days.

With the humility of the craftsman who has just put the final coat of varnish on a book several years he had informed us of his desire to return officially to what had been his first passion: classical music. “The cinema is my world and my life. But I just classical. My first works were for the concert. I have long refused to return but writing this double concerto acted on me like a liberating force. I believe that now compose for the concert no longer frightens me, “Had we admitted modestly.

appointed Composer James Cameron

Born in Los Angeles in 1953 parents Austrian, James Horner has immersed from childhood to the world of cinema. His father Harry, a trained architect, started in Hollywood as production designer, before moving itself to the achievement for American television. James, meanwhile, started music at the age of five years learning the piano, before leaving the US to London, England, where he studied on the benches of the prestigious Royal Collage of Music. Back in California, he joined the University of Los Angeles and perfected with the composer Paul Chihaha, a contributor to numerous TV series. After an early career as a teacher at UCLA, he composed his first soundtrack in 1979 for the film The Mercenaries space Jimmy T. Murakami. Soon, his epic style itself as the one of the references in the market for music action films and fantasy films. Among his first notable success, note Cocoon Ron Howard in 1985 or the second part of Alien , in 1986, directed by James Cameron which he became the resident composer. It is to the latter that he owes his b.o. The most famous: that of the film Titanic , which earned him two Oscars: Best Original Score and Best Original Song for My heart will go on , played by Canadian star Celine Dion .

The latter was one of the first persons to react to the news of his death. “James has played a key role in my career. He will be missed. He will always be a great composer in our hearts, “said she advised in a statement. Several big names in music, such Josh Groban who owes him tube Remember me – excerpt from the film Troy – have followed suit. Followed by many composers of film music including French Alexandre Desplat. “It is a tragedy for all composers. We just lost one of our most talented and respected colleagues. His music will survive forever, “said the latter.

The” William Wallace “studios

directors Tributes have succeeded too, including Ron Howard (with whom he had worked on seven films with Apollo 13 ) or Xavier Dolan, who recalled that his music had rocked his childhood. For reduce the James Horner’s career at Titanic or Avatar would be to skip over one hundred films in which this prolific creator has continued to hear his own voice, especially in slippery here and there are many references to classical composers he revered: Shostakovich, Prokofiev or Wagner. Behind her soft voice and her apparent calm hid a rebellious James Horner, who did not hesitate, especially in recent years to assert its singularity. Real “William Wallace” studios, the composer of the music for the film Braveheart , that Mel Gibson in 1995 devoted to the famous Scottish independence, was a perfectionist who accommodated the evil dictates of Hollywood producers. “In my view, the level of many film scores, the United States is not as good as it should be,” he had slipped and our ears. The fault, he said, some producers who “refuse any sophistication.”

Among his latest music in date is that of the film The Last Wolf by Jean-Jacques Annaud, with whom he had collaborated in 1986 on The Name of the Rose . It was also expected on the action of Avatar .