Biography for
James Horner More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

Birth Name

Mini Biography

James Horner 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), 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, Steven Spielberg, 'James Cameron', Oliver Stone, and Ron Howard, 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.

Trade Mark

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).

Trivia

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 often does).

Often uses a "crashing piano" to symbolize genius in his scores (A Beautiful Mind (2001), Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)).

Son of Harry Horner.

Brother of Christopher Horner.

His end-title themes for Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) and Glory (1989) 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 by composing the scores for two sequels to movies Goldsmith scored: Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and Aliens (1986).

Personal Quotes

I had no idea who Jerry Goldsmith or John Williams were before I did The Hand (1981). 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!'

Salary

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