One of the most lyrical composers of our time is James Horner, whose movies have been the top grossing films of all time since 1997.  This episode features work from Horner including Star Trek II, Cocoon, and Willow.

He worked on over 160 film and television productions between 1978 and 2015. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements alongside traditional orchestrations, and for his use of motifs associated with Celtic music.

Horner won two Academy Awards for James Cameron’s Titanic (1997), which became the best-selling orchestral film soundtrack of all time. He also wrote the score for the highest-grossing film of all time, Cameron’s Avatar. Horner’s other Oscar-nominated scores were for Aliens (1986), An American Tail (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Apollo 13 (1995), Braveheart (1995), A Beautiful Mind (2001), and House of Sand and Fog (2003). Horner’s other notable scores include Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982),^[6] Willow (1988), The Land Before Time (1988), Glory (1989), The Rocketeer (1991), Legends of the Fall (1994), Jumanji (1995), Balto (1995), The Mask of Zorro (1998), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), Troy (2004), The New World (2005), The Legend of Zorro (2005), Apocalypto (2006), The Karate Kid (2010), and The Amazing Spider-Man (2012).

Playlist

Star Trek II – Surprise Attack

Glory

Brainstorm – Michael’s Gift

Willow

Titanic

The Rocketeer

Cocoon

The Land Before Time