CHENNAI:There are few, if any, musical scores that elicit instant recognition from multiple generations of audiences. Titanic’s Oscar winning track and Braveheart’s epic music score are ones that definitely fall into that bracket. James Horner, the man who gave us both, not to mention countless others, passed away on Monday night in a plane crash. Chennai took to Twitter and Facebook to pay tribute to the legend.
Fans of the legend did everything from posting a simple “#JamesHorner #RIP” to sharing compilations of his most famous tracks on YouTube. “He was one of the best, right up there with the likes of John Williams and Mancini, though some people may disagree. Braveheart’s track is still my ringtone on my phone,” said Raghavendran Ravi, an avid fan.
Music composer Dharan Kumar tweeted, “A musical genius leaves behind a void that can never be filled. He will live on through the ages with his music.!! RIP #James Horner.”
Horner, who was piloting the single- seater aircraft, was alone when the plane crashed into a reserve forest in southern California. And while the plane was identified a lot earlier, it wasn’t until Horner’s assistant Sylvia Patrycja posted on Facebook that it was indeed Horner who was in the cockpit when the plane crashed, did the world acknowledge the passing.
Titanic and Braveheart are not Horner’s only, or even most well known, works. The composer had collaborated with all three of James Cameron’s biggest movies — Titanic, Avatar and Aliens — all of which have very memorable scores. Horner won two Oscars for his efforts in Titanic and the movie, along with Avatar, remains two of the highest grossing movies of all time.
Other scores heard as frequently and for which the composer got high recognition include the sublime score for A Beautiful Mind, Troy, Apollo 13, House of Sand and Fog, Braveheart, Field of Dreams, An American Tail and Aliens — all of which got Oscars nominations.
Horner is not the only celebrity to have died in a crash in the past — June 23 being the 35th death anniversary of Sanjay Gandhi, Indira Gandhi’s youngest son, who died in a helicopter crash. The man on which one of Horner’s most celebrated movies was built on — mathematician John Nash in A Beautiful Mind also tragically lost his life in a car crash in May this year. Closer to home, actor Soundarya also died in a plane crash in 2004.
CELEBS WHO DIED IN PLANE CRASHES