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StreamingSoundtracks.com - Titanic - James Horner, Will Jennings
| Album Information |
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Album
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Titanic |
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Artist
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James Horner, Will Jennings |
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Year
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1997 |
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Genre
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Soundtrack |
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Rating
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 |
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ASIN
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B0000029YC |
Hint: Hover over buttons and album/artist name next to the cover for more info.
| Reviewers Rating |
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1 review done for this album. |
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| A masterpiece |
| By: |
tudor_19071990 |
| Date: |
21 Sep 2011 |
| Rating: |
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Every film score composer has a once in a career chance to create his best movie score and to place his name in film music history and also in film history. 1997 was Horner's year. The result of his second collaboration with the director James Cameron gave Horner the chance to create one of the greatest and most beloved soundtracks in history. James Cameron is not a prolific director (you know, the kind of director who makes one or two movies a year) but every time he makes a new film you know that it will be something big. Such was the case with the 1997's "Titanic".
James Horner's approach to "Titanic" was somewhat different than his other scores. Unlike the large scale orchestral scores for films such as "The Land Before Time", "Legends of the Fall" or "Braveheart", Horner decided to write his music for "Titanic" for a smaller orchestra and combine it with synthesizers, which is not something he does very often. And he also brings to the table one of his favorite instruments, the uileann pipes, just as he did in "Braveheart" two years earlier. And they work very well in setting the mood for the score (let's not forget that Titanic was in fact an Irish ship, built in Belfast by Irishmen, and many of the third class passengers were Irish). Last but not least, for the voice solos he engaged the wonderful Norwegian soprano Sissel. One of the most interesting facts about the score is that Horner decided not to use a real choir but a synthesizer-based choir. Interestingly, it works very well with the small orchestra.
From the beginning to the end of the album, every single second of the score is a beauty. From the lush, sweeping love theme to the more aggressive, bombastic music to accompany the sinking of the ship, Horner managed to deliver a masterpiece. Indeed, strong, action music has never been Horner's specialty but he was pretty good with the tracks "Hard to Starboard", "The Sinking" and "Death of Titanic". If some are disappointed with his approach to action music, they are quickly enchanted by the last half of the album, especially by the tracks "An Ocean of Memories" and "Hymn to the Sea", both being cues that weren't used in the film. "A Life So Changed" is identical to "Never an Absolution" except that the uileann pipes intro has been eliminated for the former so it can be considered a reprise of the first track from the album. The only disappointment that I had with this album was that the tracks "Southampton" and "Leaving Port" (again a track not used in the movie) were almost identical in both sound and orchestration. But then again, there are many wonderful tracks that made me almost ignore this fact.
And what can be said about "My Heart Will Go On" that hasn't been said before. Almost nothing. Except that remains one of the highlights of Horner's songwriting career.
In conclusion, "Titanic" remains Horner's masterpiece and finally placed Horner's well-deserved name in film music history. True, Horner composed many wonderful scores before and after "Titanic" but not one managed to enter in the hearts of people so greatly than "Titanic" did. Congratulations, Mr. Horner!
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