Post by erik on Jan 2, 2021 18:27:34 GMT -5
The first Classical Works Spotlight segment of 2021 will be of a stirring score by James Horner about a true-life near-catastrophe in space that happened in 1970.
James Horner: APOLLO 13
From the time he did his first film score in 1980, for the Roger Corman-produced Star Wars rip-off Battle Beyond The Stars, until his untimely death in a plane crash in Ventura County, California in July 2015, James Horner was one of the most in-demand of Hollywood film composers. In particular, he was in demand for films with elaborate visual effects; his 1980’s credits included Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, and Brainstorm. Horner, however, truly formed a close relationship with director Ron Howard when he scored that director’s 1985 sci-fi/fantasy Cocoon. Ten years later, in 1995, Horner played to his heroic strengths by collaborating again with Howard, this time on the score for the director’s mammoth docudrama Apollo 13. This film detailed the terrifying seven-day mission of Apollo 13 in April 1970, when, four-fifths of its way to the Moon, an oxygen tank in the service module ruptured and exploded. The accident ruled out any chance of a lunar landing; and for days, there were serious doubts that the three-man crew of Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise would even make it back home alive. By their own efforts and those of the personnel at Mission Control, however, the mission was bought to a very successful (albeit also very tense) conclusion. Although slights motifs of past Horner scores crept into the elaborate, hour-long one he composed and conducted for Apollo 13, he nevertheless was able to create a score that was alternately heroic, terrifying (the twenty minutes immediately following the explosion), and isolating (as Apollo 13 goes around the dark side of the Moon, and communications with Houston are cut off for forty-five minutes). For this, Horner enlisted British singer Annie Lennox, who, along with Dave Stewart, had the big 1983 “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” as the Eurhythmics, along with the wordless female voices of the Hollywood Film Chorale. The score netted Horner his fifth Oscar nomination overall, though his only win would be for the James Cameron blockbuster Titanic in 1997.
Vocals: ANNIE LENNOX
Hollywood Film Chorale
Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra/JAMES HORNER (MCA)
James Horner: APOLLO 13
From the time he did his first film score in 1980, for the Roger Corman-produced Star Wars rip-off Battle Beyond The Stars, until his untimely death in a plane crash in Ventura County, California in July 2015, James Horner was one of the most in-demand of Hollywood film composers. In particular, he was in demand for films with elaborate visual effects; his 1980’s credits included Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, and Brainstorm. Horner, however, truly formed a close relationship with director Ron Howard when he scored that director’s 1985 sci-fi/fantasy Cocoon. Ten years later, in 1995, Horner played to his heroic strengths by collaborating again with Howard, this time on the score for the director’s mammoth docudrama Apollo 13. This film detailed the terrifying seven-day mission of Apollo 13 in April 1970, when, four-fifths of its way to the Moon, an oxygen tank in the service module ruptured and exploded. The accident ruled out any chance of a lunar landing; and for days, there were serious doubts that the three-man crew of Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise would even make it back home alive. By their own efforts and those of the personnel at Mission Control, however, the mission was bought to a very successful (albeit also very tense) conclusion. Although slights motifs of past Horner scores crept into the elaborate, hour-long one he composed and conducted for Apollo 13, he nevertheless was able to create a score that was alternately heroic, terrifying (the twenty minutes immediately following the explosion), and isolating (as Apollo 13 goes around the dark side of the Moon, and communications with Houston are cut off for forty-five minutes). For this, Horner enlisted British singer Annie Lennox, who, along with Dave Stewart, had the big 1983 “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” as the Eurhythmics, along with the wordless female voices of the Hollywood Film Chorale. The score netted Horner his fifth Oscar nomination overall, though his only win would be for the James Cameron blockbuster Titanic in 1997.
Vocals: ANNIE LENNOX
Hollywood Film Chorale
Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra/JAMES HORNER (MCA)