James Horner
won an Academy Award for his film score of James Cameron’s Titanic (1997). Horner saw Enya’s Gaelic new-age sound as an appropriate model for his own score. Cameron did not want to use a title song but Horner secretly recorded My Heart Will Go On with Celine Dion, and presented it to Cameron, who changed his mind. The short suite follows the plot, from Rose’s memories, through the departure from Southampton, to the sinking and, after the famous song, a short epilogue. Since Titanic, Horner continued to score for major productions including The Perfect Storm, A Beautiful Mind, and The Legend of Zorro.

Horner was educated at the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied under György Ligeti. Before he turned to film scoring, Horner earned a doctorate at the University of California at Los Angeles, worked with the American Film Institute and taught music theory at UCLA. He died on 22 June 2015.