James Horner: Bringing Aviation and Music Together

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart to announce along with other aviation-related sources the death of Academy Award Winning composer of some of Hollywood's greatest films, James Horner, who was killed when his Short Tucano (a British license-built version of the Brazilian Embraer EMB-312 Tucano) turboprop crashed in the Los Padres National Forrest near Ventucopa, California shortly after taking off from Camarillo Airport yesterday on June 22, 2015; he was 61. Horner composed music for some of the greatest modern films of all time, including James Cameron's "Titanic" and "Avatar," "Braveheart," "Apollo 13," "Glory," and many others. Having been a fan of his scores for years, I personally considered James Horner to be one of few in the Hollywood industry I still had a great deal of respect for.

Not only was he involved with music and film, Horner was also well involved in aviation. The aircraft Horner died in was recently acquired, but he was an experienced pilot nonetheless. As a matter of fact, one of my favorite compositions of James Horner was not featured in any film, rather, was written for the air show circuit. His passion for aviation was reignited when he was asked to score a musical piece for The Horsemen, the world's only P-51 Mustang demonstration team (which has since expanded to flying other World War II fighters as well as the Korean War-era F-86 Sabre). This 12-minute piece, titled "Flight Demonstration Music" (and later shortened by the composer to "Flight") expresses the freedom of flight and further reflected the freedom the composer enjoyed while he wrote the composition, a rather rare luxury for a film composer when constrained by the limits and factors imposed by film directors dictating the parameters within a script of a movie. He wrote this piece with his heart and soul.

I first saw The Horsemen flying in a three-ship formation in F-86 Sabres at the Oregon International Air Show late last year and first heard this beautiful music composition written by Horner that the Sabre pilots choreographed to and I immediately fell in love with the piece and display.

The Horsemen flying F-86 Sabres at the 2014 Oregon International Air Show.

Steve Hinton flying lead, Dan Friedkin flying right wing, and Ed Shipley, the founding member of the flight team and the one who asked James Horner to come up with the music accompaniment for the flight team flying left wing.

To me, this combination of vintage warbirds flying in formation accompanied by the beautiful piece of music James Horner wrote made for one of the most beautiful and inspiring air show demonstrations I have ever witnessed. James Horner, through this magnificent piece of music has effectively brought aviation and music, two unlikely combinations, together. Horner shared a bond of brotherhood and often flew with The Horsemen pilots and talked about flying in formation with them at air shows one day. In essence, he was known as The Fourth Horsemen.

I hereby dedicate this one to James Horner. His musical genius and legacy will live on in the films he composed music for and every time The Horsemen flight team take to the skies. The Fourth Horsemen will indeed, live on.

Horner talking about his experiences composing the music for The Horsemen:

(Video credits to ABS.TV Channel on YouTube.)

The Bremont Horsemen in P-51 Mustangs at the 2014 Planes of Fame Air Show with Horner's music audible:

(Video credits to spencerhughes2255 on YouTube.)

The Bremont Horsemen in F-86 Sabres at Aviation Nation 2012 with Horner's music audible:

(Video credits to spencerhughes2255 on YouTube.)

Two videos of The Horsemen and their full routine with Horner's full composition in an F7F Tigercat and two F8F Bearcats at the 2014 Rhode Island ANG Open House & Air Show:

(Video credits to Zinger Aviation Media at the airshowfansh channel on YouTube.)

Update: Soundtrack of the composition by the late-James Horner:

"Flight was originally conceived and written as an orchestral piece to be used as the background music for a live aerobatic display of precision flying. I\'ve been involved with planes and pilots most of my life. In 2010, I was part of an aerobatic display team whose members asked me to compose and record an orchestral piece that would epitomize the beauty of flight, to which the team
could choreograph and perform a thrilling aerial “dance” of precision loops and rolls at 800 feet for an audience often numbering close to 160,000 people!

The concept was to give the impression of a live symphony orchestra performing outdoors against the backdrop of a vast airplane-filled sky… something that had never been done before. Unlike music composed for a traditional ballet which must be very precise, the shape and tempo of this piece needed to be somewhat loose and flexible, due to the fact that prevailing weather and variable wind conditions on any given day would affect the speed with which the planes were able to perform their aerobatic maneuvers.

When all the elements coalesced, the result was, in a way, the ultimate film score, combining the power of a full symphony orchestra with a thrilling display of formation aerobatics. To this day, whether they’re flying P-51 Mustangs, Spitfires, or F-86 Sabre jets, the team uses this music whenever they perform. So when listening to this piece, close your eyes and imagine these magnificent airplanes soaring into the skies to demonstrate the poetry, power and the enthralling beauty of flight."

-James Horner

To honor the late-James Horner, I use the following hashtag:

#the4thhorsemenliveson