Top 10 film scores in honor of James Horner from 'Apollo 13' to 'Titanic'

James Horner, the award winning composer of scores from films such as Field of Dreams and Titanic passed away yesterday at the age of 61. He left behind over 150 beautiful scores to films that will be remembered for generations.

As previously reported, Horner died when his small plane crashed. It was originally reported that the pilot had died before final confirmation came from his assistant that he was lost. The 61-year-old was married and had two children. In his career, which spanned from 1978 to 2015, Horner created beautiful music for beloved films.

His first composition came for the film The Walker and one of his final compositions was for the film The 33. In honor of Horner’s legacy, we wanted to look back at some of the top scores he created for film.

For someone who had such creative genius and status in the entertainment industry, it is hard to choose from the amazing work he left us with. While we look back at some of his work, including some of his award nominated film scores, we remember the creativity behind his work. What are your favorite scores from James Horner?

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10. Braveheart

Horner was nominated for Best Original Dramatic Score for the film Braveheart, which starred Mel Gibson. For anyone who is a fan of Titanic, you may recognize some of the melody as he would often use bits of the same composition for his later work.

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9. Aliens

Nominated for Best Original Score, Aliens was just one of the many films that Horner worked on with director James Cameron.

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8. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

While it was not nominated for an award, the score for this film was one of the first scores that brought Horner’s work to light in the entertainment industry.

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7. Avatar

The 2009 film Avatar saw James Cameron and Horner working together again for the score. He was nominated for Best Original Score for this film as well.

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6. An American Tail

This adorable animated film, which is one of my childhood favorites, was composed by Horner and his song “Somewhere Out There” was nominated for Best Original Song.

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5. Field of Dreams

This is one of my dad’s favorite films and it stars Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones. It received a nomination for Best Original Score.

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4. A Beautiful Mind

The 2001 Russell Crowe film A Beautiful Mind earned Horner his next nomination for Best Original Score. He won a Satellite Award for the song “All Love Can Be,” which he wrote with Will Jennings.

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3. Apollo 13

Horner was nominated for an Oscar for his score to the film Apollo 13, which starred Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise, and Kevin Bacon.

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2. Titanic

When you hear the familiar theme from Titanic, it brings a sense of beauty and warmth that is prevalent in Horner’s work. This song is called “Hymn to the Sea” and is one of the most familiar songs from the film soundtrack. He won both Best Original Score and Best Original Song for “My Heart Will Go On” at the Academy Awards. He worked with songwriter Will Jennings for the song.

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1. The Land Before Time

Horner wrote music for the films he worked on and one of these was the classic animated dinosaur movie The Land Before Time. Sung by Diana Ross, Horner and Will Jennings wrote the song “If We Hold On Together,” which never fails to bring out the emotions in anyone who may listen.