Titanic (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Music Composed and Conducted by James Horner
Renovatio Records’ next release is legendary composer James
Horner’s score to the 1997 epic film Titanic, written and directed James
Cameron and starring Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gloria Stuart, Billy
Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Bernard Hill, Jonathan Hyde and Bill Paxton.
Based on accounts of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, the plot involves a love
story between wealthy 17-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater and poor young artist
Jack Dawson, who meet on board the infamous ship and quickly fall in love. As
if the conflict between their social classes was not enough to doom their
relationship, they are thrown right into the middle of disaster when the ship
hits an iceberg and starts to sink.
Little more can be said about the famous film’s success: it
became a critical and commercial hit, it received numerous accolades (11
Oscars) and it remained the highest grossing film of all time until Cameron’s
Avatar surpassed it in 2010. Much of the attention of the film went to its soundtrack,
being regarded to this day as one the 100 greatest scores of all time, and the
culmination of James Horner’s 90s peak after already having struck gold with
Apollo 13, Legends of the Fall and Braveheart. Titanic would earn Horner his
two Oscar wins for both the score and the accompanying song performed by Celine
Dion, which at the time ranked as the most popular radio song and helped sell
over 25 million copies of the original album, making Horner the highest selling
contemporary composer, even surpassing John Williams.
Cameron’s initial idea was to have Irish singer Enya compose
the score, even temp-tracking the film with her music. However, after she
declined, the director turned to Horner, even though they had been through a rough
experience at the time of scoring Aliens in 1986. Horner’s music for Braveheart
was the hint that gave Cameron that the composer was the right man for the job,
as Titanic called for a deep and sensitive score to touch on the sensibilities and
intimacies of the relationship between the two leads and on the emotional
impact of the disaster. As expected, Horner succeeded at this task and, while
his new age music for Titanic may sound very much in parts like Enya’s style,
he composed what would probably become the most recognizable love theme in the
history of film music. This love theme consists of two gorgeous adjoined
melodies that often exists separately throughout the score and played by
different instruments. The opening track “Main Title” introduces the love theme
with the haunting vocals of Norwegian vocalist Sissel Kyrkjebø, playing as a mournful
lamentation of the souls lost at sea in the tragedy. The second sequence of the
theme is hinted at in piano and Sissel’s voice at the beginning of “Suicide
Attempt” to highlight the scene in which Jack sees Rose for the first time.
Horner himself plays a lovely piano solo version of the full theme in “The
Portrait”. However, where it truly shines is in the track “Rose”, which can be
regarded as an achievement in filmmaking, with music, cinematography and
romance working together in what may be one of the finest sequences of
cinematic history: as the Titanic sees sunlight for the last time, Rose and
Jack embrace their love and kiss at the ship’s bow, and Horner uplifts the
moment with solo woodwinds, Sissel’s beautiful vocals, synth voices, piano and
bass. After bringing quivers and tears with its climax, the shot quickly
transitions to the image of the sunken ship, and Horner skillfully accompanies
this with a solo flute with a delay effect that evokes the sound of a distant ship
whistle.
The other main theme that stands out in the score is the one
for the ship itself. While hinted at the second part of “Distant Memories” with
French horns, this majestic theme makes its full debut in “Southampton”, accompanying
the impressive scene in which the Titanic departs. However, it is during the
final part of “Take Her to Sea, Mr. Murdoch” when the theme truly shines,
played by the full ensemble while the camera pans over the ship as it sails
into the Atlantic horizon line. A number of other secondary leitmotifs exist
through the score, namely a menacing four-note low brass line for the iceberg
in the middle and final portions of “Hard to Starboard”, and a slow descending
four-note motif in low strings with an eerie effect for the concept of death,
best heard in “Suicide Attempt” and at the end of “End Credits”. Horner’s
action music is also worth noting. While not the highlight of the score, the
action passages keep the full orchestra quite busy in tracks like “Hard to
Starboard”, “A Building Panic”, “The Sinking” and “Death of Titanic”. “Hard to
Starboard” is probably the standout of these cues; in it, Horner whimsically
intertwines the rhythm of a telegraph effect before moving to frantic action as
the crew does everything in their power to avoid that the ship hits the
iceberg. At the 2:30 minute mark, the track quickly shifts to the iceberg motif
over a martial drum ostinato accentuated by piano low-keys and bells, as all
that the crew can do now is wait and hope that the ships makes the turn in
time. Once more, this is another one of the most effective confluences of music
and image in the movie, as the audience knows that the ship will hit the
iceberg but still, we are on the edge of our seats waiting for the ship to miss
it and continue its maiden voyage safe and sound.
In 1997, Sony Music Soundtrax released the successful commercial
album, and in 1998, the same company released “Back to Titanic”, which included
additional music from the film, namely source music. The third release for the
score was La-La Land Records’ 2017 4-disc special 20th anniversary
edition, containing Horner’s complete score, with alternate versions of several
tracks, and all the source music heard in the film. Renovatio Records’ release
provides a presentation of the film score that plays in chronological order,
going through its most significant highlights, as well as introducing different
versions of several tracks, namely “Hard to Starboard”, which is stripped from
the distracting synthesizer effects heard in the original album, and “An Ocean
of Memories”, which is available for the first time ever in a release as a full
reconstruction of the music as heard in the film’s ending, a combination of
alternate versions for “Rose” and “Unable to Stay, Unwilling to Leave”. We
invite you go back to the Titanic and enjoy what can very well be considered
the crowning achievement of the entire career of late composer James Horner.
