James Horner's The Bioluminescence Of The Night

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Born on 14 August 1953 in Los Angeles, California, James Horner was an American composer, conductor, and film score orchestrator. He was born to Jewish immigrants. His father was born in Holíč, immigrating to the United States in 1935 to work as a set designer and art director. His mother was born to a distinguished Canadian family.
Horner began playing piano at the age of five. He studied at the Royal College of Music. When he returned to the United States in the early 1970s, he attended Verde Valley School in Arizona. He went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Southern California. He earned both his master’s and doctorate degrees from UCLA.
Horner began scoring student films for the American Film Institute …show more content…

This track was released in 2009 as part of the soundtrack for the film Avatar. This piece was recorded by the Hollywood Studio Symphony under the direction of James Horner. Overall, this piece is written in two parts, both parts conveying the overall feel of wonder for the listener as they watch the scene. The first part features woodwind soloists, with the strings at a mostly piano dynamic. The second part features the percussion ensemble with occasional choral elements in a forte dynamic. The piece opens with a held D from the upper strings at a mezzo piano dynamic. The solo clarinet then comes in, creating the first four bar musical theme (could you call it a motif?) At the end of the first theme, a tin whistle is heard playing an alternating 16th note triplet figure. A piano to mezzo piano cymbal roll takes the piece into the piano countermelody under the main melody as the tin whistle continues at varying intervals. The initial melody is harmonized and toward the end of the theme (Major 6ths eventually alternating between perfect fifths), then the strings come up to a mezzo forte dynamic, leading the line towards the new themes in the oboe solo and eventually flute solo. In terms of balance in this section, the strings almost always stay below the solo winds (unless they’re in unison with a repeating theme), and the tin whistle soars above the entire ensemble for the majority of the first section. The strings then lead the ensemble into the next section, shifting gears to a percussion feature. Then, there is a crescendo to a forte with the full string section, vocals, and percussion. There is then an ensemble decrescendo starting with percussion, next vocals, then strings, until all that is left is a bass-range sustained harp, piano, piano strings, and a viola solo. A high-range percussion and choral section with choir then decrescendos to

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