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Composer James Horner wrote the scores to two of the Top 5-grossing films of all time: “Avatar” (2009) at No. 1 and “Titanic” (1997), which was No. 1 for years, until it was sunk by “Avatar,” and dropped to No. 2 and then, No. 4, where it lies now.
The score of “Avatar: The Way of Water” (2022), currently at No. 3 on the top box-office list, is based on themes that Horner introduced in the original, but he died in 2015, and Simon Franglen completed the project.
But Horner wrote one of his best scores for a more earthbound setting: a mythical ballpark in “Field of Dreams” (1989). The American Film Institute included Horner’s Oscar-nominated score on its 2005 list of 250 movies nominated for AFI’s 100 Years of Film Scores.
Horner’s other Oscar-nominated scores consist of “Aliens” (1986), “An American Tail” (1986), “Apollo 13” (1995), “Braveheart” (1995), “A Beautiful Mind” (2001) and “House of Sand and Fog” (2003).
Horner won two Academy Awards for best score and song (“My Heart Will Go On”) for James Cameron’s “Titanic” (1997), which remains the best-selling orchestral film soundtrack of all time.
Last August, “Field of Dreams” received its live-to-picture premiere when Julian Pellicano led the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in two performances at the historic Orpheum Theatre, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Nicholas Buc, will perform “Field of Dreams” Live in Concert for two CSO at the Movies dates May 30 and June 1.)
“Field of Dreams” marked the first collaboration between Horner and director Phil Alden Robinson, before “Sneakers” (1992) and “Freedom Song” ( ). " ’Field of Dreams’ quickly became a little classical, as well as in terms of cinematic music," Robinson has observed.
And film-music legend Elmer Bernstein hailed Horner’s “Field of Dreams” score in a 2002 interview with the British newspaper the Guardian.
“I often get asked why film scores all sound the same today. What people are referring to is electronic scores. If all you are using are electronic scores, it sounds the same. You should use electronic instruments when it is appropriate. James Horner’s score for ’Field of Dreams’ is brilliant because he uses electronic instruments to do things that other instruments cannot do. That is my feeling about it. Not as an end in itself. But as an appropriate tool.”
Horner’s score has its roots in a temp track that Robinson had created. Executives at Universal, which produced and distributed “Field of Dreams,” disliked Robinson’s temporary soundtrack. When Horner signed on to compose the score, Universal expected a lush orchestral production, similar to Horner’s work for “An American Tail” (1986). Horner, in contrast, liked the Robinson’s temporary score, calling it “quiet, and kind of ghostly,” and capturing the film’s ambience. He decided to take his cues from the temp track and went on to compose an atmospheric soundtrack that would “focus on the emotions.”
Interestingly, Horner wasn’t the first choice to compose the film’s score. Reportedly Leonard Bernstein, who until then had scored only one movie “On the Waterfront” (1954).
Horner felt that a traditional orchestral score would not be appropriate, and instead he wrote a score that was “almost spectral in its atmospheric calmness,” wrote Jonathan Broxton for the site Movie Music UK. “It made use of piano and synths augmented with a number of atmospheric woodwind instruments, alongside a smaller orchestral ensemble that becomes more prominent as the score develops toward its conclusion.”
In his review, Broxton identifies four main themes and several recurring motifs, as well as a few stand-alone cues for specific scenes. “The most prominent of these are ‘The Timeless Call,’ the Irish theme, and the baseball theme, plus a character-specific theme for Moonlight Graham.”
The score packs a visceral punch when performed live. "Seeing the impactful final moments of the film where the full orchestral cues are given a chance to shine, very clearly elicited tears from the audience. From ’People Will Come’ to ’Hey, Dad? You wanna have a catch?’ "Field of Dreams’ held a firm grip on the heartstrings of the audience, and remained every bit the emotional powerhouse it was in 1989, some 35 years later. The VSO performed the moving climax in spectacular fashion, and was given a well deserved round of applause and standing ovation for conductor Julian Pellicano and the entire VSO who stood proud with warm smiles of gratitude."
