Art of the Score: James Horner - The music goes on

Art of the Score: James Horner is the fifth instalment in the collaboration between the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Art of the Score podcast, producing a spectacle unlike your traditional concert experience. Instead, this collaboration invites audience members to learn what makes the most influential film scores so timeless. 

As a fan of James Horner’s scores, I was fortunate enough to receive an invitation from the MSO, and also had the pleasure of interviewing one of the hosts, Andrew Pogson, on SYN90.7FM’s breakfast radio show, Get Cereal, earlier in the week. Having never seen a live orchestra play before, I learnt about a world that has always seemed so familiar yet so foreign to me as a creative, the role of the score in a film. 

We began in the stars, a place to some that is familiar, empowering and mesmerising: it was the score of Star Trek: Wrath of Khan (1982). From the epic opening notes, the MSO had the audience in the palm of their hand. Soft violin moments and energetic fanfare guided by the brilliant conductor, Nicholas Buc, showcased the skill of 160 musicians working in perfect unison. 

Hosts of Art of the Score Podcast, Andrew Pogson and Dr Dan Golding, joined Buc on stage, full of energy and humour, and I felt immediately at ease in the presence of musical experts who clearly love not only their craft, but sharing it with others. The onstage banter felt like I was watching a live recording of their podcast play out right in front of me! They used charisma and energy to share anecdotes and put Buc’s talents to the test. Later, they used similar enthusiasm and lighthearted tone to introduce special musical guests Matthew Horsley, Amy Lehpamer and the sensational Australian Girls Choir. 

Following each score, our cheery hosts highlighted outstanding solo orchestra members and detailed their unique contributions to each score, as a way to understand the artistry behind some of Horner’s most identifiable motifs. With my newly acquired music knowledge, I was picking up Horner’s tricks during the showcase of Apollo 13 (1995) (shoutout to the incredibly patriotic-sounding drums during this part!) We were then introduced to the ‘devil's interval’, and I immediately anticipated what score was to follow. We found ourselves still in outer space, but rather than admiring the bravery of humankind through space missions, I got a feeling that maybe we’re not the only ones out there. The slow screeching of the violins began to make me feel eerie rather than epic, and sure enough, the familiarity of the Alien's score arose.

A complete tonal shift saw hosts Pogson and Golding putting the Maestro, Buc, to the ultimate test of finding the comedy in scores traditionally known as serious – a brilliant trick to highlight the artistry of music and segue from different genres as the show went on. For the film buff, the many cinematic examples explaining scores would have been fantastic, but it was the moment the Channel 7 news theme was rearranged to sound like ‘space music’ that I was completely invested. Audience participation encouraged by Pogson at that moment meant we felt included, and it left me feeling very impressed with the calibre of musicians on stage. 

Nearing the conclusion of the first act, we saw special guests join the MSO on stage. The angelic voices of the Australian Girls Choir filled the air, and a fascinating instrument began to make an appearance as we entered the historic world of Braveheart (1995). Matthew Horsley on the uilleann pipes and whistles teleported us to the 13th century, leading the orchestra into the epic suite before the closing note of the pipes echoed through a hall full of an audience enamoured by a brilliant first act. 

A film I was a complete stranger to, and the score that seemed to be the biggest stylistic outlier was Martin Campbell's adventure/western The Mask of Zorro (1998). Percussion and guitars were showcased throughout this sequence for their flamenco-inspired sound. Pogson and Golding did a great job touring the orchestra to give us a sneak peek into how these instruments contributed to the score, before all the elements united in an epic portrayal of ‘The Ride’. 

I was on the edge of my seat during the swash-buckling crescendo of ‘The Ride’, almost forgetting that the scores I was most anticipating hearing live were right around the corner! Matthew Horsley joined the orchestra once again to bring us into the world of Pandora. We bid Pogson and Golding farewell as the long-awaited finale, James Cameron and James Horner’s most iconic collaborations, took the stage. 

I put down my notepad for the last 20 minutes of the show, completely absorbed by the scores of Avatar (2008) and Titanic (1997). I found myself recalling a moment on the tram a couple of hours prior to the show, already overwhelmed listening to Horner’s incredible ‘Jake's First Flight’ from Avatar in preparation for the evening ahead, but experiencing this song live, with Horsley’s whistles, the Australian Girls Choir, and the Melbourne Symphony orchestra, left me more speechless than I could’ve imagined. 

After riding such a high, the moment Lehpamer softly began the Titanic suite shifted us into a world many of us are so familiar with, one so full of beauty and heartache. The show concluded delicately with such emotion, truly leaving the best moments for last.

The encore was the moment everyone expected, yet still hoots of excitement filled the air as the opening notes of Celine Dion’s 1997 hit began. Andrew Pogson said to me in our interview earlier in the week: 

“If you have never heard an orchestra live before, this is probably the greatest entry [because] you’re going to hear these iconic themes, you’re going to see and hear 160 plus musos on stage, [and] we not only introduce you to the music and how it sort of works, but by doing that we’re introducing you to the orchestra too”, and I have to say Andrew, you were completely right.