James Horner’s Apollo 13 Part 4

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Ron Howard’s inspiring docudrama Apollo 13, we finish our look at the music of James Horner, who delivered a noble and regal score, unique in its simplicity and originality, and elevated the picture to its place in history. We’ve selected a few cues from the movie and we take apart Horner’s work to find out exactly how it was put together.

Along with our ASA study panel, our special guest is Steve Bramson, who was Horner’s orchestrator on this film. Steve contributes his insights on the score as well as the process of working alongside Horner to deliver and prepare the score that millions have enjoyed.

This fourth and final study focuses on the “Reentry and Splashdown” cue, which is the apex of the story arc and the score.