Movie Music and More #15: "The Mask of Zorro" (1998)

Hamlette here, with very sad tidings:  James Horner died in a plane crash on Monday.  

Words come to my mind like "tragic" and "avoidable" and "loss."  For decades now, Horner had made our movie-going experience richer, more fun, more emotionally resonant with his wonderful film scores.  Star Trek II:  The Wrath of Khan.  Willow.  The Journey of Natty Gann.  Aliens.  An American Tail.  Willow.  Field of Dreams.  Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.  The Rocketeer.  Thunderheart.  Patriot Games.  The Man Without a Face.  Braveheart.  Apollo 13.  Jumanji.  Titanic.  The Mask of Zorro.  A Beautiful Mind.  Troy.  Avatar.  Chances are, there are at least two or three movies there that you love.  I love 8 of those so much that I own them on DVD.  And those are just a handful of the films James Horner composed music for.  

Now, there won't be any more.

Today, to honor him even as I mourn his loss, I'm going to share some of the music from The Mask of Zorro.  This is one of the first soundtracks I ever bought, and my friends and I listened to it so very often when I was in college.  I can hear most of it in my head, track by track, without having to put the CD on -- it's ingrained in my memory, every clash and howl and clatter of drumbeats.  You can listen to the entire album here, and I recommend you do.  In fact, search YouTube for lots of Horner's music and sample as many as you can -- you're going to find some amazing treasures.

If you don't have time, though, here are my two favorite tracks from The Mask of Zorro: