My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion

¶ … Everlasting Love.

Celine Dion in My Heart Will Go On provides the soundtrack for the feature film Titanic in 1997 and has been rated as one of the best soundtracks yet made. It is the opinion of this author that when you listen to it closely, the rhythm touches deep within the heart, even bringing tears to one's eyes. The music makes a connection because it makes one connect with and care about the characters in the movie due to the emotional connection. It is therefore the thesis of this essay that the reason for the success of the film and the song is due to the emotional connection that it provides for the reader to the characters. The emotional connection is provided by the medium of music.

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Thematically, the Titanic music video relates this to the listener in both visual and auditory fashion. The music and lyrics are choreographed very skillfully to the film footage that makes up the video. For instance the action sequences are tied into the song sequences that express emotional pain on the part of Celine Dion and the movie characters played by Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di Caprio. Both of them are shown with their highs and lows during the Titanic's ocean cruise tied into the highs and lows of the song. Obviously, the worst low is the loss of the Di Caprio character when he dies ("Dion").

However, one can focus in on Celine Dion and forget the man behind the music. The above is mainly due to the efforts of American composer, orchestra and conductor or orchestral music film music Jay Horner. Trained at the Royal College of Music in London, England, he wanted a musical product that would mesh well with the film and other songs in the film as well. He put his training certainly to good yeoman's use. Indeed, he is well-known for the integration of choral and electronic elements in many of his film scores, especially for the frequent use of Celtic musical elements in those film scores. This experience was provided in not just the film Titanic, but in some one hundred films as well, including such films with acclaimed directors such as Mel Gibson in Braveheart and with other directors such as James Cameron and Ron Howard ("Imdb.com").

In addition, Horner's body of other work is very notable for including the scores to two of highest-grossing films of all time. These include Titanic and Avatar, both films directed by James Cameron. In terms of awards, Horner is a two-time Academy Award-winner, and has received a total of 10 Oscar nominations. He has won numerous other awards, including the Golden Globe Award and the Grammy Award (Ibid).

Unfortunately for Horner, this success has also been a source of huge controversy. He has been criticized for ofter transposing hooks, orchestral motifs, or even larger passages from other musical scores of his own or more controversially from other composers and from other major motion pictures. These allegations are the main points of ferocious debate between supporters and detractors of Horner. Whatever the case, one must admit that the raw power of the music has one going all the way in their matching up their attention and their emotion immediately with film characters who have become cultural and cinematic icons in an unforgiving world ("Filmtracks").

Conclusion