Talk:James Horner

Why is it "musical borrowing" and not plagiarism?

Doesnt make sense why he is getting a pass on effectively stealing from classical composers 149.62.206.240 (talk) 11:34, 14 September 2024 (UTC)

Because those classical music scores are well out of copyright and anyone can take them and do whatever they want with them freely. Plus there's a reason they're considered classic, and if it evokes what you want what's wrong with using some of it? Canterbury Tail talk 13:21, 14 September 2024 (UTC)

Perhaps because composers have quoted from earlier compositions (often their own), usually without attribution, for centuries—and of course you can't stop in the middle of a piece of music to say "this bit is from Schumann's Rhenish Symphony! " without ruining the effect. I expect that they count on the fact that the most knowledgeable members of the audience might recognize the quotations. In any case, the word "plagiarism" is used with the connotation of intentional dishonesty, which is not usually applied to this practice, although certainly some composers have directly said that they "steal" from one another. P Aculeius (talk) 13:24, 14 September 2024 (UTC)

Conductor in lead section

While Horner's primarily known as a composer, he also conducted his own scores. As per WP:ROLEBIO, should we include "conductor" as another notable occupation in the lead? Thanks, sjones23 (talk - contributions) 03:16, 12 December 2025 (UTC)

No discussion is taking place, so I will boldly include it in the lead. sjones23 (talk - contributions) 15:25, 10 February 2026 (UTC)

Well, I don't think we should because the current lead () doesn't mention his career as a conductor, and ROLEBIO clearly states, "In general, a position, activity, or role should not be included in the lead paragraph if: a) the role is not otherwise discussed in the lead (per MOS:LEAD, don't tease the reader), ..." Thedarkknightli (talk) 22:47, 6 June 2026 (UTC)

Long lists

The middle two paragraphs of the lead are a bit unwieldy, in my opinion, as they mostly consist of long lists. Any thoughts on how we could improve those paragraphs? OrdinaryOtter (talk) 22:12, 2 May 2026 (UTC)