Unlike the Titanic Theme, James Horner’s work on Avatar’s music takes us to strange and fantastical worlds that only could only be made through Cameron’s masterfully crafted digital effects. In a contrary fashion to last week’s Titanic theme analysis which seemed to follow musical sense and was written to simply follow what our ears want to hear, Avatar does the unexpected.
Remember back to last week how both of Horner’s major works went from a minor six chord to a major five chord to please the ear. Following this expected chord change, the ear naturally wants to hear the change to a major fourth chord (the next in the Titanic sequence), or a one chord which will leave the listener with a satisfying end to the phrase. Instead of following either of these paths, Avatar’s music travels to the major second chord of the scale.
Stop. Wait.
If you recall back to my second blog post where I explained the relationship between chords and scales, I said that in a major scale the second chord would be minor (ii). So why would Horner choose a different chord (II)? By doing the unexpected musically, Horner takes us to another world. Rather than take any expected path, the major second chord does not lie in the key to the song, so the listener knows something is up. Due to being a major chord, the listener’s ear is still attuned to the chord played, except something will sound notably different to them which is the chord not being fully inside of the key.
Then once again, the next and final chord transition breaks traditional rules the ear enjoys listening to. Horner chooses to take the theme back to a minor six chord, thereby ending the phrase on a minor chord rather than a major chord. As I said earlier, our ears love to hear the transition from minor chords to major chords, switching this order sometimes leaves the audience feeling unsatisfied before traveling to the next phrase of the music. This creative decision leaves a hint of uncertainty of what is yet to come musically, reflecting the uncertain safety of the Pandora wilderness in the movie.
Both of Horner’s breakthrough movie soundtracks utilize the same opening patterns, but his musical genius helps to further force the listener into the movie’s storyline by cleverly choosing to follow or break traditional music rules. Titanic brings the listener satisfaction through the music reflecting the happiness in the lover’s eyes whereas Avatar’s theme takes us on an unexpected and uncertain journey.
I’ve heard a lot about Avatar’s soundtrack from fellow musicians. I hope to see you write about the LOTR theme! Keep up the good work!