Composer James Horner dies in plane crash

The Oscar-winning composer James Horner has died at the age of 61, following a plane crash in California on Monday morning. A graduate of London's Royal College of Music, Horner won two Academy Awards for his work on Titanic, one for the film's score and a second for co-writing Celine Dion's sweeping theme tune My Heart Will Go On.

Horner was nominated for a further eight Oscars throughout his career for the scores and songs attached to Avatar, Aliens, House Of Sand And Fog, A Beautiful Mind, Braveheart, Apollo 13, Field Of Dreams and An American Tail.

James Cameron was a frequent collaborator, and paid tribute to Horner's work back in 2011, speaking of his "unique sound that created both the epic sweep of the film and also childlike sense of wonder of experiencing that fantastic world for the first time."

Ron Howard, who worked with Horner on A Beautiful Mind tweeted the following reaction to the tragic news: "Brilliant Composer James Horner, friend & collaborator on 7 movies has tragically died in a plane crash. My heart aches for his loved ones."

Eight-time Oscar winning composer Alan Menken also added his voice to the outpouring of praise for Horner's work. "His work is stirring, emotionally powerful and broadly evocative," said Menken. "Although we only met on a few occasions, I will always cherish the memory of him and his wonderful work." He went on to describe Horner as "among the very best film composers of our generation."

Our thoughts go out to his family and friends at this difficult time.