Simon Franglen’s five-year journey of dedication and hard work has culminated in a spectacular, grandiose three-hour score for the movie “Avatar: The Way of Water”. The musical piece is an intricate tapestry that includes orchestral sections, choral harmonies, and soloists from a variety of global cultures. This masterful composition highlights Simon Franglen’s remarkable talent as a composer and arranger.

Simon Franglen, a native of London, is currently garnering much attention due to his work on the score and song for James Cameron’s highly successful sequel. The composer was a close friend and collaborator of James Horner, who composed the original music for “Avatar” but tragically died in 2015 following an airplane accident. Franglen is now being recognized by Oscar shortlists both for his song and score contributions.

Franglen, a renowned electronic-music specialist who had previously worked on James Horner’s Oscar-winning score for the movie “Titanic”, was responsible for many of the enchanting sonic elements that were used to create the lush forests of Pandora in “Avatar” (2009). His creative input and expertise allowed him to craft unique and captivating soundscapes that not only added an extra level of depth to the film but also helped bring its magical setting alive.

Franglen composed the musical score for “Pandora: The World of Avatar”, a themed-area which opened at Walt Disney World in 2017. His music is an integral part of the experience, enhancing and complementing this otherworldly realm filled with bioluminescent rainforests, floating mountains and scientific laboratories. Franglen’s composition captures the mystical beauty and wonder of Pandora, immersing guests into its stunning environment.

James Horner had planned to create music for the upcoming sequels of James Cameron’s “Avatar” as far back as 2013. Although a few references to his original themes can be heard in the new film, most of the music featured is brand new and entirely unique.

Jim was looking for something more than what had been achieved with ‘Avatar 1’, desiring a score that was both thematically strong and sonically different. As such, he conveyed an idea of what direction he wanted the music to take; a muscular approach, with plenty of drive but without relying on ornamental flourishes from the orchestra.

After over three decades of honing his craft, Franglen was more than prepared for this demanding and extensive task; having assisted with numerous film scores and even composed a few himself, he was ready to take on his most challenging assignment yet.

He was honored with a Grammy Award for his production of Celine Dion’s iconic “Titanic” song and was also nominated for a Golden Globe for co-writing the powerful “I See You” from Avatar, in collaboration with James Horner and Kuk Harrell. His outstanding accomplishments have firmly established him as one of the most talented music producers in the industry.

Cameron was adamant that Franglen must read through all four scripts of the “Avatar” sequels before beginning to compose music for on-screen performances. Therefore, the first piece of music written by Franglen was the song entitled “Songcord” which is sung by Zoe Saldaña playing Neytiri; this occurred in early 2018 prior to shooting commencing.

He states that he has composed an abundance of lyrics, all written in the Na’vi language which was created for the original movie. He is clearly very passionate about his work and has dedicated a great deal of time to creating these pieces of writing.

In the intervening years of 2018 and 2019, Franglen made frequent trips to Manhattan Beach, California in order to write and oversee the live music for James Cameron’s highly anticipated sequels to Avatar. The source music that was being filmed was paramount for both movies being shot at the same time.

In 2020, Cameron approached Franglen and requested that he record some of his new musical pieces with an orchestra, which would occupy a total of 25 minutes in the film’s ultimate cut. A substantial portion of this newly recorded material was utilized in the completed motion picture.

Once the project was officially assigned to him, Franglen relocated his studio to New Zealand in order to work more closely with Cameron during the editing process over a two-year period spanning 2021 and 2022.

He composed musical motifs for the family, for the Metkayina reef people who had been forced to abandon their home and seek refuge elsewhere, for the mysterious and majestic Tulkun creatures that resembled whales, for young Kiri whose journey of self-discovery was filled with peril, as well as themes for the nefarious RDA characters led by Commander Quaritch and many more.

While he used a 100-piece Los Angeles orchestra as the basis for his composition, composer James Horner also experimented with unique vocal and choral elements to bring out the colorful and otherworldly sounds of Pandora. He further enhanced this soundscape by incorporating unusual instruments to create an enthralling musical experience. His creative use of these different components are what make his score so captivating.

The Tulkun Payakan, who was exiled from his people, made a pilgrimage to UCLA to meet with whale researchers. There he listened intently to the whales’ enchanting songs, and set about creating music for brass and cello to accompany them. Later on, he added high female voices which were able to lend an even greater level of poignancy to the story of his relationship with Jake’s son Lo’ak.

The mesmerizing choral sounds of the combined forces of Tenebrae, a 16-voice London-based choir, and a 40-voice group in Los Angeles, together with the additional nuances provided by several talented soloists from both cities, create an impressive sonic tapestry that is sure to leave any listener spellbound.

He emphasizes that the various underwater sequences lack dialogue and have minimal sound effects, which allows the music to generate a more potent impact. He explains that Jim was particularly fond of using voices in order to represent the depths of the ocean.

He adored the near musical quality of some of these cues. He would take these pieces and rework them, imploring me to boost the choral section,” he remembers fondly. With an almost reverential appreciation for these soundtracks, he was able to create something truly remarkable by transforming them into something completely new.

The actors were often singing in Na’vi, an imaginary language created for the movie Avatar, to imbue it with more vivacity and dynamism. Additionally, a selection of wooden flutes such as the Slovakian Fujara flute were utilized to further enliven some of the battle scenes featuring Quaritch.

At the conclusion of the scoring process, Franglen contacted The Weeknd in order to collaborate on a collaborative end-title song titled, “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength).” This song is an intriguing combination of Franglen’s score with lyrics by The Weeknd as well as other material provided by Swedish House Mafia.

Wrapping Up:

This is the end of our article about “The Music of Avatar”. We hope that you have found this information to be both interesting and informative. We appreciate your time and interest in reading this article, and we trust that you now have a better understanding of the music featured in this iconic movie.