James Newton Howard

My earliest memories are listening to my Grandmother playing the piano at our house as I jumped up and down on the…

— James Newton Howard

Disney movies have had a tradition of excellent music since the beginning. Some of my favorites are 'Fantasia,' 'Dumbo,' 'The Lion King'…

— James Newton Howard

Any composer should be able to synthesize the primary feelings that the characters are going through in the movie.

— James Newton Howard

I joined Elton John's band in '75. He not only allowed me to play the electronic keyboard on his albums, he also…

— James Newton Howard

I loved working with Chris Nolan. I love working with Lawrence Kasdan. Dan Gilroy. Francis Lawrence I love.

— James Newton Howard

Something different happened to me when I started to write music to images. It was a feeling of excitement and connection and…

— James Newton Howard

There's a sadness about love, a melancholy and a sadness about beauty. It's just part of the human experience of living on…

— James Newton Howard

Composing is a natural fit. As far as the creative process goes, I'd rather do this than anything else, by far. Something…

— James Newton Howard

Becoming a father allowed me to become a much better composer, because it allowed me to have tremendous patience. I have much…

— James Newton Howard

I'm a melody guy. To me, that's a musical souvenir people take from a movie. They remember a theme or a feeling,…

— James Newton Howard

Well, the first two movies of any size that I did were a movie called 'Everybody's All American' that Taylor Hackford directed…

— James Newton Howard

I really don't think about the Oscars.

— James Newton Howard

I work independently of the director, and to some extent, that's actually a big relief to them. When I come to them…

— James Newton Howard

Gamelan instruments are exotic and mysterious.

— James Newton Howard

That's what keeps me going: those moments of solving a problem, of what happens to a movie when the right music is…

— James Newton Howard

The thing about 'Fantastic Beasts' is that it's in the wizarding world, in J.K. Rowling's world, but it's not a Harry Potter…

— James Newton Howard

I absolutely loved 'The New World.'

— James Newton Howard

Music can help uncover that tone that's in the fabric of the movie. Sometimes it's very plain to see, sometimes it's not.

— James Newton Howard

For me, the biggest thing was writing memorable themes for the new characters so that ultimately people would have the same identification…

— James Newton Howard

I've been lucky to have been given opportunities in different genres. And most of the time I've felt that the exploration, the…

— James Newton Howard

I tend to avoid interviews, I don't have a publicist and fear of failure is still very much alive in my personal…

— James Newton Howard

I like to pace myself at about two minutes of music a day. With 'Waterworld' it was closer to five minutes a…

— James Newton Howard

Like most people, I hate public speaking.

— James Newton Howard

Music has been of central importance to Disney movies for as long as I can remember. To contribute to that legacy, is…

— James Newton Howard

I never like to conduct, quite honestly, because you have to be a bit of a dictator and it's exhausting.

— James Newton Howard