Program Notes
Hans Zimmer (Sep. 12, 1957 – Present)
For our Halloween Spooktacular this year, we have chosen to feature the music of German-born composer, Hans Zimmer. Known to most of the world as a film composer extraordinaire, Zimmer has written scores for such action and science fiction films as “The Last Samurai”, “Pirates of the Caribbean” series, the “Dark Knight” trilogy, “Gladiator”, the “Lion King”, “Inception”, “Dune”, and “Interstellar”. This is just a sampler plate of the prodigious musical output for Zimmer.
Hans Zimmer has a very different musical background than most of the composers featured in Southwest Symphony programs. Zimmer was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1957. His dad was a Jewish survivor of WW II, an engineer and inventor, and Zimmer’s mom was a talented musician and mother. So far, his biography looks like those of many famous composers, but in his own words, “My formal training was two weeks of piano lessons. I was thrown out of eight schools. But I joined a band. I am self-taught. But I've always heard music in my head. And I'm a child of the 20th century; computers came in very handy." While the technique and traditional discipline required for classical music had no appeal for Zimmer, invention, creation and experimentation were high on his list. He recalls the time he added a chainsaw to the family piano for particular sound synthesis. His mom, the musician, was horrified; but dad the inventor was duly impressed. This explains a great deal about the differences between Zimmer’s film scores as compared to, say, John Williams. Zimmer’s music is going to be characterized by a mix of eclectic styles, blending of natural and digital instruments, and sounds created to evoke mood and atmosphere.
Zimmer moved to London in 1977 and began to play keyboard in New Wave and Punk groups. Keyboard is different from the piano, and as the 20th century closed out, there was a revolution as digital met the piano keyboard. It began with being able to buy electric keyboards that could produce a variety of obviously electronic sounds. With demand and technology working hand in hand, two things occurred that pushed this movement forward. First, was the ability to “sample” the sounds of natural instruments, and duplicate many of their characteristics digitally. One keyboard, now a “controller”, could produce as many sounds as a large orchestra. Second, the sophistication of creating new digital sounds, unrelated to natural instruments, grew in importance. Almost all gaming music today is a combination of sampled and new digital techniques. This fascinated Zimmer, and the groups he was with encouraged him to experiment at the cutting edge of this revolution in music.
In the early 1980s, Zimmer began to work with film composer Stanley Myers. Zimmer by then was an expert in music technology, and with Myers he began to work on creating film scores. Together they establish a recording studio that allowed Zimmer to buy and house all the latest sound synthesis equipment and with Myers, incorporate the traditional orchestra with digital “orchestra” into an entirely new sound library for film scoring.
During this time, while making food money with game show music, video game background music, and advertising jingles, Zimmer was selected to be the score producer for the Academy Award winning “Last Emperor”. While he did not write the music—that was an eclectic group of three other composers—Zimmer’s expertise brought the score to “sound” for the movie.
The “Last Emperor” won the Best Original Film Score in 1987. Director Barry Levinson was looking for a composer for his upcoming project, “Rain Man” with Dustin Hoffman and a much younger Tom Cruise. Levinson had heard Zimmer’s music for an Indie movie about Apartheid in South Africa, and was enthralled with the blending of digital and ethnic sounds. Zimmer was contracted for “Rain Man” and was instantly on the film score map. The “Rain Man” score was nominated for the Best Original Score in 1989. From there, Zimmer composed steadily, with increasing film score “hits” to his credit.
Over the next 30 years Zimmer’s film scores have become synonymous with a parade of popular and critically acclaimed movies. He has received two “Best Original Film Score” Academy Awards, one for the “Lion King", 30 years ago, and then for “Dune” last year. In between, “Driving Miss Daisy”, “Gladiator”, “Pirates of the Caribbean”, the “Dark Night” series, “Crimson Tide”, “Mission Impossible 2”, “The Road to El Dorado”, “the Thin Red Line”, “The Last Samurai”, “Inception”, “Interstellar”, “12 Years a Slave”, “Blade Runner 2049”, and countless other films, big and small.
There are two more unique thoughts about Hans Zimmer we want to share. First, he loves to collaborate. He invites other musicians, vocalists and composers to his projects, and Zimmer wants to credit them. In fact, “Dark Knight” score was disqualified from Academy Award consideration because too many composers were listed. This is a decision Zimmer appealed and later had reversed.
The other amazing thing about Zimmer is that his musical contributions appear everywhere. He thought his greatest contribution was his scoring for David Attenbourgh’s “Planet Earth” Series, but he also scores for News programs, other documentaries, and even sports leagues. His main job now is touring with his live music shows. Featuring a multitude of performers and, of course, the latest in musical technology, he tours the world. Creativity is the heart and soul of Hans Zimmer and he would love that we are sharing his music tonight with you.
So, sit back and be prepared to be transported to the magical world of “Zimmerland”!