Hollywood genius composer Hans Zimmer, who made cinema poignant

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

It's no secret that music is designed to create an atmosphere in the cinema. Back in the days of silent cinema, musical compositions accompanying the screening made it possible to set the audience on a certain wave, to create the necessary mood. At this stage, the best composers of our time are involved in the film industry, one of which, undoubtedly, is Hans Zimmer. He is the author of soundtracks for cult films, animation projects. His melodies are heard in most computer games, not without reason in 2007 he was included in the list of "100 living geniuses of our time" and was awarded a personal star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Early Biography

Hans Zimmer, a native of Frankfurt am Main, has Jewish roots. He was born in mid-September 1957. In many ways, his interest in music was determined by the absence of a TV in the family; instead, the piano, on which his mother played music, occupied the crown place. Initially, it was of interest to the child as an object of study, which sincerelyrejoiced at his father, who worked as an engineer. But soon the musical works of Franz Schubert, Johann Sebastian Bach and other great composers captured the attention of Hans. He first tried to compose at the age of five, but the first work was more like a cacophony of sounds. After the death of his father, the boy found his salvation in music, it was with her that he tried to drown out the pain of loss.

The beginning of the creative path

The irresistible passion for music did not stop when the young Hans Zimmer moved with his family to the UK. He attended a private school, in which not the last place was given to the creative development of the personalities of students. As a teenager, he begins to build his musical career, playing keyboards and synthesizer in the bands Helden and The Buggles. However, pop music was not the format that Zimmer aspired to, his soul lay in the film industry. And one day, fate gave him a happy chance, which later allowed him to realize his natural talents.

Fateful Acquaintance

In the early 1980s, Hans Zimmer met another British composer, Stanley Myers, whose track record now includes more than 60 films in which he worked as a composer of musical accompaniment. It is Stanley who reveals to a new friend all the subtleties of the sound of classical compositions, a symphony orchestra, and he, in turn, introduces the mentor to the world of electronic music. As a creative duothey compose music for the films "Moonlight", "My Fine Laundry" and "Nothing". But soon Hans Zimmer, whose music has found its fans in film circles, is striving for a solo career. The debut independent work of the young author was the musical accompaniment to the film "Ultimate Exposure", and the second - the title track to "Rain Man" has already been nominated for an Oscar.

Animated movie hit

An international creative duo worked on the creation of all the musical compositions of the cult cartoon "The Lion King" (1994). All the music was composed by Hans Zimmer and the lyrics were written by Elton John himself. W alt Disney Studios offered collaboration to the composer after his work on the project "The Power of Personality", Hans intended to visit Africa and record, and subsequently use the game of natives on national instruments. But the producers seriously feared for Zimmer's life, because after the release of The Force of Personality, he was out of favor with South African politicians. Therefore, the composer was not released to Africa, but the musician Lebo was hired as a consultant. And the gloomy background sound scores were borrowed from Mozart's requiem.

Music for big budget films

The German composer's innovative approach to writing soundtracks has been appreciated by many of today's leading directors. It is worth noting that Hans Zimmer made many films recognizable thanks to the sounding compositions.

For example, "Start"Christopher Nolan, in which the composer fully managed to reflect the main idea of the project. The musical accompaniment in the film accelerates depending on the dynamics of the narrative, involving the viewer in what is happening, prompting them to plunge headlong into the plot twists and turns.

Or "Interstellar" by the same Nolan, in which the director gave the composer complete freedom for his author's musical decisions. Based on the sound of the organ, Hans endowed the project with smart, soulful and grandiose melodies at the same time.

At present, the soundtrack of the Batman trilogy that Hans has worked so hard on is difficult to judge in isolation. In the episode "The Dark Knight", the Joker's cello theme is especially prominent.

Co-authored

There is an opinion that Hans Zimmer endows the best franchises of our time exclusively with his musical ideas, but this is far from the case. For example, when the production process of the first part of "Pirates of the Caribbean" began, the composer was busy writing the soundtrack for the film "The Last Samurai". He could not resist the temptation and nevertheless wrote the main theme, and the young composer Klaus Badelt, a student of Zimmer, worked on the rest of the compositions.

Although in the end, "Pirates" could not do without Hans Zimmer. He wrote the music for the next three parts, but in the fifth part, his protégé, music composer Jeff Zanelli, again showed his talents.

Revealing the story idea with music

Hans Zimmer's handwritingalready recognizable. The composer not only illustrates the action with music, he makes it an integral part of the film, revealing his idea. Therefore, every time, starting to work on the creation of music for the film, Zimmer plunges headlong into his script, the director's vision. For example, in preparation for the filming of The Last Samurai, he thoroughly studied the history of Japan, ethnic trends in the music of the Land of the Rising Sun. In The Da Vinci Code, forcing mystery, he uses the motifs of religious chants, all compositions are close in spirit to opera arias. Before starting to write music for Sherlock Holmes (2009), he went to Slovakia to get enough of the color of the gypsy mentality and the specificity of their music.

Now he is full of creative plans and is not going to stop there, paying enough attention to his wife Suzanne and his four children.