Oscars 2022: Tracing the genius of Hans Zimmer, that runs through 12 nominations and a singular win-Entertainment News , Firstpost

Hans Zimmer has 12 Oscar nominations and one win to his credit [The Lion King, 1994]. He is perhaps the best-known film composer of his time, despite contemporaries that are equally prolific and have renowned discographies.

Zimmer has created soundtracks that dismantle the rules of making music and composing for films, breaking new ground with these compositions time and again. As stakes in favour of winning his second Oscar for the Dune soundtrack grow, here is a look back at his iconic, entertaining collaborations and musical innovations for cinema. 

Zimmer has no formal musical training, despite having a passionate piano player in his mother. Having grown up in Frankfurt, he had no television as a child but heard his mother play Bach and Mozart on the piano. Lessons did not go well as he did not find structured music learning inspiring. After college, Zimmer did multiple odd jobs in the live music and film composition scene, finding his feet. To him, sound and visual need to blend and become one for the viewer — an experience he personally believes he has achieved with Dunkirk [by Christopher Nolan].

Zimmer has scored for over 150 films, and runs a music production studio Remote Control Productions in California. While he had been composing for indie films in the UK in a back alley studio in London, Barry Levinson’s Rainman [1988] brought him his first big Hollywood break. Working on multiple films, Zimmer found his place in the scene with The Lion King. Animation films did not interest him as they were built upon ‘fairy tale music.’ But a chance to take his six-year-old daughter to a film premiere made him sign up for this Disney movie that had already hired Sir Elton John to write songs.

Only when he read the script did he discover its moving emotional core, of a son losing his father. Having lost his father young, the story inspired him to break through the mould of animation films. The Lion King score features classic songs like ‘Circle of Life’ and ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight.‘ Unexpected and refreshing, with its blend of African percussion and war themes with orchestral music, The Lion King stands out for its ringing resonating element.

Zimmer had worked on the soundtrack for The Power of One [1992], a World War II drama set in South Africa. Having interacted with South African musician Lebo M, he used his voice in the opening riffs of The Lion King. Reaching out to sounds from all over the world, it also uses Estonian strings, electronic music blended with standard orchestra. 

Over time, Zimmer has created multiple soundtracks that take you by surprise. Gladiator [2000], by Ridley Scott, uses the haunting contralto voice of Lisa Gerrard, a Grammy-nominated Australian singer to mark significant moments in the story. Zimmer always starts off by asking himself, why do we have music at this point in the film… a question that leads to finding offbeat answers. In a film that has strong male characters, the woman’s voice rings in a gentle touch, reminding audiences what the protagonist has lost, and is now fighting for. 

Zimmer’s most outstanding work so far has been with Nolan, for whom he has composed Batman Begins [2005], The Dark Knight [2008, with James Newton Howard], and The Dark Knight Rises [2013], as well as Inception [2010], Interstellar [2014], and Dunkirk. The Dark Knight score is unsettling and nerve-wracking at times, almost a character in the story. A revision of superhero filmmaking formats, the Batman trilogy has continuity in its music and visible evolution in the sounds synonymous with the caped crusader. All three films use electronic music and the synthesizer with loud bangs and bass to create a sense of ominous doom.

Zimmer and Howard are very different composers, with an equally solid body of work. Howard is private, quiet, and rarely visible to the public. Zimmer is confident, verbose, often interviewed by important media publications, and a popular onstage performer. Together, they created a soundtrack that has influenced trailers, superhero film scores, and action movies for a decade. The Dark Knight score was such an integral part of this intelligent, thought-provoking superhero film that it won a Grammy for visual media score.

Revising this style sheet, Nolan and the composer veered away from the booming electronic sounds of the trilogy to use simpler, more common instruments like wind instruments bassoon, trombone, timpani, and the French horn, layered on top of each other [Inception] and the Church organ [Interstellar]. In Inception, the noise when a character wakes from a dream was built with these wind instruments, and slowing down Edith Piaf’s song with a sonorous underlying of these sounds slowed downtime for the viewer. 

Zimmer’s exploration of a father and child’s relationship reemerged while scoring music for Interstellar. Nolan wanted to use this Church organ, commonly heard in gothic films and tv shows, with its rousing, sonorous notes for Interstellar. Exploring the Church organ and its pieces took them to churches, to locate a player who could go beyond hymns and choral themes. It was in Temple Church, located in the heart of London, with its heritage value Harrison & Harrison organ and rich history of choral music dating back to the 16th century.

Roger Sayer, its musical director, took on Zimmer’s unconventional notes for the organ and ‘gave it a go.’ They found their player, slowly building tempo and adding notes to this father-daughter story. Light ringing notes gently grow to swell to an up-tempo, almost disturbing crescendo, and the church organ surprises with rapid, off-key notes inserted throughout the score.  

With Dunkirk, Nolan and Zimmer achieved their ultimate dream of creating a pure blend of sound and visual. In a film where every minute counts, the sound of Nolan’s watch ticking; and the use of a classical crescendo scale called Shepherd’s scale in three different forms, blended together, creates a restive soundtrack that almost makes the audiences anxious. 

Zimmer’s work with Nolan stands out as one of the biggest artistic collaborations in the cinema of our time. But the composer opted out of Tenet, Nolan’s next after Dunkirk because Dennis Villeuenueve offered him Dune. Zimmer has loved the novel by Frank Herbert. It gave him a chance to compose otherworldly sounds, echoes, and tones that bring to mind a celestial experience.

While Zimmer has begun to hold his cards close to the chest since Interstellar [a lot of his work gets replicated in other films], Dune has inspired him to create musical instruments. He has used female voices like Loire Cotler and Lisa Gerrard from his previous films for echoing effect, and has depended on pipe and wind instruments once again. He has utilised his expertise over orchestra for this score, which might just land him his second Oscar win. 

Zimmer’s track record is not without criticism. Some claim that a lot of ghostwriting and borrowing from fellow performers and trainees occur in the studio. This is why music that emerges from his proteges sounds a lot like his own work. But such remarks about prolific music composers or musicians are not unusual. What is surprising is his enthusiasm for each film to provide music beyond that which is anticipated. Music is universal, and its magic lasts beyond a film. Zimmer’s work is testimony to this. 

Oscars 2022 will take place on 28 March.

Archita Kashyap is an experienced journalist and writer on film, music, and pop culture. She has handled entertainment content for broadcast news and digital platforms over 15 years. 

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