Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer (born September 12, 1957) is a German film composer and executive score producer. He has composed
music for over 100 films, including Rain Man (1988), The Lion King (1994), Crimson Tide (1995), The Prince of Egypt (1998),
Gladiator (2000), The Last Samurai (2003), The Da Vinci Code (2006), The Dark Knight (2008), Sherlock Holmes (2009),
Inception (2010) and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) -- he also contributed music to the second and
third installments of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
His works are notable for integrating electronic ...read more
Hans Florian Zimmer (born September 12, 1957) is a German film composer and executive score producer. He has composed
music for over 100 films, including Rain Man (1988), The Lion King (1994), Crimson Tide (1995), The Prince of Egypt (1998),
Gladiator (2000), The Last Samurai (2003), The Da Vinci Code (2006), The Dark Knight (2008), Sherlock Holmes (2009),
Inception (2010) and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) -- he also contributed music to the second and
third installments of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
His works are notable for integrating electronic music sounds with traditional orchestral arrangements that mainly incorporate
heavy dynamics and minor modes. For this, he has won four Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, a Classical BRIT Award, and
an Academy Award. Zimmer also has been ranked Number 72 on the list of the Top 100 living geniuses by the Daily Telegraph
in 2007.
Zimmer spent much of his early career in London as a keyboardist /synth player for 70s New Wave groups The Buggles, and
later Krisma; he can be seen in the video clip for The Buggles 1979 hit "Video Killed the Radio Star". During the early 1980s
he wrote jingles for the prominent production company Air-Edel, which was soon followed by a business partnership with
renowned film composer Stanley Myers. Together they founded Lillie Yard recording studios and began fusing new wave
electronica and orchestral traditionalism for which his music is most recognisable.
Zimmer's first big break was the 1988 film, Rain Man. Director Barry Levinson approached Zimmer to score the film after
admiring the music for the anti-Apartheid drama, A World Apart. This led him to score for other well recieved films such as
Driving Miss Daisy which won an Academy Award, and then onto The Lion King after being approached by Disney Animation
Studios who noticed his work on The Power of One which saw havy use of African choirs and rhythms. The Lion King would
see Zimmer receive his first Academy Award.
Following on from his success during the 90s on blockbusters like Crimson Tide and The Thin Red Line, Zimmer would go onto
scoring mainly for the thriller/action movie scene, a genre which suits his brooding suspenseful style most effectively.
Despite this he still maintains a close relationship with animation in film, most notably through his work on many DreamWorks
Studios animations where he also the head of the film music division. Additionally he works with and recruits other composers
through Remote Control Productions, a film music company responsible for music numerous successful films and more recently,
video games like the Call of Duty franchise.
Zimmer's collaborations also extend outside his business ventures; he frequently collaborates with other well known
composers and musicians when scorring such as Lisa Gerrard (Gladiator) Eric Whitacre (On Stranger Tides), Johnny Marr
(Inception), James Newton Howard (Batman Begins/The Dark Knight), John Powell (Kung Fu Panda) and Klaus Badelt
(Invincible) . He considers such collaborations to be a valuable key element for his work and encourages the notion of
collective efforts in the film music industry. « hide |
