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Hans Zimmer Appreciation Thread


Koray Savas

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  • 6 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...
12 hours ago, toothless said:

This orchestra album is truly nice :)

 

I intend to buy this album too after enjoying the World of Hans Zimmer concert at Wembley Arena last Saturday.  Although the composer himself was not there in person, he introduced many of the pieces on a big screen before Gavin Greenaway conducted the orchestra and soloists from every part of the world.  Lisa Gerrard was there however and reprised her vocals for Gladiator and one or two of the other selections.

 

I particularly enjoyed the suite from The Holiday which I do not think I had heard before but have been humming annoyingly since.  This video is from a different venue (Vienna) but with most of the same soloists, including Eliane Correa, Luis Ribeiro, Pedro Eustache, Rusanda Panfili, Lucy Landymore, El Amir, Juan 'Snow Owl' Garcia-Herreros and others.

 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...
53 minutes ago, Bilbo said:

I was never a big zimmer fan but as time goes by I'm starting to appreciate him more and more. 

 

Is it because he gets better as he gets older, or is it because your taste in music is changing?

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3 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

 

Is it because he gets better as he gets older, or is it because your taste in music is changing?

 

I think my taste in music is evolving and maturing. I still don’t like stuff like Amazing Spider-Man 2 but he’s repertoire is amazing and more varied than I once gave him credit for. 

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Alex I suspect you would find much to like in his music if you took the time to wade through the material that inevitably won't be quite as appealing to you.

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  • 2 months later...
On 5/26/2019 at 6:40 AM, Bilbo said:

I was never a big zimmer fan but as time goes by I'm starting to appreciate him more and more. 

 

He's okay. There's much better out there musically. So to contribute to this thread, I'm going to appreciate the guy's face and accent:

 

546b5846ecad04a15d36ca07-750-562.jpg

 

Hans, your face is not too bad, and I could fall asleep to your voice bro! Keep up the ace work!

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  • 1 month later...

Interview ahead of upcoming Australian concerts. I've got a ticket for this Saturday's Seoul concert. Not as excited as I was before I saw Williams, but still pretty excited!
 

https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/keeping-score-the-good-the-better-and-the-fabulous-20190913-p52r3x.html

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Last night's Seoul concert was great. The Lion King suite had so much positive energy, and the band and Hans seemed to be love every single minute on stage. Hans spoke quite a lot between pieces sprinkling anecdotes - one being that he first met the woman who sang "Now We Are Free" when she was 4. Don't recall her name, sorry. It wasn't Lisa Gerrard, the singer on the OST.

 

The set list was almost identical to the 2017 Prague concert that was released on CD and DVD. The differences were I think Wonder Woman theme "Is She With You" from Superman Vs Batman followed The Man of Steel piece. Also, the short piano introduction of Rain Main segued to Thelma and Louise. I'd love a recording of that version. It featured a guitar solo that is missing if memory serves from the version on the On Wings of Film live CD. 

 

The musicians were just a treat to watch: guitarist Guthrie Govan is perhaps the most technically proficient rock guitarist in the world and while it wasn't his show, he had his moments in the spotlight. And Tina Guo attacked her electric cello all night. Surprised it didn't break in half. Lebo M still has all the vocal chops he displayed decades ago in the original Lion King and The Power of One. 

 

The concert certainly revitalized my interest in his music. I'm not all that familiar with a lot of his more recent scores.I feel motivated to get to know those better. Super Vs Batman and Spiderman 2, and the Blade Runner sequel being some of those. And I just read Dune and its first two sequels for the first time, so I'm quite looking forward to the score.

 

 

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5 hours ago, pete said:

Hans spoke quite a lot between pieces sprinkling anecdotes - one being that he first met the woman who sang "Now We Are Free" when she was 4. Don't recall her name, sorry.

 

 

From the description I am guessing it must have been Czarina Russell.

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Pete, I may have lost track of it in this thread, but you're talking about the "Symphonic Hans Zimmer" tour, right? As I may have mentioned earlier, it's coming to Norway on November 16, and I'm going. Quite excited even if he's not here himself this time.

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1 hour ago, Thor said:

Pete, I may have lost track of it in this thread, but you're talking about the "Symphonic Hans Zimmer" tour, right? As I may have mentioned earlier, it's coming to Norway on November 16, and I'm going. Quite excited even if he's not here himself this time.

 

I think yours is the one with the larger orchestra without Hans and his band. I'm assuming so as there are no dates listed on the official tour website beyond next week's Australian concerts. And there were the two pretty recent and different live CD releases - one with Hans and his band - live in Prague, and the other one called The World of Hans Zimmer. Perhaps that's your concert?

http://www.hanszimmerlive.com/livetour/

 

Yes, Thor - different show:
https://www.worldofhanszimmer.com/

 

I hope he's making a mint from these concurrent sold-out shows!

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Actually, doing some research it's the same show. "The World of Hans Zimmer" is simply called "Symphonic Hans Zimmer" in Norwegian media, for some reason.

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A little confusing having two concert series at the same time. So, mine was the different one and the same band as the Prague CD.  Just browsing YouTube now. Lion King was a joyful highlight:
 

 

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Glad you got to see it. I'd be interested in hearing a comparison between the two. Argh that sux about the venue. Last night's venue was the same venue that hosted Gustavo Dudamel's Celebrate John Williams concert earlier in the year. I totally and completely got the worst seats for that one. Right next to a walkway that late arrivals and staff with noisy high heels used all through the first half. I made sure I was no where near a walkway last night, and as hoped, you could hear a pin drop during those lovely quieter moments.

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At least you had dynamics, Pete, despite extraneous noise!

 

The concert in Oslo was held in a huge venue (more of a sports arena) outside town, and even though they only used half of it, it is not made for music. The bass-heavy moments completely merged into a 'porridge' or wall of sound, losing all the finer details. It was better than the Morricone concert in the same arena, if only because it's more rock-oriented (the Morricone concert is the worst I've ever heard -- a terrible shame as it's the composer's first and last visit to Norway), but I'd love to hear it in a more proper arena, suited for the music.

 

At least the upcoming "The World of Hans Zimmer" is held in a different multi-use arena with slightly better acoustics, although it's still far from perfect. But I guess if you're a rock star like Zimmer, you need to accomodate a lot of people; so the smaller -- relatively speaking -- venues are out of the question. Like our opera house etc.

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  • 8 months later...

Fyi

I just posted my Top Scores of the Decade which include 3 by HANS:

 

DARK KNIGHT RISES

INTERSTELLAR

HIDDEN FIGURES

Pretty damn good decade.

FIGURES is an overlooked gem and is a great example of the benefits of his collaborative style!

 

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Good interview in Variety yesterday:

 

https://variety.com/2020/music/news/hans-zimmer-interview-bond-dune-lion-king-ascap-awards-1234646855/

 

Gotta say, a lot of extremely tantalizing projects in store for us (DUNE, for me, being primary among them)!

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Jeez. I didn’t realize he had so much lined up for the year.

 

Dune seems like the real prize to look forward to. And sounds like Zimmer just told us there that Mazzaro did most of the work for the Bond score. Top Gun; re-arrangements of the original material. But the Levinson Holocaust film sounds like it could offer some interesting Zimmer material.

 

Cautiously optimistic!

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16 minutes ago, KK said:

Jeez. I didn’t realize he had so much lined up for the year.

 

Dune seems like the real prize to look forward to. And sounds like Zimmer just told us there that Mazzaro did most of the work for the Bond score.

 

Didn't get the impression myself. More like a collaborator, like he's always done. And Johnny Marr "Bond-ian" guitars sound interesting. Another M:I 2-type score, only more retro?

 

16 minutes ago, KK said:

Top Gun; re-arrangements of the original material.

 

Yes, alas I also got the impression that they're only using Harold's theme in a new arrangement. Not that he was actually involved in the composition of the score. But time will tell. Reports from the Faltermeyer camp have suggested otherwise.

 

16 minutes ago, KK said:

But the Levinson Holocaust film sounds like it could offer some interesting Zimmer material.

 

Yeah. Another THE LAST DAYS-type score, perhaps?

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It sounds like Zimmer might finally be back with something interesting. Interstellar was the last project of his that felt genuinely intriguing.

 

Karol

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6 hours ago, Thor said:

 

Didn't get the impression myself. More like a collaborator, like he's always done. And Johnny Marr "Bond-ian" guitars sound interesting. Another M:I 2-type score, only more retro?


Well, I just thought this was telling:

Quote

 Steve should really be the top name on the Bond film. I hope we’ve done it justice.


 

6 hours ago, Thor said:

Yeah. Another THE LAST DAYS-type score, perhaps?


I have never heard that one! But yea, his smaller scores tend to usually be interesting.

 

6 hours ago, crocodile said:

It sounds like Zimmer might finally be back with something interesting. Interstellar was the last project of his that felt genuinely intriguing.

 

Karol


Aye. It’s been a dry spell ever since.

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34 minutes ago, KK said:

I have never heard that one! But yea, his smaller scores tend to usually be interesting.

 

THE LAST DAYS is also a Holocaust film scored by Zimmer, so that was the association that came immediately to mind. Of course, it may sound totally different.

 

Quote

Aye. It’s been a dry spell ever since.

 

That's taking it too far, I think. Sure, nothing on the level of INTERSTELLAR, but I've thoroughly enjoyed CHAPPIE, the X-PERIMENTS FROM DARK PHOENIX album and BLADE RUNNER 2049 (although that is mostly Wallfish's baby), for example. But the fact is he hasn't done that many scores since then; he's been so envelopped in the 'live' projects. As he says in the interview, 2020 has been the year he truly put into 'high gear' in terms of scoring, so 2020 and 2021 will no doubt be a return to the Zimmer might we love!

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There's some interesting stuff on the interview:

 

-Steve Mazzaro will be the main composer on NTTD

-Top Gun will still be a mostly Faltermeyer score

-There'll be an orchestra for WW84 - I REALLY thought Zimmer would score this movie using just 80s synths!

-Dune will be a weird, experimental score in line with Dunkirk, which means plenty of awards nominations and "it's not good to listen on its own, but works great in the movie!".

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Not sure I agree with those interpretations, Edmilson.

 

We don't yet know the extent of Mazzaro's involvement.

I interpreted the TOP GUN comment to mean that they're only using Faltermeyer's theme, while the rest is new Zimmer stuff (or arrangements).

His words on DUNE actually make me think more of INTERSTELLAR and the kinds of words he used in advance of that score, than DUNKIRK.

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1 hour ago, Thor said:

We don't yet know the extent of Mazzaro's involvement.

 

 

Come on, do you actually believe that Zimmer will be that present on NTTD? He'll maybe just write a tune or two, but the majority of the score will be Mazzarro. 

 

A few years ago, Balfe was Zimmer's co-composer on a handful of projects (meaning he did most of the work) and now he's scoring Mission Impossible and Marvel movies. Now it's Mazzarro's turn.

 

The good news is that, if you liked the Batman v Superman score, you are going to love No Time to Die, since Mazzarro did most of the work on the Zack Snyder film as well.

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Makes no difference. Zimmer is always very courteous towards his collaborators, crediting them often more than necessary. My guess is that this will be another CHAPPIE situation, perhaps, where Mazarro was heavily involved, but by no means the main composer. We'll find out in due time.

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6 minutes ago, Thor said:

Zimmer is always very courteous towards his collaborators, crediting them often more than necessary.

 

Yeah. As he's shown time and again, he could easily get away with not crediting at all.

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I don't put a dime of credibility into Zimmer's words. When he talks about his music, his painstaking thought process, and how he struggles so much with a "clean palette" for each project, it's so much bullshit in contrast to the results, that even bulls are embarrassed. 

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Yeah, I was gonna make a comment yesterday about how I'm likely not the first to ask if this is an actual appreciation thread, or if its more of an "occasional routine dumping ground" thread. :P

 

I've grown to really not give a shit about who does what on an HZ score outside of artist tags and specific stand outs, since the work process is never 1:1 on every single work of his. Some will be more dominated by the team, while others might be more his own. Doesn't matter to me as long as the music is good, for which he's been more consistent on that front than several other modern composers. Definitely has his misses, but the style and ideas can usually carry a work of his.

 

That being said, I do wonder what people will have to say about this supposed glimpse into how a score like these go (from the guy who runs the HZ website):

 

Quote

It is indeed very complicated and goes way beyond than a simple temptracking of theme suites and Hans would select who would do which cues on a meeting and then leave... :D

It doesn't work like that, and many parameters count here. Hans can write a v1 of a basic cue, get an additional composer flesh out v2. Said cue could be rejected and then Hans would redo v3 but using what was "right" in v2 (cue Commandeering The Interceptor in POTC 1 is an example, Hans finished that one himself). As I said before, sometimes, they might spend a couple of days on 1 cue, taking shifts literally to do it. Hans would start, go to sleep, let another guy continue, and then come back an continue the work.

I guess the experience of the composers matter too. In 2006/07, take NGS or Geoff Zanelli, Hans knows them by heart and can give them a lot of freedom, while he would probably keep it closer with Lorne, Henry & Atli. Geoff actually wrote themes in those scores, so I think he pretty much did his cues on his own and had close to carte blanche.

So yeah, the credits is complicated, sometimes it's 95% HZ & 5% the additional, sometimes it's 20% / 80%).

 

And about Mazzaro on Bond, he did have this to say, so make of it what you will:

 

Quote

Be careful of the natural tendency Hans has to put some light on the role of others... :)

 

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