Jump to content

Danny Elfman's "Batman" (1989) influenced by Gottfried Huppertz's "Die Nibelungen" (1924)?


Recommended Posts

Was listening to Gottfried Huppertz's score for Fritz Lang's "Die Nibelungen" from 1924 (as one does), and noticed a distinct similarity to the main theme phrase from Danny Elfman's 1989 "Batman" score. Am I crazy, am I hearing things? The main notes of the melody, the orchestration, the rhythm, even the brief hold at the uppermost note before the final two lower notes... You'll probably recognize it when you hear it.

 

Seems to be most noticeable in the track "Saal der Etzelburg (Attila's Castle Hall)", at around 2:29, also 4:42 (and there are more instances of it in the score), here's the Spotify link for Disc 3 Track 13 of the 2015 re-recording with Frank Strobel conducting the Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt ...

 

 

Probably entirely coincidental, of course, but I thought it was cool. YMMV. Let me know what you think. Thanks, gang!

 

 

Edited to add: Was supposed to be a question mark at the end of the topic title, it's there now. Whoops.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, Fabulin said:

Those Huppertz scores had not been re-recorded yet at the time Elfman was working on Batman.

 

OK, ya got me there. :)

 

But who's ta say that it wasn't "out there", in the ether, for Danny to "pick up" mysteriously, or, I know, was there sheet music for the score? Maybe even an arrangement for piano? Or maybe his grandparents saw the original film and remembered the score and used to sing it to young Danny. 

 

Still, it's pretty dang close, ain't it? 

 

Doug Adams beat me to it, 2016...

 

Man, it just isn't my day. I cannot type "isn't" for the life of me. Plus my new car *still* has not arrived at the dealer ("ETA 9/1"... "Now it's saying ETA 9/7"... uh-huh...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

Interesting subject, I wasn't aware of these similitudes !
Still one pretty amazing theme, especially horn and trumpet-wise :D
 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.