In the world of movie music there are arguably five composers who are about as big as movie stars themselves: John Star Wars Williams, Ennio The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Morricone, John 007 Barry, Howard Lord of the Rings Shore – and Hans Zimmer.
Everyone knows a great piece of music by Zimmer. Did you like the recent Bond epic, No Time to Die? Zimmer composed the score, working with Billie Eilish and Finneas to weave their Oscar-winning theme song into the texture of the movie itself. Enjoy season five of The Crown? Zimmer’s the guy who wrote that awesome theme tune. Did sci-fi masterwork Dune blow you away? Zimmer’s massive orchestral compositions had a lot to do with that.
In 2023, you’ll have the opportunity to hear iconic Zimmer music from movies such as Inception, The Dark Knight, Gladiator, and Pirates of the Caribbean, when Nicholas Buc conducts the Sydney Symphony Orchestra playing The Music of Hans Zimmer at the Sydney Opera House. And if you think this music sounds great on soundtracks, just wait till you hear it live.
Zimmer’s hallmarks as a composer are deep, powerful brass notes that you can feel in your stomach; insistent percussive beats in lieu of melody; use of synthesizers; and strains of world music and rock’n’roll. If you’re feeling fanciful, you might even draw a line down to Zimmer from other great bombastic German composers such as Beethoven and Wagner. Born in Frankfurt, Zimmer spent his early career in pop music (much like fellow film composers Danny Elfman and Clint Mansell), playing keyboards and producing with bands the Buggles, Shriekback, Krisma and Helden. His earliest film jobs were incidental music for big movies The Lion King, Rain Man and Thelma and Louise, and he quickly moved up to a hugely influential status that only grows with each new blockbuster commission.
The Music of Hans Zimmer is presented by The Art of the Score, an Australian film music podcast which explores, demystifies and celebrates the greatest soundtracks of all time from the world of film, TV and video games. Podcasters Andrew Pogson and Dan Golding will take part in the show to delve deep into the world of these film scores in this special concert event.
It’s one of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s series of non-classical concerts under the banner Sydney Symphony Presents. These include live-to-film performances of film soundtracks such as (in 2023) Harry Potter, Black Panther and The Princess Bride as well as collaborations with major contemporary music acts, such as Ngaiire, Mo’Ju and Spinifex Gum.
The Hans Zimmer concerts are June 22, 23 and 24 at the Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, and tickets are on sale from January 31.