Hans Zimmer Diana Wellington - Music 1010, Stephen R Voorhees Semester Project Presentation

Contents Biography of Hans Zimmer Chosen Composition Histories & Listening Guides

Hans Florian Zimmer Born September 12, 1957, in Frankfurt, Germany. Spouse: Vicki Carolin 1982-1992. Suzanne Zimmer (cur.) Children: Zoe, Jake, and Brigitte Zimmer. Education: Attended high school in London, had no additional music education. Career: 1970’s: Advertising Jingles, was a featured synthesizer, piano/keyboard player in famous rock bands. 1980’s: Collaborated with composer Stanley Myers and wrote film music they created Lillie Yard Studio. Scored Rain Man in 1988 (was a big hit). 1990’s: Founded his company Media Ventures to create new talent and methods in film music, became head of the music dept. at DreamWorks. 2000’s-10’s: Continues to score A-list films, works with countless composers, and directors.

Now we are free – Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard, Motion Picture Gladiator, 2000, History and Listening guide Now We are Free, is featured in the end scene of Gladiator. The song starts after the roman General Maximus slays the Emperor Commodus in the gladiator, he walks away slowly, and he imagines going home, he falls down in the arena, as we see him walk through fields and makes his way to his late wife and son. While Lucilla closes his eyes and honors him in the arena, and his body is taken away. A black man buries something and says “Now We are Free”. Listening Guide Now we re Free-4:23 0:00 Starts with Stringed instruments & Violin pizzicato or guitar in the background. 0:38 Female Voice comes in & drum. 1:10 Computerized Harp or violin pizzicato is added Voice gets louder. 1:36 Background female voice comes in the drum is getting faster. 1:59 Just the drums, voices, & orchestra gradually gets louder. 2:30 Everything stops but the orchestra/violin, voice continues after a short pause slowed down & getting quieter. 3:33 Either a quiet guitar or pizzicato violin adds to the background. The dynamics close out the song.

Why do we fall – Hans Zimmer, the dark knight rises, 2012 History This song has been on the brink of the Batman trilogy, ever since Bruce Wayne fell into a bat cave on his father’s estate (to the left). That’s when his father asks him “Why do we fall Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.” It’s only right that Zimmer introduces this song in The Dark Knight Rises where the legend ends. This concept has been with us from the beginning and lives to the end. This piece plays when Bruce Wayne is trapped in the underground whole/prison he’s been there for days, but this day is the day he gets out. The day starts, he talks to his old friend, and gives him words of advice, he packs up his stuff and tries one last time he climbs up the wall and all the other prisoners are chanting “Rise” in a foreign language. He gets to the part where he makes the final jump and the rhythm of the music is getting faster, then he jumps and everything is silent and… he makes it.

Why do we fall – Hans Zimmer, the dark knight rises, 2012 Listening guide 0:00 Starts with orchestra cello & a couple violins. Gradually gets louder. 0:30 Gets into a more epic beat but still just the violins. Some strictly bowing others holding out 0:52 Dynamics get louder & have more force. 1:10 Dynamics continue to have more force, the violins are playing faster. 1:28 It’s only Cello’s holding out their note, then they all add back in with a different melody & drums & brass instruments. Builds up 1:58 Everything Fades

Time – Hans Zimmer, Motion Picture inception, 2010 History Zimmer was asked to score the movie Inception in 2010. The score was a portion of Zimmer’s personal interpretation of Inception. Time is the most beautiful piece of the score and is played in the last scene of Inception, when Dom Cobbs and his colleagues wake up from the dream, they are on an airplane landing in LA, Saito makes a call to clear Cobbs’ record. In the airport, Cobbs nods to his colleagues and makes his way to the door. He goes home, spins his totem on the dining table and runs to meet his children, he sees their faces and hugs them, the totem still spins as the piano, plays single tones, and gets quieter, slowly ending the scene. This piece is dubbed the most important, the most beautiful and most evocative piece of the score. “Everybody thinks the dream is the important part… for me, the time was the important part: the idea that, in a peculiar way, Christopher Nolan had made a time-travel movie that actually worked.” – Hans Zimmer “When you work with Christopher Nolan, on a movie like Inception, it’s for the adventure.” – Hans Zimmer

Time – Hans Zimmer, Motion Picture inception, 2010 Listening Guide 0:00 - Piano starts slow & very quiet & the background is a very quiet, constant sound that if it were in 4/4 time signature (sounds like it is) would be eighth notes, it’s a computerized version of a drum. Plays in minor. 1:02 Starting continues and is now at Metso Piano but a cello is added to it and is also MP. Dynamics are getting louder. 1:16 Computerized Violins are added to everything else. 2:02 Drums are more distinct an electric guitar is added. Continues to get louder 2:33 A brass instrument is added and has a constant beat on 4/4 Continues to build 3:34 Everything but the violins stops, then the piano comes in playing single notes, getting quiet