Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer (born September 12, 1957 in Frankfurt am Main ) is a German film composer , arranger and music producer . He works in Hollywood .
He has been nominated eleven times for an Oscar , fourteen times for the Golden Globe Award and eleven times for the Grammy Award . He received his first Oscar nomination in 1989 for the film Rain Man . In 1995 he was awarded an Oscar for the film music for The Lion King . In 2010 he got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . In 2011 a star followed on the Boulevard der Stars in Berlin . Zimmer was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class in 2018 . Hans Zimmer's soundtrack albums sold more than 25.4 million copies worldwide .
life and career
Origin and education
Zimmer was born in Frankfurt am Main as the son of the chemical entrepreneur Hans J. Zimmer . His parents were Jewish, his mother was in 1939 before the Nazis fled to England. In 1999, Zimmer declared at a press conference on the Holocaust documentary The Last Days that he was Jewish.
As a child, Hans Zimmer learned to play the piano in his parents' house, in the Villa Gans in Kronberg , although he only had a piano teacher for a short time because he did not want to submit to his discipline regarding the basic rules for a pianist. In the Harald Schmidt Show on February 15, 2002, when asked whether he had music lessons, he replied: “Yes, I had that for a week. This was so, either I would have killed the teacher or he would have killed me. "He made the English boarding school Hurtwood House in Dorking , Surrey , High School and played synthesizer in groups like Krisma and heroes (with the drummer of Ultravox , Warren Cann ). He did not go through any academic musical training.
Years in England
At the end of the 1970s, Hans Zimmer was the composer of commercial music jingles and worked on the modular synthesizer in the video clip of the Buggles hit Video Killed the Radio Star . He composed advertising and radio jingles in the London studio Air Edel . There he met the well-known English film music composer Stanley Myers , whose assistant he became in 1980. Zimmer learned a lot from him about composing for an orchestra. Through this collaboration he got his first small composition commissions for film music. In the late 1980s he drew attention to himself by setting films like Rain Man to music .
Hollywood
Zimmer became best known in the early 1990s for his innovative combination of orchestral and synthesizer sounds . With Ridley Scott's Black Rain and Ron Howard's Backdraft - Men Who Go Through Fire, he created a new style of setting action films to music. Backdraft , in particular, is considered a milestone in film music history: Zimmer's decision to set the film to music with a so-called "wall-to-wall score", in other words to underlay the majority of the film with music, created the prototype for many action film scores that will then be released in Hollywood were produced. The style, which is roughly based on a powerful main theme, rhythmic action motifs and more gentle passages for the two main characters (portrayed by Kurt Russell and William Baldwin ), can be found in numerous later film scores.
Together with his partner Jay Rifkin , he founded the film music studio Media Ventures in the mid-1980s . In 2003, Zimmer took over the business with his company Remote Control Productions after a legal battle with Rifkin . Remote Control is a kind of talent factory that also includes several other film music composers, such as B. Steve Jablonsky , James Dooley , Heitor Pereira and Geoff Zanelli work. Well-known former remote control composers include Klaus Badelt , John Powell , Nick Glennie-Smith , Mark Mancina and Harry Gregson-Williams .
After completing the work on Illuminati , Zimmer planned to give a few concerts, but this could only be achieved to a limited extent, as he accepted new orders. In an interview with the website Amazona.de he said that most of the directors he works with are his friends, so it is difficult for him to turn down an assignment from them.
In 2016, Zimmer finally went on a major tour through Europe with an orchestra of 70 musicians. Various of his soundtracks were played live in front of an audience, combined with short stories from Zimmer, etc. a. on the death of Heath Ledger in 2008, who died shortly after the filming of The Dark Knight . The live tour premiered on April 6, 2016 at Wembley Arena in London . The tour ended on June 5, 2016 with a concert in the ancient theater of Orange . Johnny Marr accompanied Zimmer at a few selected concerts in London, Berlin, Prague, Manchester, Dublin and Orange on the electric guitar . Zimmer received a lot of attention after his concert on April 22nd, 2016 in the König-Pilsener-Arena in Oberhausen , when he played his title Purple Rain after Prince's death .
In 2017, Zimmer was on a live tour again, for the first time in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. The concert tour began on April 14, 2017 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles and ended on October 7, 2017 at the Seoul Olympic Stadium .
Zimmer now lives and works in Los Angeles and is one of the most successful and influential film composers in Hollywood history .
In 2018, Hans Zimmer was nominated for an Oscar for the eleventh time.
Social Commitment
In the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008, Hans Zimmer was active as an ambassador in Germany. The aim of the European Commission's campaign was to inform people in all 27 EU countries about the benefits of diversity and to inspire them to engage in intercultural exchange.
In response to the attack in Aurora in July 2012, he published the composition "Aurora". All proceeds should be donated to the victims and their families.
Private
Hans Zimmer is married to Suzanne Zimmer for the second time and has four children. He filed for divorce in April 2020.
style
The use of ethnic instruments such as B. the duduk in Gladiator (played by the Armenian duduk player Djivan Gasparyan ), flutes in Rangoon - In the Heart of the Storm or Taikos in Last Samurai , is one of his trademarks. This also includes compositions with African influences, such as B. Two worlds , In the shine of the sun , The Lion King and Black Hawk Down , but also music for comedies like Better it goes not or tricks or the action film The Dark Knight Rises . He works regularly with directors Ridley Scott , James L. Brooks , Gore Verbinski , Penny Marshall and Christopher Nolan . Hans Zimmer himself describes Ennio Morricone as his great idol.
Zimmer often works with the same musicians. A guitar by Heitor Pereira or a cello by Martin Tillman is played in many pieces of music .
Long before filming began, Zimmer usually composed suites that contained all the essential components of the later film music. Towards the end of production, the suites serve as the basis for the music that is written directly to the image. But the suites themselves are mostly used in the film and on the soundtrack. For example, tracks 9 to 13 from the soundtrack for The Da Vinci Code are the suite written by Zimmer. Zimmer explains this way of working in an interview as follows:
“I've been thinking about how I've been working lately. Writing things in advance of filming is the better way. Film technology has changed so much in recent years, especially due to computer effects, that it is now possible to change something in the film at the last minute. I think the old way of waiting for the film to be finished and then writing and recording the music for the last six to twelve weeks, or whatever, doesn't work these days. So it makes sense to write some of the music before these twelve weeks. That gives you and the filmmakers something to work with while you think about the music to the picture. This may give you more control over the style of the film. You can also solve these annoying temp-track problems in this way. "
Often other composers help Zimmer with his music, especially towards the end of the film production, by orchestrating, arranging or composing parts for him based on his suites and musical ideas. This collaborative way of working is controversial among some film music fans, but not entirely uncommon in Hollywood. Rupert Gregson-Williams says the following in an interview:
“Hans is an icon, and in my opinion many of the criticisms aimed at the whole Media Ventures set up are totally unfounded. The first most common misconception is that, to be blunt, everyone else does the work of writing themes, while Hans takes all the credit. Well, I spent three months working with Hans in Los Angeles on various scenes for The Prince of Egypt - the sandstorm sequence where Moses is awoken by a camel, and the death of the firstborn sequence - and all the themes there were written by Hans. My job was to take the thematic content that Hans had come up with, and work it into my own music for the scene. There was a lot of discussion, a lot of debate about the contextual meaning behind the film and how the music relates to that, but the ultimate driving force was Hans. Just to be able to see him at work, being creative, and being in that atmosphere was wonderful. Plus, Hans is a phenomenal orchestrator. That's something people don't realize. "
“Hans is an icon and - in my opinion - most of the criticism against Media Ventures is completely unfounded. The most common misconception is that everyone is working on the issues while Hans gets the fame for it. Well, I worked with Hans in Los Angeles for three months on different scenes for 'The Prince of Egypt' - the sandstorm sequence in which Moses is woken up by a camel and the scene with the death of the firstborn - and all the subjects were written by Hans. It was my job to take the thematic content from Hans and work it into my pieces for the scene. There was a lot of discussion and talk about the contextual meaning behind the film and how the music relates to it, but the driving force behind it was Hans. Watching him just once at work, being creative and being in this atmosphere for once was wonderful. Hans is also a phenomenal orchestrator. This is something that people don't understand. "
Hans Zimmer not only composes, but also takes on the execution as the responsible music producer for films, such as in 2006 for Ab durch die Hecke and 2015 for Terminator: Genisys .
Works
Filmography (selection)
Video games
- 2009: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (together with Lorne Balfe )
- 2011: Crysis 2 (together with Lorne Balfe, Tilman Sillescu and Borislav Slavov )
- 2011: Skylanders Spyro's Adventure (together with Lorne Balfe)
- 2013: Beyond: Two Souls (production; music by Lorne Balfe and Normand Corbeil )
- 2016: Arena of Valor
- 2018: Bless Online (together with Lorne Balfe )
- 2018: FIFA 19 - The Journey - Champions (together with Lorne Balfe)
Awards and nominations (selection)
Awards
- 1999 : the fine line
- 2001 : Gladiator
- 2004 : Last Samurai
- 2010 : Inception
Nominations
- 1989 : Rain Man
- 1997 : Rendezvous with an angel
- 1998 : It couldn't be better
- 1999 : The Prince of Egypt
- 1999: the fine line
- 2001 : Gladiator
- 2010 : Sherlock Holmes
- 2011 : Inception
- 2015 : Interstellar
- 2018 : Dunkirk
- 1991 : Miss Daisy and her chauffeur
- 2001 : Gladiator
- 2007 : Pirates of the Caribbean 2
- 2007: The Da Vinci Code - The Da Vinci Code
- 2011: Sherlock Holmes
- 2011 : Inception
- 2013 : The Dark Knight Rises
- 2020 : The Lion King
- 1992: Thelma & Louise
- 1995: The Lion King
- 2001: Gladiator
- 2009 : The Dark Knight
- 2011: Inception
- 2015: Interstellar
- 2018 : Blade Runner 2049 (together with Benjamin Wallfisch )
- 2018: Dunkirk
- 1999 : The Prince of Egypt
- 2002 : Pearl Harbor
- 2003 : Spirit - Der wilde Mustang (nominated for best song)
- 2004 : Last Samurai
- 2005 : Spanglish
- 2007 : The Da Vinci Code - The Da Vinci Code
- 2009 : Frost / Nixon
- 2011 : Inception
- 2014 : 12 Years a Slave
- 2015 : Interstellar
- 2017 : Hidden Figures - Unrecognized Heroines (together with Pharrell Williams and Benjamin Wallfisch )
- 2018 : Dunkirk
Awards for music sales
Country / Region | silver | gold | platinum | diamond | Sales | swell |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources) |
||||||
Australia (ARIA) | - | 3 × gold3 | 4 × platinum4th | - | 385,000 | aria.com.au |
Belgium (BEA) | - | - | platinum1 | - | 50,000 | ultratop.be |
Brazil (PMB) | - | - | - | - | 1,200,000 | Individual evidence |
Denmark (IFPI) | - | gold1 | - | - | 45,000 | ifpi.dk |
Germany (BVMI) | - | 4 × gold4th | 3 × platinum3 | - | 2,000,000 | musikindustrie.de |
Europe (IFPI) | - | - | 3 × platinum3 | - | (3,000,000) | ifpi.org ( Memento from January 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) |
France (SNEP) | - | 3 × gold3 | platinum1 | - | 1,666,900 | infodisc.fr snepmusique.com |
Italy (FIMI) | - | gold1 | - | - | 50,000 | fimi.it |
Japan (RIAJ) | - | 2 × gold2 | - | - | 250,000 | riaj.or.jp |
Canada (MC) | - | 2 × gold2 | 2 × platinum2 | diamond1 | 1,300,000 | musiccanada.com |
Mexico (AMPROFON) | - | gold1 | - | - | 100,000 | Individual evidence |
New Zealand (RMNZ) | - | - | 4 × platinum4th | - | 60,000 | nztop40.co.nz |
Netherlands (NVPI) | - | gold1 | platinum1 | - | 140,000 | nvpi.nl |
Austria (IFPI) | - | gold1 | platinum1 | - | 75,000 | ifpi.at |
Poland (ZPAV) | - | gold1 | 3 × platinum3 | - | 190,000 | bestsellery.zpav.pl |
Sweden (IFPI) | - | gold1 | - | - | 50,000 | sverigetopplistan.se |
Switzerland (IFPI) | - | 2 × gold2 | 2 × platinum2 | - | 150,000 | hitparade.ch |
Spain (Promusicae) | - | - | platinum1 | - | 100,000 | promusicae.es |
United States (RIAA) | - | 2 × gold2 | 5 × platinum5 | diamond1 | 16,946,000 | riaa.com |
United Kingdom (BPI) | 7 × silver7th | gold1 | 2 × platinum2 | - | 1,260,000 | bpi.co.uk |
All in all | 7 × silver7th | 25 × gold25th | 34 × platinum34 | 2 × diamond2 |
Further awards
- On December 8, 2010, Zimmer received the 2,426th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the heart of Hollywood. In attendance was director Christopher Nolan , with whom he celebrated a worldwide success with Inception . Nolan said of Zimmer: "To me, there is no composer working who has done more to define the sound of contemporary films." (For me, there is no composer who is still active who has done more to shape the sound image of contemporary films. )
- 2011: Star on the Boulevard of Stars in Berlin .
- 2011: World Soundtrack Award for Best Original Film Score for Inception .
- 2018: Federal Cross of Merit 1st class
- 2018: Max Steiner Film Music Achievement Award (Hollywood in Vienna)
- 2019: Included in Disney Legends
Additional information
- TV documentary: Hans Zimmer - The Sound for Hollywood (2010, running time: 52 minutes). First broadcast on March 14, 2011 on arte .
Web links
- Official website (English)
- Fan site (English)
- Website Live Tour (English)
- Hans Zimmer in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Works by and about Hans Zimmer in the catalog of the German National Library
- Discography by Hans Zimmer on Soundtrack Collector (English)
- Hans Zimmer - composer in Hollywood . ( AVI ; 54.3 MB) - Report on ZDF
swell
- ↑ "Culture connects" - Creatives are awarded an Order of Merit . In: GMX News . ( gmx.net [accessed September 21, 2018]).
- ↑ Entry on the website of the Office of the Federal President: Award ceremony for the Day of German Unity on October 2, 2018 , viewed on September 28, 2018
- ^ Claas Tatje: Hans Zimmer: Vampire at the mixer . In: The time . January 22, 2015, ISSN 0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed April 3, 2017]).
- ^ Jared Sichel: Hans Zimmer: Proud to say 'My people'. In: jewishjournal.com. Jewish Journal, accessed February 11, 2016 .
- ↑ (from 5:50) youtube.com: Hans Zimmer in the "Harald Schmidt Show"
- ^ Hans Zimmer - Hurtwood House Performing Arts. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 21, 2010 ; accessed on February 3, 2011 (English, Flash required).
- ↑ Jonathan Z. Kaplan: 101 Great Film Scores on CD: Backdraft (1991). In: Film Score Monthly , Vol. 5, No. 9/10, November / December 2000.
- ↑ scorenotes.com. (No longer available online.) In: scorenotes.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on February 11, 2016 .
- ↑ focus: Hans Zimmer inspires in the Wembley Arena , www.focus.de, April 8, 2016
- ↑ http://hanszimmerlive.com/tour-dates.html
- ↑ nme.com: Johnny Marr announces plans to join 'Inception' composer Hans Zimmer on the road , New Musical Express, February 22, 2016
- ↑ derwesten: Hans Zimmer moves to tears in Oberhausen with a Prince homage , www.derwesten.de, April 23, 2016
- ↑ Hans Zimmer Revealed - Tour Dates 2017. In: hanszimmerlive.com. Retrieved June 14, 2017 .
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ Hans Zimmer's 'Aurora': 'Dark Knight Rises' Composer Release Song Dedicated To Shooting Victims. (No longer available online.) In: The Huffington Post . July 27, 2012, archived from the original on July 30, 2012 ; accessed on July 30, 2012 (English).
- ↑ Hans Zimmer wants to divorce his wife , https://www.bz-berlin.de , April 7, 2020
- ↑ hans-zimmer.com
- ↑ Hans Zimmer - Part 1 - Interview. In: soundtrack.net. Retrieved February 11, 2016 .
- ↑ Hans Zimmer - Part 2 - Interview. In: soundtrack.net. Retrieved February 11, 2016 .
- ↑ Cinescape.com: Soothing "The Savage Were-Rabbits". ( Memento from July 22, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) (archive.is)
- ↑ moviemusicuk.us ( Memento from October 31, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Legendary composer Hans Zimmer writes the music for Crysis 2. In: EA News. Electronic Arts , accessed March 19, 2011 .
- ↑ About Bless Online - The Music. Retrieved May 5, 2018 .
- ↑ Hans-Zimmer.com - FIFA 19 - The Journey - Champions (VG). Retrieved October 12, 2018 .
- ^ Past Winners Search. In: grammy.com. The GRAMMYs, accessed February 11, 2016 .
- ↑ grammy.com , accessed January 23, 2020
- ↑ Federal President Steinmeier awards 29 Orders of Merit on the Day of German Unity. In: bundespraesident.de. September 20, 2018. Retrieved September 24, 2018 .
- ↑ hollywoodinvienna.com: Max Steiner Award
- ↑ RDJ, Jon Favreau, James Earl Jones & more to be honored as Disney Legends. May 16, 2019, Retrieved November 7, 2019 (American English).
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Zimmer, Hans |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Zimmer, Hans Florian (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German film composer and music producer |
DATE OF BIRTH | September 12, 1957 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Frankfurt am Main |