It’s okay to like the music of Hans Zimmer. Detractors accuse his soundtracks of being formulaic, but the fact is that the “Zimmer sound” has been synonymous with Hollywood fantasy, action and thriller movies for three decades. Those dark minor keys, pounding ostinatos and inexorable crescendos make his scores instantly recognisable – even if, for some, that might be cause enough to wave the red flag.
Yet a close listen to Zimmer’s work, from the early days of The Lion King up to his more recent collaborations with director Christopher Nolan in Inception and Interstellar, tells us that his creative span is much wider than is often supposed. Indeed, on the basis of the dozen pieces presented by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in its show The Music of Hans Zimmer, he could fairly be described as an experimentalist.
At its core, his sound is weighty and symphonic, very much in the late Austro-German tradition of Bruckner – remembering that Zimmer is himself German. But it also reaches far into the electronica of Kraftwerk, the ambient soundscapes of Dead Can Dance and world music cultures – for instance, his use of the erhu two-string East Asian fiddle in Kung Fu Panda.
The other discovery is that it sounds terrific when well played. That is a major proviso, for here we had an expanded Adelaide Symphony Orchestra of 84 players all putting serious head-down work into what could so readily be dismissed as “just film music”. Credit to them for that, and also to Nicholas Buc, who has exactly what it takes to conduct Zimmer.
Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Driving Miss Daisy (1989) scrubbed up as good, workmanlike scores. The first used Zimmer’s trademark string tremolo build-up and what sounded like a plucked string instrument stop played on synth keyboard, while the second showed how capable he is at forming memorably simple, triadic melody – in this case for solo clarinet.
But these short tasters served as mere preludes to his bigger scores. Pirates of the Caribbean: Suite is possibly his most widely familiar music, but this muscle-bound creation also consists of well-developed string writing. Following its bounding main theme even comes the suggestion of a fugue, working upwards from the cellos to the violins. None of Zimmer’s music is born for the concert stage (in this respect he differs from John Williams, who has written a sizeable quantity of concert works), but this suite adapts successfully.
The ASO hit the mark with a varied selection of Hans Zimmer’s music. Photo: Saige Prime
Concert co-hosts Andrew Pogson and Dan Golding (of the podcast show Art of the Score) gave witty and informative intros to each piece, enabling one to hear how the composer constructs his basic ideas. In The Thin Red Line, attention fixed on the so-called “Zimmer build”, complete with tubular bells and tam-tam. The “Mannheim roller”, a sustained crescendo effect made famous by 18th-century orchestras, is absolutely piddly compared to this score’s immensity.
In the best Viennese tradition going back to the Strauss dynasty, The Holiday revealed again his melodic sweetness. Repetitious overlaid electric guitar got a bit cloying after a while, but he does make the sun shine.
Inception: Suite was different. Moody, menacing and epochal, it was end-of-days stuff. Zimmer captures the zeitgeist of the present day, coupling pure fear with hedonistic thrill-seeking. The same could be said of Interstellar, and what was to be this concert’s most impressive item, his music for The Da Vinci Code (2006). With energised string figurations and a soaring theme in the horns and brass, it is an exhilarating ride. Again, the ASO really hit the mark under Buc’s direction.
Kung Fu Panda could have used erhu, because in Adelaide we indeed have players of this instrument, namely the group Silk Strings. But solo cello did the job, with fine playing from guest principal Martin Smith in his very high register. The Lion King was pounding fun and had faux choir added electronically for good measure. And music from Gladiator, with soprano Desiree Frahn taking vocals à la Lisa Gerrard (who sings in the original soundtrack), concluded this well-crafted concert.
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There could be little to grumble about. Some of Zimmer’s uber constructions with full choir, newly invented instruments and elaborate electronic overlays are simply out of reach in a conventional concert setting such as this. That unfortunately ruled out Dune (2021), a phenomenal conception, and Backdraft (1991), still one of his best and most original scores – some may remember it served as the theme music in the SBS show Iron Chef.
One grizzle, however, was the Festival Theatre’s under-nourished acoustic. The orchestra looked great on stage, lit up by with fancy shafts of coloured lighting, but sonically it felt thin and distant, lacking scale or impact. For Zimmer, that’s not enough.
Two sold-out shows said it all: Zimmer is the musical voice of the present day for a great number of people. A reprise would certainly be on the cards.
The Music of Hans Zimmer, performed by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, took place at the Festival Theatre on July 26-27. This is a review of the first night.
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