Hans Zimmer is a really big name in movies right now. He's produced scores most recently for Christopher Nolan's Inception and also Nolan's Batman trilogy. He's also doing the music for Nolan's new Superman movie, Man of Steel. According to Wikipedia, Zimmer has been doing music for movies since 1987--which is a long time. He's earned a lot of awards and everyone seems to love him. Everyone except for a small, vocal group of critics who aren't fans of his recent works.
Their complaints are these: "All his music sounds the same, and it lacks musical originality." Now, in some areas, they have valid points. Zimmer's most recent scores, which are very popular right now, have similar structures and mainly follow basic four-chord progressions. Another criticism is more specific: "Zimmer's Batman scores lack a superhero theme." They also have a valid point here. One can hum a tune and think of Adam West. There is no tune one can hum to evoke the image of Christian Bale in the Batmobile.
I would like to refute some of these criticisms. First, those who say that Zimmer's music sounds the same in every movie would do well to remember that Zimmer's portfolio is not limited to Sherlock Holmes, Inception, and Batman. Zimmer also wrote the scores for Gladiator, The Last Samurai, The Lion King, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, and The Prince of Egypt. Inception and Batman sound similar--nobody can deny that. However, this sound seems to be a very recent trend in Zimmer's work and we should not assume that his future work will also sound similar.
I would present the same argument to those who say Zimmer's work is musically uninteresting. In recent times, his scores do seem to be based on a common four-chord progression, but with such diversity in Zimmer's musical history, we should be cautious in thinking that Zimmer is incapable of producing a technically interesting score. (Because it's not true.)
With the third criticism mentioned I absolutely agree. Zimmer certainly didn't use any variation of "Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na BATMAN!", even subtly, in his work for Nolan's trilogy. However, I don't think it's a problem that there's no recognizable superhero theme in the score. In fact, I think it's a good thing. Nolan's trilogy is nothing like the classic superhero movies and TV shows. It's realistic (to a degree) and modern. There are no purple tights in this movie. Batman is not portrayed as a superhero, and so he doesn't need a superhero theme song to play every time he appears on screen in his utility belt. Zimmer's score emphasized the fact that the movies were not supposed to be classic superhero movies.
After defending Zimmer so vigorously, I ought to say that I agree, to some extent, with the first two points raised against Zimmer. In recent works, he has lacked some of the originality that made the music of his early movies so fresh and exciting. I do also notice, as a musician listening to the scores of Inception and Batman, that he relies heavily in both on predictable chord patterns, and even perhaps tries to cover it up with a loud bass line. However, while taking a step back to acknowledge Zimmer's recent shortcomings, I still harbor a deep love for his music. Perhaps it makes me pedestrian, uncultured, mainstream, or unappreciative of "better" music, but even Zimmer's recent work elicits great emotion and appreciation in me.
I hope that Zimmer's future scores return to the glory and perfection of his early work. He's the only reason I will watch Man of Steel when it comes out. I have confidence that he's capable of the same greatness that made him famous. But I will still love his current music, flaws and all, and my inner music snob can take a holiday if it doesn't like that.
So there's my schpiel on Hans Zimmer. I thought I might as well post it since nobody reads this anyway and I had to get it out of my system. Much love.
ZB
A small band of haters is exceptionally common for any artist anywhere in the entire history of the universe, especially if they are mainstream to the point Hans Zimmer is. The problem with these 'criticisms' is that they aren't criticisms. His use of 4 chords is exceptionally common and understandable when prying at the subject matter. You cannot have an epic and loud theme if you are jumping around trying to fit in diminished chords so you can seem more 'diverse'. Also, the lack of the 'superhero' theme is exactly what he was trying to fucking do in the first place. He has said in countless interviews that he was trying to break the mould and throw away any cliche'. Completely ridiculous. Completely.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteA small exercise: Take up, the Gladiator -The Battle which is composed by him. Now add "He is a Pirate" of POTC composed by him and Klaus Badelt.
The latter is a note to note copy of The Battle.
And there goes musical originality and creativity.
Soham
Just tried it...
DeleteWOW.
You could not be any more wrong. Seriously, I encourage anyone reading this to actually listen to both songs side by side. They may have some of the same chords in different places, but it takes some crazy mental gymnastics to truly beleive that they're even close to being the same piece of music.
There were no purple tights in the original Batman either. You may be colour blind.
ReplyDeleteI would point out that his Batman score is entirely forgetable when stacked up next to Danny Elfman's or Shirley Walker's. While I love "Chevaliers de Sangreal", "Time", and "Honor", some of his work feels completely lacking in depth or character, while simultaneously believing itself to embody these very traits (see Interstellar soundtrack).
ReplyDeleteNolan's Superman ? Snyder's, more like. Nolan was only given some advisor or producer credit on that one, despite not wanting to. Because WB's gonna WB...
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ReplyDeleteI think Zimmer has the quality to understand the reading of each element of the film , from agents to the environment. The simplicity with which describes musically the piece is strenuous , working the whole concept of the movie. If Zimmer uses the " four common progression chords ," as other well-known artists , it is because this is the most appropriate feature the kind of movies . I think the ecological sense of "material" is always welcome , this is to do a lot with little , why not?
I can't stand Zimmer's scores.
ReplyDeleteThey're all so triumphalist. Patriots becoming misty eyed at the sight of Old Glory.
They're predictable and SO HOLLYWOOD AMERICANA.
I only hope HZ will take some music lessons from Vladimir Cosma - unfortunately it is too late to get them from Jerry Goldsmith... :/
DeleteI can't stand Zimmer's scores.
ReplyDeleteThey're all so triumphalist. Patriots becoming misty eyed at the sight of Old Glory.
They're predictable and SO HOLLYWOOD AMERICANA.
Hey guys! He doesn't compose concert music! He does what is necessary for the story of the film. When you watch the film you'll never say "Oh! Hans should have made that this way!". coz, you'll never notice his score. It would be a part of movie. You won't see video and hear the audio, you will feel the art, 'The Master Piece'!
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ReplyDeleteThanks for this post of yours. It's brought to mind some late night thoughts I just feel like sharing somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of Zimmer. I like Jerry Goldsmith better. Goldsmith's scores have more character--and oftentimes are what makes some films, like First Knight and Hollow Man, watchable. Also, the modernistic sound of Mark Mothersbaugh's score for Safe is a style I'd have liked for the Nolan Batman movies.
Great composers from the late 19th to mid-20th Centuries, from Tchaikovsky to Hindemith, showed that epic music could be made with layers of depth and complexity. I miss Arnold Schoenberg's influence on movie & TV composers. (He taught at USC & UCLA, when he lived in L.A. Stravinsky spent most of his life in L.A., too, and was likewise a big influence, now missed.)
Reference points for filmmakers and their composers are infinitely available. Zimmer's score for The Pacific was horrible. It ought to have sounded like William Schuman, who started composing his 4th Symphony shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack--the 2nd movement's opening bars match almost perfectly with The Pacific's opening credits. Schuman's music has plenty of heroism, intensity & passion, but being more matter-of-fact, with sentimentality & romanticism dialed back, which works better for a war-themed project. (I can't stand sentimentality in a war project. I tolerated the score in Band of Brothers, because it was used more sparingly than in The Pacific. Generation Kill worked even better, dispensing with the score entirely.)
Zimmer's influence has resulted in lots of other scores with no character. I call it the temp-track sound, because it's so generic to a point of annoyance. Watching The Witcher, I noticed a lack of leitmotifs to accompany the characters, from time to time. I also wanted this fairytale series, set in a mythical Eastern Europe, to have a soundtrack like Bartok. (His Dance Suite and Concerto for Orchestra have some great epic moments and thematic material.) Also, the Bard's Witcher song could have been echoed by a French horn--or something more ancient-sounding, like a serpent--when Geralt arrives to save the day.
On the other hand, Japanese anime scores are more interesting to listen to and thus make the viewing more enjoyable. The music is a character in the movie or TV series, and often with modernistic twists in the harmonies and thematic material, like in Hunter x Hunter. Anime scores are the antithesis of Zimmer's harmonic simplicity.
OK, I've gone on long enough. Thanks for the forum.