Hans Zimmer

 

[1957 -] Born in Frankfurt, Hans Zimmer is currently one of the busiest composers in Hollywood. His use of electronic resources merged with the traditional orchestra sound redefined the concept of soundtrack in contemporary cinema.

 

Zimmer had little formal study of music. In his formative years he worked with pop music groups. Was a member of The Bubbles, new wave group of the late 70s. Moved to England in the early 80s and there met the composer Stanley Myers, veteran of film music. As Myers assistant, Zimmer began a prolific career in film with soundtracks for My Beautiful Laundrete (1985) and The Wind (1987). The music of Rain Man (1988) and Driving Miss Daisy (Driving Miss Daisy, 1989) made him more knowm and after Black Rain (Black Rain, 1989) with its ethnic reference and synthetic rhythms stablished in American market. Came after a list of box offices success: Backdraft (1991), Broken Arrow (1996), Days of Thunder (1995), The Rock (1996) and the partnership with director Ridley Scott in Thelma and Louise (1995), Gladiator (1999), Hannibal (2001), Black Hawk Down (2002) and American Gangster (2008). Reached the milestone of the 100th soundtrack with The Last Samurai (2003). Among many other credits in contemporary cinema are King Arthur (2004), Spanglish (2004), The Da Vinci Code (2006), Angels and Demons (2009) and Inception (2010). His sound accompaniment approach to film combines elements of diverse cultures, technologies and genres and focuses on sound textures and atmospheres more than the melodic tradition. In this proposal, Zimmer sponsored and made possible the career of other composers as Marc Streitenfeld and Harry Gregson Williams.