Hans Florian Zimmer was born on September 12, 1957 in Frankfurt Germany. His interest in music started young as he started playing the piano at just three years old. His father died when he was six years old, and it was at that point he knew he wanted to be a composer. Zimmer made music his way to cope. His family moved around Europe but settled in London in 1971 where he attended high school but received no formal music education. Zimmer started his musical career while still in his late teens writing advertising jingles from 1973-1975. A few years later wrote music for bands such as The Buggles, Tangerine Dream and Ultravox. His career in film scoring started in 1982 by using his electronic effects in the film Moonlighting. Zimmer then started collaborating with another film composer, Stanley Myers and together they created Lillie Yard Studio. The composers specialized in fusing electronic and classical music and became pioneers of the genre.

It had become apparent that Zimmer’s calling in music was film score. By 1988 Zimmer caught Hollywood’s attention with his tribal themes when he went solo on a movie called A World Apart. Shortly after, he received Oscar nominations for his work in Rain Man and Driving Miss Daisy. Zimmer was such an amazing collaborator that he founded his own company in the early 1990’s called Media Ventures to assist young talent in the film industry. He has said in all his works, he’s always had a team of young assistants that in turn keep him young at heart.

Hans Zimmer’s work is widely known in over 100 critically acclaimed films and TV shows. His unique mix of computer technology with orchestra has made him one of the highest paid and most sought after composers in Hollywood. Just a few of his more recent notable works include Pirates of the Caribbean, Gladiator, and The Dark Knight. He has been nominated for Academy Awards, Golden Globes and Grammy Awards among others. Though being nominated for and winning many awards, he has only won one Academy Award. It was for writing the score to 1994’s The Lion King. One of Disney’s most recognized soundtracks and greatest film successes, his score brought the film to life with the mastery of his South African sound.

Here Zimmer explains his inspiration for the score:

Sources:

MUSIC 005 Course Content

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“Zimmer, Hans.” International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 24 Jun. 2016<http://www.encyclopedia.com>.