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John Williams & Hans Zimmer - The Story of Modern Film Music
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 มิ.ย. 2022
- If John Williams represents the romanticism and stability of classical Hollywood in the 20th century, then Hans Zimmer, in turn represents the change and uncertainty of the 21st. Together with Lucas and Spielburg, Williams defined the sound of late-20th century Hollywood, while Zimmer is arguably the most influential composer of our time. In this video, I compare and contrast the music of these two legendary composers.
I was planning to make a gaming-related video next, but I had another opportunity to make a video for my film music class. Next video will actually be gaming :)
Sources:
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The rights to the films and music used in this video belong to their respective studios, and are used purely transformatively for educational purposes.
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Alex, this is a well put together short documentary. I enjoyed it. Well done. If I may offer one criticism; Hans evolved into the "epic" sound. Prior to becoming uber famous after Gladiator and many of the subsequent films that you mentioned after 2000, he had a combination of action and romantic comedies with fantastic scores like, A League of Their Own, Thelma and Louise, As Good As It Gets, Rain Man, Twister, Driving Miss Daisy, and The Lion King (among many others). In the 90's, Zimmer showed a level of diversity in orchestral and electronic music that earned him work on some of Hollywood's biggest films. I mention this because your video, while not stating it directly, may infer to uninitiated that he began a film career with that "epic" sound. It was a journey for him to get there and along that journey, he was still creating incredible work; and I think it's worth noting that he was one of Hollywood's top composers before he changed Hollywood. Keep up the good work, Alex. Cheers.
As an interesting point of view, something similar could be said about John Williams. He didn't start out as a film composer influenced by romanticisim and neoclassicism, he started out as a jazz guy. Most of his early scores have a disctinct big band vibe rather than what would later turn into the scope of a full symphony orchestra. The great thing is that his jazz background can still be felt in his later scores, as I'm sure is also the case with Hans Zimmer with his background and sound nowadays.
Using the clip from the Zimmer interview talking about John Williams was an excellent transition of discussion. I would say from my exploration of Hans' discography over the years that he has always utilized leitmotifs in effective ways and experimented sonically on projects that especially required and benefitted from it. In that, I would agree that 2014 marked something of a transition year for him. Altogether, well done here with this essay!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed :)
3 movies in the late 70's are considered to begin the modern sci-fi era. Star Wars (ep 4), close encounters and Superman...John Williams scored all 3 movies and won multiple Grammy's for each of them
I do not understand how a channel like yours can have so few subscribers! Keep your work up, it was a great video essay! Thanks for that :)
Thanks!! Be sure to check out my other videos :)
Your assessment of John Williams' career missed the mark by ignoring his Hollywood origins as Johnny, with jazz composition and melody the likes of which are reminiscent of Henry Mancini. I'd suggest checking out his scores for BACHELOR FLAT, NOT WITH MY WIFE YOU DON'T, A GUIDE FOR THE MARRIED MAN, PENELOPE, FITZWILLY and HOW TO STEAL A MILLION among others, along with his TV work on CHECKMATE, LOST IN SPACE, LAND OF THE GIANTS and KRAFT SUSPENSE THEATRE. Beside his Lucasfilm/Spielberg projects and return to golden-age, Hollywood-style symphonics, he also wrote contemporary scores like IMAGES, EARTHQUAKE, THE LONG GOODBYE and THE MISSOURI BREAKS and did musical adaptations for GOODBYE MR. CHIPS, TOM SAWYER and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Williams was versatile, talented and gifted. Zimmer, on the other hand, is a Hollywood hack whose work is pastiche and manufactured assembly-line stuff. He is everything that is wrong with modern film music. There's a joke about Zimmer's work: his music sounds like Judgement Day, featuring wailing funeral dirges on cue - sad, sadder and saddest.
Agreed. John Williams is a superbly skilled craftsman, who paid his dues as a rank and file musician, and has the good taste to borrow from great composers. He's also very modest. Zimmer can barely read music and büllshits much better about music than he writes it - what little of it he "writes" himself.
ur too good at this its not fair for all the other video-essayists on utube
onggg
when will the algorithm catch up
I can't agree i've been listening in cinema since the 80 ties to zimmer score. i didn't know even back than we were just a child. IT WAS ALWAYS GREAT!
Awesome video! I was surprised you have so few subscribers considering how high quality this video is. I'm sure you'll get there soon enough 🙏
Glad you enjoyed! :)
Thank you for making this video, I enjoyed it. I am a classically trained musician who loves film scores. You discussed Zimmer's change from his more "typical" scores written prior to "Interstellar" and "Inception", to where his writing lives now. Stating such helps us understand his growth and contributions to how film continues to evolve in all regards. Letting viewers here see his beginnings as a self-taught rock musician adds to the view of Zimmer as perhaps more global, or even plugged-in to the current art of filmmaking than Williams, a composer that shows range. I would suggest we look at Williams through a similar lens in that I think one could mistakingly think that his style has always been in the symphonic orchestral tradition as this video suggests more than once. William's early years as a pianist, jazz musician, arranger, collaborator in music styles from pop to jazz, classical to folk, as well as his studies in composition make him one of the film composers with the widest range of perhaps any, a point I think you may have neglected to make. Yes, William's style is often one of large orchestral efforts that often uses leitmotif, but not solely. His range includes scores for string quartet, piano only, jazz band, rock band, pop band, folk ensemble, organ, electronic instruments, choir, solo voice, etc. in all western traditional modes (major, minor, etc.) as well a compositions that utilize bi-tonality, atonality, musique industrielle techniques, etc. I do believe that William's record-breaking number of nominations for an Oscar (the most of anyone with 52 nominations in his lifetime. Meryle Streep has the second most with 21) over six decades has to be mentioned anytime his contributions are discussed. I do believe that while his compositions are more than note-worthy, the music sometimes was not as effective as the film compositions of his fellow nominees who won for their efforts. Both filmscore composers discussed here are extremely important to the field and both worthy of recognition and praise for many reason. A second and third viewing of your video confirmed my feeling that perhaps without intent, Zimmer is presented as the more important of the two, something I do not think that can be measured. BTW: William's latest score for "The Fablemans" is for piano and small chamber orchestra. It does not utilize leitmotif. I find it intimate, introspective, and extremely effective at supporting the emotional values of the film throughout. Again, I enjoyed your video.
Wow, this is a great comment. I definitely did not mean to imply that Zimmer is more important or "more skilled" than Williams at all. In fact I think, as you've described, Williams is *by far* the most important film composer of all time, and I agree that he too has tremendous range in his writing. I guess the only thing I would counter is that Zimmer's range is perhaps more obvious. Williams has broad range across his entire career, whereas Hans Zimmer seems to completely alter his musical style from project to project, such that any given set of Zimmer scores would sound utterly distinct from one another (at least from the past decade or so).
@@poke_ I appreciate your professional response. I agree that if looking at both composers' scores for epic films, William's range is smaller that Zimmer's. We associate so much of William's work to the film scores written from 1975 (Jaws) through some of the more recent Star Wars films and newer blockbuster franchise film scores written around 1995, a twenty-year span. But, scores like "Sabrina" and "Stanley and Iris" written during those years reveal a great departure from his other works of the time. Since 1995, I feel his scores have become much more diverse, one to the next, depending on the style of film, and I believe, in response to criticism that his music often upstages the acting, writing, and editing of some movies (so much of his music can stand alone on their own). Zimmer's exploration with soundscapes to match and enhance emotional intent is ground breaking and will influence film score composers moving forward, much as did the works of Bernard Herrmann, beginning with his score to the Robert Wise 1951 film, "The Day the Earth Stood Still".
Zimmer is not skilled as a composer at all. He is a fantastic and impressive sound designer, but composer...not really. his orchestration skills are VERY minimal. He is a keyboard player who 'plays' the 'orchestra' as if it were a synthesizer. He doesn't have a true understanding of the orchestral textures and part-writing needs to create consistent sound. That said, his sound design instincts are the reason he is successful. And it is undeniable the he is good at that.
Your video is underrated, i love the editing, hope you get the recognition you deserve.
Wow man you’re great at these mini docs! Keep them coming sir!
I loved Zimmer in the 90's but when I found out that he has way too many co composers wirking with him in each score just made me think of him as a music producer. I mean he now gets maybe more than 10 scores every year and his team of composers is really big. In Dune all tracks are co composed by him and other people. Its no secret. In his site the names of his collaborators is shown but no average moviegoer checks so closely. They just see the name. The Brand. It is Zimmer inc. It irriatates me even more that people only know Zimmer and dont even know Goldsmith, Herrmann, Korngold, Rozsa, Poledouris, Barry.... I mean come on compare Williams with Zimmer is like comparing a fine restaurant with Macdonalds.
In doing a video about John Williams and Hans Zimmer, it would have been great if you commented on Superman and Man of Steel and their two approaches for the same character.
I actually got to see Meastro William's conduct live at Tanglewood. I saw him conduct ET end theme and 5 peices from Star Wars including Imperial March and Duel of the Fates.
Great video keep the great work up!
Thanks!
Waiting for someone to do this. Thank you
Solid video... but Blade Runner 2049 was mostly composed by Benjamin Wallfisch while Zimmer was on tour in Europe.
Thanks for the feedback; I somehow didn't come across that info. All the behind-the-scenes content seems to feature both of them. My mistake!
@@poke_ No worries. I don’t think the info is readily available in print. Zimmer mentioned it in a video interview with Zimmer and Wallfisch. If I find the video I’ll let you know. From what I remember Zimmer and Wallfisch had a quick brainstorming session, then Zimmer went on tour. Zimmer returned to help tweak the final score with Wallfisch and then Zimmer went back on tour.
Let's mention Zimmer's early innovative work in Thelma & Louise and The Lion King with their tribal percussion!
A great video. Really well done. Thank you
Using Hans’ simplicity as a critique has always bothered me. For me, if you’re able to capture and convey heavy emotion in your music then you have done your job well whether it’s with simple textures and chords or with complex counterpoint and melody. And Hans has always utilized leitmotifs in his music. Some more than others, but they’re there. It’s just that his motifs aren’t always themes and melody. Sometimes it’s just a texture or a sound. Regardless, I think both Hans and John do their jobs perfectly, just differently.
Me not need big word. Me make point.
Lets gooooooooooooo
Great video!
For me, both John Williams and Hans Zimmer are the greatest of all time.
The Dune soundtracks .. ah what a masterpiece❤🤌🏻
Would love to hear your thoughts on johan Johansson who scored arrival
13:80 zimmer is a master of leitmotifs. people always talk like lion king, potc, kungfu panda and all dont exist. The extensive use of leitmotifs in kungfu panda and pirates of the caribbean trilogy is enough to learn how well zimmer handles motifs. People also forget that he's a pirate is just one single motif out of load more.
To be fair, he worked with John Powell on Kungfu Panda
@@paulytheking7365 another master of modern movie scores! Still, there are other zimmer works that uses leitmotifs perfectly.
Well well, no mention of the trailblazer Jerry Goldsmith? What a joke!!
It is true that Jerry Goldsmith had an large role in the film industry, to the extent I’d say someone like Henry Mancini and James Horner. With that being said, John Williams’ scores were backed by better movies most of the time or at least more popular ones. And since many of them are franchises like Harry Potter and Star Wars, the legacy of William’s musical footprint is scene throughout the course of other following scores. And you can’t deny the impact those scores had on the upcoming generation of composers like that of Austin Wintory (albeit being a huge Goldsmith fan), Michael Giacchino, Gordy Haab, and many more
Istill say Goldsmith was a better composer, Williams got lucky hooking up with Spielberg. Just think how different things would be if Goldsmith was Spielberg's favourite composer? Andre Previn certainly thought highly of Goldsmith. @@RhysKSmith02
What is happening in film music is really exciting. Look at the scores nominated at this year's oscar, really diverse, eveything from ethnic music to jazz to avant guard/experimental. It's a period of great change and experimentation. Zimmer is usually a very good investment for filmakers. His score for the latest James Bond film I thought was the best since Bill Conti's. If anything shows how important the composer is, this is a good example.
Willliams I thought was uneven, Occasionally its brilliant, soaring and inspiring. At other times its turgid and mawkish, with not always the best harmonic solutions. The problem here might have been the deadlines he was up against. Film composers rarely have the luxury of always being able to produce a perfectly tight piece of music.
What is going on on the song side though is really disappointing. This year (2024)'s oscar nominations are of very poor quality. And with a few exceptions (eg.RRR and HER) they have been like that for at least several decades. Strange really. They could potentially be the musical highlight. I am also of the view that the song should be written in most cases by the composer. You mentioned Wagner and the leitmotive. Just iike operas, these movies contain the overture-fanfares and marches, what has been missing has been the dramatic aria. (Although Williams came close in Superman (1977) with the Richard Strauss inspired love theme; although this is spoken in the film with orchestral backing, not sung.) Superman I though was his finest, most perfect score.
"His score for the latest bond film was the best since Bill Conti's"... Bill Conti!!?? Whose score was pretty awful. You're also gonna skip over David Arnold like he hasn't been the rightful successor to John Barry? Casino Royale is a phenomenal! then there's the fact you think Hans' score is great. If re-using Barry themes, and filling the rest with his usual nonsense, of endless ostinatos and braaam sounds makes a good score then I don't know what. Then there's the fact that he didn't even write the majority of it. His team of minions did, namely Steve Mazzaro.
@@ibanezman04 I'm not a great fan of Barry.What he needed was a better command of rudimentary Fuxian counterpoint. His harmonic solutions are often very amateurish. He thinks far to vertically, ie in block chords, not linear voice leading. That is why we sometimes get some very trite sounds, even in the songs. Arnold was very competent, but I do not think he was particularly innovative, nor a master at writing in a more (small c) classical orchestral style. I agree Zimmer is a cut above all of this. But Conti's score I found was the best of all. Great harmonies, clear yet rich. Fantastic instrumentation. Great song too. Great melody.
@@simonsmatthew His harmonic solutions were what defined the sound of Bond. Like his compositional style or not, he undoubtedly has a style that created an entire genre of film music. I disagree that his style produced trite sounds. Sure you could argue he relied on using similar techniques now and then, but if anyone is trite, its Zimmer, who has essentially continuously produced the same score since 2010. If you think I was suggesting zimmer is a cut above the rest then you need to re-read my original comment.
Arnold didn't need to be innovative. No one needs to put their stamp on Bond. Bond is Bond. In the same way Star Wars is Star Wars and we are no in an age of experiencing the complete dilution of John Williams' work. What once was melodies as catchy as the Beatles and orchestrations as complex as Stravinsky has now turned into now hip-hop beats and drones.
David Arnold's work particularly in Casino Royale took the best of John Barry and used it to create something modern yet timeless. It's a masterclass in action scoring, particularly the opening chase sequence.
For me I found Conti's score saccharine and to "nice" for Bond, including the song. Bond always worked best when the music was hard hitting, edgy and unapologetic, Barry and Arnold's work is just that.
Clearly this is just a matter of taste and what we prefer to see in a Bond film. But please don't praise Zimmer when he doesn't even write the stuff you're praising.
Could you enable Spanish subtitles...