Anyone who really knows me knows that I love John Williams. (For those of you who don’t know who John Williams is, he composed the music for the Star Wars saga, Indiana Jones series, and many others.)
Until I was a teenager, I didn’t really listen to music unless my older sisters or my parents were listening to it. I guess that’s fairly normal since most kids don’t start getting into music until the end of elementary school or the beginning of junior high. Anyway, when I was in the 7th grade, I was introduced to and became obsessed with The New Kids on the Block. Their music was the only music I listened to on my own. Their popularity didn’t last long, however, and even though I still loved them (in secret), I stopped listening to them when I was in the 9th grade. (I even threw away all my albums.)
After I stopped listening to NKOTB, I went back to my old ways of not listening to music … until I saw Jurassic Park. When I saw Jurassic Park, it had a very profound effect on me. First, it was the first scary movie, in who knows how long, that didn’t give me nightmares. Second, I absolutely fell in love with the music. The Jurassic Park soundtrack became the first of many soundtracks I own.
Even before hearing the music in Jurassic Park for the first time, I had loved music composed by John Williams. I had been raised with his music in my ears practically from birth as most of my family are huge Spielberg/Lucas/Williams fans. I just didn’t pay as much attention to his music until I saw Jurassic Park.
John Williams will always hold a very special place in my heart. But, another composer’s music is beginning to touch my soul more than Williams’s. Every time I listen to this composer’s music, I experience an extreme emotional response that tugs at my heart strings. I feel more connected to it than I ever did with Williams’s music (other than the music from Schindler’s List). I think this music touches me so profoundly because it’s normally written in the minor key and I love the minor key more than any other key in music.
The composer I’m talking about is Hans Zimmer. I first heard his music when I watched The Lion King. Even then I was hooked, I just didn’t know by how much. It wasn’t until recently I discovered the emotional response I feel when I listen to his music. Gladiator and The Last Samurai soundtracks are two of my favorites. I also enjoy the soundtracks to all three Pirates of the Caribbean movies (although the first Pirates movie score was composed by Klaus Badelt and only produced by Zimmer, but I’m sure he had some influence), Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight. The music from Sherlock Holmes is a lot of fun too.
James Horner (composer of Titanic and A Beautiful Mind) has always been on the verge of surpassing my fondness for John Williams, but he has never quite done it. I could always say that I loved Williams’s music more. With Zimmer, that’s no longer the case and it seems weird to me to admit that I like another composer’s music better than Williams’s. Fortunately for me, in this instance, I can have my cake and eat it too.
