Episode 17: Gladiator

Art of the Score

Nicholas Buc

Education, Tv & Film, Music

5 • 624 Ratings

🗓️ 4 June 2018

⏱️ 108 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the year 2000, the sword-and-sandal epic was revived, with Russell Crowe trebucheted to international stardom as the star of Ridley Scott’s hugely successful film, Gladiator. But fame was also found for Hans Zimmer, today the biggest music man in Hollywood, but who along with Australian composer and singer Lisa Gerrard wrote some of the most influential film music in decades for Gladiator. In Episode 17, we take a look at what makes Zimmer’s sound so pervasive, how Lisa Gerrard’s voice intensifies the film’s emotions, and just where all that strength and honour comes from. Episode notes: 3:02 – Gladiator as the breakthrough Hans Zimmer score 5:09 – Some background on the significance of Gladiator, sword and sandal films, epics, and peplum 14:24 – Hans Zimmer style and the 1990s action film 21:00 – Hans Zimmer and the synth 23:52 – The unusual instrumentation of Gladiator 25:25 – A duduk demonstration 27:10 – The themes of Gladiator – Commodus’ theme 33:15 – The power of Lisa Gerrard’s voice 39:48 – Maximus’ hymn 43:00 – Maximus’ polyrhythms 45:32 – Zimmer’s Vangelis’ moment 48:01 – Once Upon a Time in Ancient Rome 53:11 – The Earth theme – Gladiator’s musical soul 1:00:56 – Lucilla’s theme 1:05:17 – The Gladiator waltz 1:08:15 – A Holst heist? 1:12:34 – Gladiatorial piracy 1:16:41 – The death of an emperor (or, Mozart’s Da Vinci Code) 1:21:02 – To Zuccabar 1:24:00 – Gladiator’s establishing music (and a surprise) 1:29:21 – Zimmer’s answering horns 1:31:43 – The Might of Wagner 1:39:18 – The Hans Zimmer Olympics 1:41:27 – Gladiator’s finale: Now We Are Free We love to hear from our listeners – get in touch via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and if you like The Art of the Score, please take a moment to subscribe, rate and comment.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Art of the Score, the podcast that explores, demystifies and celebrates some of the greatest soundtracks of all time from the world of film,
0:21.3	TV and video games.
0:23.0	I'm Andrew Poxson.
0:24.2	And in each episode, we'll be joined by Daniel Golding and Nicholas Buck,
0:27.7	as we check out a soundtrack we love, break down its main themes,
0:31.3	explore what makes the score tick,
0:33.3	and hopefully impart our love of the world of soundtrans.
0:49.5	Music and hopefully impart our love of the world of sound trends. In episode 17 or episode XVII, we tackle a score from one of the most prolific and sometimes controversial composers of modern cinema, Hans Zimmer, along with Australian composer Lisa Gerard for their score to Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crow.
1:11.2	Ridley Scott's Gladiator not only sparked a revival of the historical epic movie genre,
1:16.4	but it also renewed genuine interest in Roman and classical history
1:20.5	with many authors of historical books referring to the spiking sales as The Gladiator Effect.
1:26.8	For Zimmer and Gerard, it is a score that evokes music from Strangelands,
1:31.5	epic battles, romance, along with grief and betrayal.
1:36.1	And joining me in this musical Coliseum is composer, arranger, orchestrator, conductor,
1:41.8	and man who continues to decline my invitations to join me at
1:45.4	the local Roman baths. It's Nikimus Buxemort. Says Nicholas Barker. How you doing? I'm good. Look,
1:51.6	don't take it personally, Andrew, but my wife doesn't approve. I enjoy a good steam. What can I say?
1:57.8	I don't blame me. I mean, they're great, those Roman baths. Look, it is fantastic that we've finally got to some Han Zimmer.
2:03.5	It is.
2:04.0	He's really up there as a god amongst film music legends these days.
2:08.1	There's no doubt about it.
2:09.8	His influence is profound and wide, and Gladiator is certainly a very important score in his career.
	...

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