For decades, Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer has been something of a rock star. In 2017, at the insistence of his friends Pharrell Williams and Johnny Marr, he finally started to embrace it.
“Pharrell and Johnny were right. They told me: ‘Hans, eventually you have to stop hiding behind a screen. You have to stand in front of people. Look people in the eye, and it’s going to be OK,’” Zimmer says.
That year, Zimmer created a live experience that would set the course for the next stage of his life, a course that has brought him to Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena for two shows on Friday and Saturday.
At Coachella 2017, he performed a medley of some of his best-known film compositions, including those for Gladiator, The Dark Knight, Inception and The Lion King. The moment was revelatory in more ways than one.
For the tens of thousands in attendance and those streaming the show across the world, it cemented importance of film scores in modern-day culture, and their ability to maintain that power in a completely different setting.
For Zimmer, he finally got over a fear he had quietly held for years.
“It was astonishing to watch 80,000 grown men and women get emotional. I thought bringing an orchestra and a choir out to the desert seemed like a fun thing to do, but it was something extraordinary,” says Zimmer.
“I always have stage fright, but not at Coachella. I just walked out there. Our lights weren’t working, I could hear the engineers freaking out – they couldn’t find the plug for their lives. I just said, ‘I don’t care – I’m going on stage now. It’s a complete shambles out there but I don’t care if it’s a shambles – I’m going to embrace it.”
The most emotional moment for many was when Zimmer played sections from The Lion King – perhaps his most enduring composition.
That arrangement is on his mind again lately – not only because he plays it at each live performance, but because he is once again stepping into that world, teaming up with his friend Pharrell Williams for the upcoming prequel, Mufasa: The Lion King, headed to cinema in December.
The reason that music remains so powerful in any setting, Zimmer believes, is that the emotions behind it were real.
“It wasn’t written because of an Oscar. It wasn’t written because of the money. It wasn’t written for fame and fortune or any of those things. IT was written because I wanted to take my daughter to a premiere and show off as a dad, and suddenly found myself writing about something really serious,” says Zimmer.
The serious aspect, Zimmer says, caught him “somewhat unaware” he says, back in 1994.
“The movie was about death and dying – it was about a father dying, and how a son dealt with it,” says Zimmer.
“And I hadn’t realised that, even though my father died when I was six years old, I had never dealt with it.
“Children excel at how to compartmentalise their emotions – tuck things away and build walls. But this story became a bridge over those walls. I ended up writing a requiem for my father,” Zimmer continues.
That is precisely why, apart from key snippets such as the famed opening vocal ode, the music takes more inspiration from European musical traditions than African ones.
Well, one of the reasons. “I wasn’t going to commit cultural imperialism!” Zimmer notes.
“I said to them I’m going to write this for my father. I’m going to write completely European, and we’re going to go to Africa, and I’m going to throw these notes at you, and let’s see what happens when these two cultures collide. Maybe something new comes out of it.”
In Zimmer’s view, while films may be, as the critic Roger Ebert often noted, empathy machines, music is integral to the medium because it brings to the fore so much of the raw emotion hiding beneath the surface.
“I’m painfully aware of that at all times – aware of not manipulating. My music should feel like a door opening, and once that’s open, there’s a possibility to feel something – to experience empathy.
“But what’s important to understand that music is an autonomous language,” Zimmer says.
For him, it is the language of emotion.
“Let me give you an example,” he says. “This happens a lot between my girlfriend and me. We’re in the middle of a conversation, and suddenly I run out of words, and so I go to the piano and I start playing something, because I can express myself better that way.
"It’s especially effective because music is the only language that unites all of humanity.
“That’s especially useful for me because it can be hard to communicate. I’m already speaking a foreign language most of the time. I’m German originally, and there’s so many expressions that don’t exist in English. In German, you’re invested in everything all the time, so the words are very precise. Sometimes I can’t say what I need to say in English, so music helps get me there,” he says.
Music and film are both powerful tools to bridge cultures, Zimmer notes. That’s why he has invested himself in both. And the way that he sees it, it is the international diversity of film that has always made it such a powerful medium.
“If we look back, so many of the contributors to early film were refugees from Nazi Germany, or European immigrants more broadly. Cultures collided, and that brought something special,” Zimmer notes.
“Now, we have a multitude of voices contributing to film from across the world – from the Middle East as well. Now we’re suddenly all allowed to be part of this wild culture, and that’s really a great thing.
“I love that I’m in a world of dreamers.”
Hans Zimmer is set to perform at Dubai's Coca-Cola Arena on Friday and Saturday. Tickets are available at www.coca-cola-arena.com
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RESULTS - ELITE MEN
1. Henri Schoeman (RSA) 57:03
2. Mario Mola (ESP) 57:09
3. Vincent Luis (FRA) 57:25
4. Leo Bergere (FRA)57:34
5. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS) 57:40
6. Joao Silva (POR) 57:45
7. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 57:56
8. Adrien Briffod (SUI) 57:57
9. Gustav Iden (NOR) 57:58
10. Richard Murray (RSA) 57:59
More coverage from the Future Forum
Arabian Gulf Cup FINAL
Al Nasr 2
(Negredo 1, Tozo 50)
Shabab Al Ahli 1
(Jaber 13)
RESULT
Leeds United 1 Manchester City 1
Leeds: Rodrigo (59')
Man City: Sterling (17')
Man of the Match: Rodrigo Moreno (Leeds)
6.30pm Meydan Classic Trial US$100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
Winner Bella Fever, Dane O’Neill (jockey), Mike de Kock (trainer).
7.05pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Woven, Harry Bentley, David Simcock.
7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas Group Three $250,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner Fore Left, William Buick, Doug O’Neill.
8.15pm Dubai Sprint Listed Handicap $175,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner Rusumaat, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi.
8.50pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 Group Two $450,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner Benbatl, Christophe Soumillon, Saeed bin Suroor.
9.25pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner Art Du Val, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
10pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Beyond Reason, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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'Nope'
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jordan%20Peele%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Daniel%20Kaluuya%2C%20Keke%20Palmer%2C%20Brandon%20Perea%2C%20Steven%20Yeun%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Zayed Sustainability Prize
RESULTS
6.30pm: Longines Conquest Classic Dh150,000 Maiden 1,200m.
Winner: Halima Hatun, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ismail Mohammed (trainer).
7.05pm: Longines Gents La Grande Classique Dh155,000 Handicap 1,200m.
Winner: Moosir, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson.
7.40pm: Longines Equestrian Collection Dh150,000 Maiden 1,600m.
Winner: Mazeed, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
8.15pm: Longines Gents Master Collection Dh175,000 Handicap.
Winner: Thegreatcollection, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
8.50pm: Longines Ladies Master Collection Dh225,000 Conditions 1,600m.
Winner: Cosmo Charlie, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
9.25pm: Longines Ladies La Grande Classique Dh155,000 Handicap 1,600m.
Winner: Secret Trade, Tadhg O’Shea, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
10pm: Longines Moon Phase Master Collection Dh170,000 Handicap 2,000m.
Winner:
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
'Cheb%20Khaled'
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 217hp at 5,750rpm
Torque: 300Nm at 1,900rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh130,000
On sale: now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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