Though it’s been known for a while now and pretty much expected, back in May it was confirmed that Hans Zimmer would once again reteam with Christopher Nolan for his currently filming “The Dark Knight Rises.” The interesting bit was that James Newton Howard — who worked with Zimmer on “The Dark Knight” — was not returning to the fold, but that Zimmer was striking out on his own as he did for “Inception.” Of course details surrounding the film remain tight and even trying to get a composer to describe his score this early in the game usually leads to ambiguous descriptions — Zimmer told MTV earlier this year that it will be “epic” and “iconic” — but it seems he’s opening up a tiny bit more.
Speaking with the BBC he revealed, “I’ve been listening to a lot of Verdi lately. And Alison Goldfrapp, and a lot of electronica as I’m heading into ‘Dark Knight’ territory again.”
Hardly breathtaking, but still interesting to note. Electronica has clearly played a huge influence on his previous efforts for Nolan, with the work for “Inception” and “The Dark Knight Rises” bearing the stamp of non-traditional elements. The hat tip to Verdi, the Romantic composer famed for his operas, makes sense in the brooding scores Zimmer has created for Nolan thus far that swing to more traditional structures when the films have called for straight ahead emotional moments as evidenced in pieces like “Time” for “Inception” and “Blood On My Hands” for “The Dark Knight.” As for Goldfrapp, don’t be worried that Zimmer is going pop, as our guess is that he’s listening to the production of the synth based act — who have mixed ambient, folk, pop and other influences into their sound — for inspiration and ideas rather than trying to figure out how to work “Strict Machine” into the score.
Zimmer certainly enjoys seeking out new paths. Earlier this year he teamed with the celebrated Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela on the score for “Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” and with ‘Rises’ it seems he’s continuing to draw on a wider than usual well of influences. Still lots of time to go though, as “The Dark Knight Rises” is still a year away, hitting theaters on July 20, 2012.