Hans Zimmer, Scoring Big with 'Da Vinci'

By Liane Hansen

Published May 14, 2006 at 3:34 PM EDT

You can't see the big-screen version of The Da Vinci Code for a few more days. But composer Hans Zimmer's score is already out on CD, and the music sets a tone that is both suspenseful and brimming with emotion.

Zimmer is a cinema powerhouse. His past work includes Gladiator, The Thin Red Line, Batman Begins and The Lion King. The latter won him an Academy Award. He last collaborated with Da Vinci Code director Ron Howard on the movie Backdraft.

Writing the score for what might be the most-awaited film of the year required a delicate balance. The result is reflective, but rises to the occasion for action-packed sequences.

Zimmer talks with Liane Hansen about the composition process, writing electronic versus orchestral scores and the future of film music.

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Liane Hansen

Liane Hansen has been the host of NPR's award-winning Weekend Edition Sunday for 20 years. She brings to her position an extensive background in broadcast journalism, including work as a radio producer, reporter, and on-air host at both the local and national level. The program has covered such breaking news stories as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the capture of Saddam Hussein, the deaths of Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy, Jr., and the Columbia shuttle tragedy. In 2004, Liane was granted an exclusive interview with former weapons inspector David Kay prior to his report on the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The show also won the James Beard award for best radio program on food for a report on SPAM.