People from around the world traveled to London on Saturday to revel in Hans Zimmer’s legendary cinematic masterpieces. Part of the The World of Hans Zimmer – A Symphonic Celebration tour, the concert took place at the SSE Arena in Wembley, which boasted a full house of enthusiastic fans.

Zimmer is one of the very first composers to take the wondrous world of film music out of the cinema and bestow it to the masses, thus propelling his name into the ranks of celebrity rock bands and pop stars. Shining a bright light on the power and timeless beauty of film music, Zimmer demonstrated time and again during his long career that a film score is not necessarily a mere tool that supports a director’s vision, but an art form in its own right, which does not require visual reinforcement.

Even though the composer wasn’t in attendance himself, one could feel the love and reverence abounding in the venue every time he would make an appearance on the screen behind the orchestra. The composer pre-recorded a few messages and interviews with a number of his long-time collaborators in his studio in Santa Monica which were projected onto the screen in between performances.

Ever the humorous and down-to-earth fellow, Zimmer reminisced of various experiences during past collaborations while chatting with the likes of Ron Howard, Nancy Meyers and Lebo M.

The concert featured never-before-heard symphonic arrangements of some of Zimmer’s much-loved pieces. The composer spent months transforming his legendary themes into grand concert suites, and the rich arrangements bear testimony to his hard work.

The performance commenced en-force with a reimagined version of The Dark Knight, building up tension by means of Zimmer’s powerful signature percussion. The strings were briefly caressed by drifting guitar riffs, which were then met by the recognizable and bold brass section.

Having built up momentum and excitement, the programme then proceeded with the marching rhythms of King Arthur. In contrast to the ‘Hans Zimmer Live’ tour, which featured abstract visuals, the audience was able to enjoy projections of film scenes that accompanied the music. The sequences were hand-picked by Zimmer himself and represent scenes that were important to him.

As soon as the orchestra and choir finished performing the King Arthur Orchestra Suite, Zimmer made his first appearance on the screen saying a few words about the tour and introducing his old friend, Gavin Greenaway, who is the conductor leading the Symphony Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre, Belarus on this tour.

The next piece was the suite from Mission Impossible 2, a beloved theme which Zimmer had been asked on numerous occasions to perform live, but was unable to until now, due to the logistical requirements involved. (Did someone say ‘big orchestra?!’)

The romantic solo guitar notes were introduced by the dexterous fingers of Amir John Haddad, who is the extraordinaire guitarist of this tour. Under the masterly direction of Gavin Greenaway’s baton, the musicians were then guided into a passionate orchestral flamenco that drenched the arena in Spanish joie de vivre.

A most gracious Lisa Gerrard made her appearance for the second half of the suite, enshrouding the venue with her distinct dark operatic timbre.

The Pearl Harbour suite took the audience on a 5-minute melancholic journey, only to be contrasted by a somber suite for Rush.

The first half of the show ended with a 20-minute long orchestral suite of The Da Vinci Code. Following a brief appearance on screen together with Ron Howard, Zimmer disclosed that he decided to share his version of The Da Vinci Code with the world. Referring to the piece as his ‘whole sketchbook’, he claims that this was the way he had thought of the story, which is not linear to the script, but does have all his experiments in it.

The suite was divided in four parts, soprano Katharina Melnikova opening the first piece with her angelic voice. A myriad of blue lights revealed the choir which had remained hidden behind the orchestra on a tall scaffolding until then.

The first two parts had a liturgical and familiar, yet somehow otherworldly character to them, suggestive of a Judgement Day trial.

Part three started with a more melancholic feel to it, led by Rusanda Panfili on violin and Marie Spaemann on cello.

The fourth and last piece was a slightly-altered version of Chevaliers De Sangreal, ending part one of the show.

Following a 20-minute long intermission, the programme continued on a cheerful and uplifting tone with an orchestra version of Madagascar’s ‘Best Friends’, the suite from Spirit, an orchestra version of ‘Oogway Ascends’ from Kung Fu Panda, as well as an orchestral suite for The Holiday.

To stay in tune with the concert’s tendency to take the audience on an emotional rollercoaster, the arena suddenly turned scarlet red and Marie Spaemann began performing the theme from Hannibal on cello. The love theme, which was originally written for 28 celli, is recounting the ill-fated love story between Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling.

The programme then proceeded with a suite from The Lion King. According to the composer, the 9-minute composition contained the pieces he wrote about his own experience, which was his father dying when we was very young, and that is what the film was all about for Zimmer. Consequently, it had become a requiem to his father. The piece starts with ‘We Are All Connected,’ journeys through ‘Stampede’ and ‘Mufasa Dies,’ then culminates with Circle of Life.

To the sheer delight of the audience, Lisa Gerrard appeared on stage to sing her iconic pieces in the 3-part suite for Gladiator. She was joined on stage by singer and composer Asja Kadrić for the last part titled ‘We Are Free’. I think it’s safe to say that by the time the two singers finished their performance, every single person in the audience had goosebumps.

‘Time’ from Inception was of course a nice touch. And because no one could hope to replace Zimmer on stage to play his piano, a recording of the composer was projected upon the screen, with the camera rotating around him as he played the tune.

The concert concluded with Pirates of the Caribbean, which saw everyone at the front of stage showcasing their instrumental prowess: Eliane Correa on accordion, Amir John Haddad on guitar, Rusanda Panfili on violin, Marie Spaemann on cello and of course, the one and only Pedro Eustache on flute.

With its rich orchestral arrangements, carefully-curated film sequences and visuals, stellar musicians, and splendid conductor, The World of Hans Zimmer is a delightful symphonic experience in its own right that is not to be missed.

(This article was originally published on SoundTrackFest.com on 9 April, 2019)

Last night brought us together for the premiere live performance of Gavin Greenaway’s new album titled ‘Woven,’ which was launched on February 15.

Hidden away on an uphill North London street, Lauderdale House provided the ideal intimate setting for Gavin’s delicate musical story.

As the fog was slowly settling over Highgate, we made our way into the arts centre and were greeted by the welcoming staff. After about half an hour of conversing with other guests and admiring the beautiful photography adorning the building’s walls, we were lead upstairs towards the Long Gallery where the performance was set to take place.

The dimly lit chamber was dominated by the imposing grand piano, which seemed to hold on to the composer’s most intimate secrets, as only one’s closest confident would.

‘Woven’ is Gavin Greenaway’s highly anticipated second solo album, following his widely acclaimed first album titled ‘Il Falco Bianco’, which was released in May 2016.

After having worked in the music business for about three decades writing and conducting music for other people, the prolific Emmy ® award-winning composer, pianist and conductor felt that he was never spending enough time writing music for himself. And so, as he approached 50, he decided to write something personal. This prompted him to release his first solo album ‘Il Falco Bianco’, followed by ‘Woven’ and, we hope, many more beautiful albums.

After a brief introduction, Greenaway makes his appearance and commences to play ‘A Beginning’, which is the first piece on the album. He takes us on a musical journey through the story of his album, briefly pausing after every piece.

He performs the playful ‘We Danced For Seven’ flawlessly and jokes that the piece which was written in 7/8 time was said to be ‘impossible to play’.

The composer stops for a brief moment after playing ‘Autumn Came So Soon’, letting us know that Side A of the record has ended. He reminisces about the feeling one gets when they need to take a short pause while physically having to get up and flip the vinyl to the other side.

‘Woven’ stems from the composer’s love for the concept album, where one puts a piece of music on and that takes them on a journey for about 45 minutes.

As his album didn’t feature any lyrics, Greenaway contemplated as to how he would tell the story, and thus, decided to tell it through the titles of the pieces.

He wanted the titles to tell the story, but not to be so specific that the listener couldn’t then relate and hear their own story. This is the same reason why he is reticent about saying what his story of a particular piece is. He says that the individual pieces are not as important as the journey it takes you on.

‘Woven’ stems from the composer’s love for the concept album, where one puts a piece of music on and that takes them on a journey for about 45 minutes.

Observing the other guests in the room, it was very clear that Greenaway had been successful in taking each and every guest on their own unique and equally relevant journey.

Greenaway continues his performance with Side B of the album, playing ‘The Fall’, ‘Adrift’, and ‘The Melting’ without taking a break in between. The melancholic ‘The Fall’ transitions into a dreamy ‘Adrift’, and concludes with a mesmerizing ‘The Melting’, much like Autumn falls into Winter, which is then met by Spring, filling the listener’s heart with hope. Watch the beautiful performance of the three pieces below.

For this album, Greenaway used various fabrics and materials to ‘prepare’ his upright piano. All of the sounds on the album, from delicate sustains to unusual percussive timbres, are derived from the piano.

The actual techniques used on this album came about from the composer’s need to give his ears some rest, while still playing loudly. His idea came from the practice pedal found on the upright pianos, which puts a sheet of felt between the strings and the hammers. Greenaway found a piece of felt and tweaked his piano. This resulted in a sound that captivated the composer, which was very soft and had a specific sustain.

One of the techniques used on this album was placing a foam earplug between the strings. The result dampened it all down, creating an almost muted guitar sound. The composer would end up multi-tracking all of the album’s pieces, with some of them having two layers, and others up to seven or eight.

A good example of that is ‘Singing Old Songs’, which you can hear in the video below, in which the composer took three English folk songs and ‘wove’ them together, which is part of the whole concept of the album. It’s the idea of weaving things together and telling a story that is made up of textures and layers. Each of the tunes in this piece has a slightly different treatment.

Naturally, given the techniques used, a live performance would have presented itself with a myriad of challenges. The composer revealed to me after the concert that three weeks ago he wasn’t even thinking about putting together a live performance of ‘Woven’ due to these logistical challenges.

When Greenaway finally decided to put together a live performance, he even contemplated using four different pianos and pianists. In the end, he managed to felt the grand piano found in Lauderdale House just like the upright he used in ‘Woven’. This resulted in a beautiful and successful first performance.

After playing ‘Singing Old Songs’, the composer proceeded by playing ‘We Travelled Far’ and ‘Goodnight My Love’ without pausing.

In an interview Greenaway gave last week, the composer revealed that the slightly Eastern sound and his inspiration for ‘We Travelled Far’ was the Sakura Season in Japan. This piece was originally named ‘Mono No Aware’, literally translated as ‘an empathy toward things’. It is a recognition of beauty and of the fact that things don’t last forever, just as the beautiful blossoms of the cherry tree only last for a short amount of time.

To the joy of the audience, Greenaway ended Friday night’s performance with a well-known piece from ‘Il Falco Bianco’, titled ‘Smoke’.

He concluded by thanking his collaborators and teared up as he thanked his wife for her support. Greenaway lovingly joked that if she doesn’t like a piece, it doesn’t make it onto the album.

After the performance, everyone made their way towards the venue’s café, where a most humble and friendly Gavin Greenaway came to say hello and engaged in conversation with everyone.

The composer revealed that he is in the process of deconstructing the album into the layers and that this is a project that should happen at some point this year. This is definitely something we shall all be looking forward to.

After about an hour we said our goodbyes and walked out into the foggy night, our most recent memories still being drowned in the delicate piano textures that had us travel through space and time, even for just a few brief moments.

‘Woven’ is available for purchase on vinyl, CD and in digital format on a number of music distribution platforms, including the composer’s website. You can purchase your own signed copy of the CD or vinyl from the official store at https://www.musicglue.com/gavingreenaway/

We will see Gavin Greenaway on stage once more on March 23, this time conducting Hans Zimmer’s ‘The World of Hans Zimmer – A Symphonic Celebration’ at the SSE Arena Wembley in London, in a tour that will start on March 17 in Krakow (Poland) (read more).

(This article was originally published on SoundTrackFest.com on 24 February, 2019)