Batman Begins (soundtrack)
Batman Begins: Music from the Motion Picture | ||||
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Film score by | ||||
Released | June 14, 2005 | |||
Recorded | December 26, 2004 - March 1, 2005 | |||
Length | 60:26 | |||
Label | Warner Sunset | |||
Batman soundtrack chronology | ||||
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Batman Begins: Music from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack album to Christopher Nolan's 2005 film Batman Begins. It was released on June 15, 2005. The soundtrack drew from the film score, composed by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, as well as contributions by Ramin Djawadi, Lorne Balfe and Mel Wesson.
The main motif of the film (and later of the whole trilogy) consists of just two notes, played by horns and accompanied by strings, representing Batman's pain and guilt.[1]
Batman's main action theme of the film (and later of the whole trilogy) is heard in the track "Molossus".[2]
The score won an award at the
Composition
Director Christopher Nolan originally invited Zimmer to compose the film score, and Zimmer asked the director if he could invite Howard to compose as well, as they had always planned a composers collaboration.[5] The two composers collaborated on separate themes for the "split personality" of Bruce Wayne and his alter ego, Batman. Zimmer and Howard began composing in Los Angeles and moved to London where they stayed for 12 weeks to complete most of their writing.[6] Zimmer and Howard sought inspiration for shaping the score by making set visits to Batman Begins.[7]
Zimmer wanted to avoid composing a film score that had been done before, so the score became an amalgamation of orchestra and electronic music. The film's ninety-piece orchestra[5] was developed from members of various London orchestras, and Zimmer chose to use more than the normal number of cellos. Zimmer enlisted a choir boy to help reflect the music in the film's scene where Bruce Wayne's parents are killed. Zimmer said: "He's singing a fairly pretty tune and then he gets stuck, it's like froze, arrested development". Zimmer also attempted to add human dimension to Batman, whose behavior would typically be seen as "psychotic", through the music. Both composers collaborated to create 2 hours and 20 minutes' worth of music for the film.[7] Zimmer composed the action sequences, while Howard focused on the film's drama.[5]
Critical reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [8] |
Filmtracks | |
Movie Music UK | |
SoundtrackNet |
Reviews of the score were positive. Soundtrack.net, for example, in a review by Matt Scheller, said that "the music complements the visuals flawlessly". He called the main action track, Molossus, the best of the soundtrack. He does admit that the album is heavy on Hans Zimmer's style rather than James Newton Howard's ("I would say 70% Zimmer, 30% Howard"), and that "Hans Zimmer/Media Ventures haters should probably skip this album. His score in the end is four stars out of five".[9]
Movie Music UK was equally positive—Jonathan Broxton claimed that "I personally found that there was a great deal of music in Batman Begins that is hugely enjoyable", specifically complimenting "Howard's exceptionally beautiful string elegy [...] during the opening moments of Eptesicus", a motif that recurs in "the achingly emotional Macrotus and Coryhorinus". He did admit that a lack of strong superhero themes and a complete lack of similarities to Danny Elfman's Batman scores, now considered classics, did make the score "unremittingly downbeat". He also rated the album four out of five.[10]
Christian Clemmensen, sole reviewer of
Easter eggs
- The titles of each of the tracks are taken from the
- The titles of tracks 4 through 9 form an acrostic: Barbastella, Artibeus, Tadarida, Macrotus, Antrozous, and Nycterus all come together to spell "Batman".
Use in other works
This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2007) |
The soundtrack is also often sampled for other superhero-related productions. "Vespertilio" and "Eptesicus" were used in the
Track listing
All music is composed by
Tracks not included within the release of the soundtrack:[14]
- "Folletto!...Folletto" from Mefistofele
Written by Arrigo Boito. Performed by Norman Treigle.
- "Happy Birthday To You"
Written by Mildred J. Hill & Patty S. Hill. Performed by Cavendish String Quartet
- "Divertimento In D"
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Performed by Cavendish String Quartet
Chart positions
Chart (2005) | Peak position |
---|---|
U.S. Billboard 200[15] | 155 |
Top Soundtracks[15] | 8 |
References
- ^ "how hans zimmer composed the batman theme".
- ^ "Batman Begins Soundtrack (2005)". www.soundtrack.net. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
- ^ "ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards (2006)". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
- ^ "saturn awards 2006 - nominations". IMDb.
- ^ a b c Danny Graydon (July 2005). "A Little Knight Music". Empire. p. 87.
- ^ Spence D (2005-06-10). "Batman Vs. Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard Part 1". IGN. Archived from the original on 4 November 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-01.
- ^ a b Spence D (2005-06-13). "Batman Vs. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard Part 2". IGN. Archived from the original on 2006-11-04. Retrieved 2006-12-01.
- ^ AllMusic review
- ^ Matt Scheller (2005-06-27). "SoundtrackNet review". Soundtrack.net. Archived from the original on 31 December 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
- ^ Jonathan Broxton – "Movie Music UK - Batman Begins - Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard"
- ^ "Christian Clemmensen – "Filmtracks: Batman Begins (Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard"". Filmtracks.com. 2005-06-14. Archived from the original on 22 November 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
- ^ "Batman Begins Soundtrack (2005)". SoundtrackNet. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
- ^ SoundtrackNet. Archivedfrom the original on 22 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
- ^ Batman Begins End Credits
- ^ AllMusic. Retrieved 2010-05-23.