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Edited Text
Anže Rozman
Master’s degree culminating experience
Soundtrack Analysis of thematic material
Gladiator (2000)
Extended edition
Valencia (Spain), 10th July 2014
Student: Anže Rozman
Program: Master’s of Scoring for film, Tv and Video Games
Mentors: Lucio Godoy, Alfons Conde
Institution: Berklee College of Music, Valencia
Address: Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía – Anexo Sur,
Av Profesor Lopez Piñeiro, 1,
46013 Valencia, Spain
Table of Content
Introduction
...........................................................................................................................................
4
1.
Important information
...............................................................................................................
4
2.
Synopsis
.........................................................................................................................................
6
3.
Broad view on the overall score
...........................................................................................
8
4.
Broad Theme analysis
............................................................................................................
10
5.
Overture
........................................................................................................................................
11
6. Use of thematic material
...........................................................................................................
15
1.Maximus
.......................................................................................................................................................
15
2.Commodus
.................................................................................................................................................
18
3.Battle Themes and motifs
.....................................................................................................................
21
4.Other thematic material
.........................................................................................................................
24
7. Conclusion
......................................................................................................................................
25
8. Phone Call with Hans Zimmer
.................................................................................................
27
9. Cue Sheet
........................................................................................................................................
28
10. List of references:
......................................................................................................................
31
Introduction
When I was 11 years old, Gladiator came out into the cinemas. I remember go
watching it with my brother and father and it immediately became one of my favorite
movies. The soundtrack of Gladiator was the first ever soundtrack CD I have ever
bought (I bought it as a present for my brother). Since then, I have listened to the
soundtrack many times and watched the movie over 10 times, yet I am always
impressed and am struck by, how it makes me emotional even after seeing it so many
times.
Part of the success of the movie is definitely in its music. In this analysis I will try to
uncover the emotional content of the thematic material and how the thematic relates to
the picture and how it is used, to get the most out of the film’s dramaturgy.
1. Important information
Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: David Franzoni
John Logan
William Nicholson
Actors:
Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Ralf Möller, Oliver
Reed, Djimon Hounsou, Derek Jacobi, John Shrapnel, and Richard Harris.
Producer: Douglas Wick
Production house and Distribution: Universal Pictures, DreamWorks
Music by: Hans Zimmer
Lisa Gerrard (Additional music)
Klaus Badelt (Additional music)
Orchestra recorded at: Air Lyndhurst Studios
Orchestra Conducted by: Gavin Greenaway
Music production: Alan Mayerson and Hans Zimmer
Musicians: Air Lyndhurst Orchestra
Djivan Gasparyan-duduk, Jeff Rona-flute (gamshorn(,Tony Pleeth-cello. Lisa Gerrardvocals & Yan Ching, Heitor Pereira-guitar
Soundtrack released by: Universal, Decca
Movie release date: May 5th 2000
Runtime: 2h 43min
Production Budget: $103 million
Box office in first weekend: $34,819,017
Total box office: $187,705,427
Released in the United States on May 5, 2000, Gladiator was a box office success
earning, receiving positive reviews, and was credited with rekindling interest in the
historical epic. The film was nominated for and won multiple awards, notably five
Academy Awards in the 73rd Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor
for Crowe. The Score won the Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award 2000,
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award 2001, ASCAP Film and Television
Music Award 2001, Golden Globes Award 2001. The album won the Golden Globe
Award for Best Original Score and was also nominated for the Academy Award and
BAFTA Award for Best Score ("Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music"). The score was
also nominated for the Grammy award, Online Film Critics Society Award, Chicago
Film Critics Association Award 2001, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy &
Horror Films, USA 2001, ARIA Music Award 2001, BAFTA Award 2001.The original
soundtrack album was a huge success for Universal and Decca, selling platinum in
sales and prompting multiple album releases in the future. The Gladiator score goes
without saying among Star Wars, Titanic & Lord of the Rings as one of the most
important in the modern age of soundtracks, bringing recognition to the genre of
soundtrack music to the masses and has influenced many young composers of our
generation.
2. Synopsis
Crowe plays the fictional character who was a family man and farmer from Spain, yet
becomes a loyal Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius, who is betrayed when the
emperor Marcus Aurelius's ambitious son, Commodus, murders his father and seizes
the throne and orders the execution of Maximus, since Marcus Aurelius was very fond
of Maximus and wanted to crown him the next Emperor. Maximus manages to escape
his death but discovers, that Commodus killed his son and wife and burnt his farmland.
Wounded and emotionally drained, Maximus collapse in front of his brunt corpses and
house of his family.
A Moroccan merchant and ex-gladiator Proximo takes him as a slave and makes him
fight as a gladiator. With his army skills he ends up winning several fights in the small
Moroccan gladiator arena. As a new Emperor Commodus re-opens the Roman
Coliseums for months of gladiator games. Proximo takes his best gladiators to Rome to
fight in the big Roman Coliseums. Because of Maximus’s superior fighting and
leadership skills, Proximo’s gladiators win their first match in the Colosseum as the
Barbarian Horde. Maximus instantly wins the loyalty of the crowd (the mob as it is called
in the film by the roman senators). Commodus now wants to meet the new gladiator
celebrity and is shocked to realize it is Maximus. Commodus yearns to kill Maximus on
the spot, yet he cannot because doing so would cause the watching crowd to see him
as merciless and develop distaste for his leadership, since the crowd loves Maximus.
He makes Maximus fight in the arena again against Tigris of Gaul, a former champion
gladiator who has never been defeated and thus earned his freedom. Tigris was joined
in the area by the Coliseums staff who unleashed hungry tigers upon Maximus. Against
all odds, Maximus won the match and decided to spare Tigris’s life defying the will of
Commodus, yet again and winning even more appreciation from the crowd who now
called him “Maximus the Merciful”.
Maximus is then escorted back to the gladiator's quarters; his former servant Cicero
approaches him and says that Maximus still has the loyalty of his army. Commodus's
sister Lucilla and the senator Gracchus secure a meeting with Maximus, and Maximus
obtains their consent to rejoin his army, topple Commodus by force, and hand power
over to the senate. Commodus, however, suspects a plot against him, and forces Lucilla
to confess it by threatening to kill her son. Maximus is captured. Commodus decides to
fight Maximus in the arena himself and thus restore his glory as an emperor. Before the
match he wounds Maximus with a dagger, so he would have an advantage in the fight.
Despite the odds of Maximus being week, delirious and wounded, he still manages to
kills Commodus, yet falls to the ground fatally wounded himself. In his last breaths,
Maximus gives power back to the senate.
3. Broad view on the overall score
It is well known, that Hans Zimmer was one of the pioneers of synth programming
and using sampling techniques and samplers in the creation of film scores. He is known
for his hybrid sound (combining live orchestra and other instruments with samplers and
synthesizers), which he has been perfecting throughout his career that contributed to
his worldwide success. As Zimmer states in his interview about Gladiator’s score with
Ian Lace fir the Film Music on the Web: “I have to say that I did not want to turn into a
musical anthropologist, to research ancient Roman music [as Miklos Rozsa did for his
Ben-Hur and Quo Vadis scores]. But at the same time I wanted to have a sound that
was not contemporary to today.” We can see, that Zimmer made a conscious choice of
creating a sound for this movie, which would transfer the viewer of the film to the
Roman times. With the extensive use of the German medieval instrument the
gamshorn, which plays the Progeny theme (T1), the more then 3000year old Armenian
instrument Duduk, played by master duduk player Djivan Gasparyan, a very rare
dulcimer-like hammered string instrument Yang Ching, performed by Lisa Gerrard,
Lisa’s beautiful eternal-ethnic like vocals with a combination of solo cello, trumpet,
orchestra, ethnic Arabic percussions, synth percussions and synth apreggiators, pads
and stabs, Zimmer achieved in creating a very fresh sound that evokes the past, yet is
very modern and emotional. Zimmer point out in his interview with Ian Lace: “World
music has become the "in-thing" just now but I believe I have contrasted that sound
fairly well with the use of such an enormous orchestra. I've always wanted to write for
Djivan Gasparyan. I think he is one of the most amazing musicians in the world. He
creates a sound that has a lonely yet haunting quality and is thousands of years old ageless.” Many music critics argue, that Zimmer should have approached the score
from a more accurate historical representation of the music the ancient Romans used,
yet I disagree with the critics in this point, since film music is not always supposed to
accurately represent the time and era the film portrays, but is more of a 3 person
narrator of the story, emotions and scenery. Gladiator’s score is pure of emotion and
drama and it engulfs the viewer into the picture and, in my opinion, blends perfectly with
the way the film is shot and the colors of the picture. In an interview about Gladiator’s
soundtrack, Ridley Scott says: “The music puts on a fourth dimension. The music plays
what you cannot see, the music plays when you are in the room it plays the world
around you, outside, and the environment outside and the world you have entered.”
Zimmer and his crew have thus created a new dimension for the film. Zimmer also
stated in an interview: “It felt like such a boy’s movie and my ambition was to make it
romantic. To have not a single women get out of her seat or be bored or be put off by it.
Contextualize in a way the violence of the story through the music. So It is not just
blood, guts and gore, because it is exciting, but actually make it a very much part of this
idea of the simple man, the farmer, who looses his family, who looses his voice. He
does not hardly speak in the second act. Thus the music has to speak for him. I
managed too tell a story without getting caught at it, I managed to keep things emotional
in its own way and I managed to contain the heroics and not make them just cheap
heroics.” This score could have easily turned out completely different if Zimmer and
Ridley would have decided to take an alternative, less romantic and more action
approach on the score. But we must know, that Gladiator is primarily not an action
movie, but a fictional historic drama. I believe that Zimmer’s choice in what way to
compose the music had a big impact on the big success the movie had around the
world.
4. Broad Theme analysis
In Gladiator we find 16 different themes and motives 11 different motives most of
which are reoccurring. It is hard to point out which theme is “the overall main theme”,
but the Earth theme (as named by Zimmer and Ridley themselves), which is related to
the protagonist Maximus is definitely most prominent and important for the protagonist.
As Zimmer states in an interview with John Pattyson: “The thing that became the main
theme, Lisa kept calling it the "Earth Theme". The first time I played it to her, she
absolutely got what I was going after, which is actually this very, very beautiful theme.
But I can turn it on its head, and before a battle scene hear it down in the basses, and
it's very threatening. And at the same time it becomes the kiss. It becomes the figurines.
It becomes the thing about family. But it really is about this personal life of this
character. And what was fun was to take this very humble theme and turn it into a
thousand different emotions just the way it would be. Really, it's about danger. At the
same time it's about peace.”
The different themes in Gladiator have a role of emphasizing the emotional context of
the drama. As contrast to the very emotional themes like the Earth theme (which is
divided in to two sections) we have many battle, heroic and action motifs and themes.
In the next section I will dive more deep into the analysis of the Earth theme
throughout the movie. But first lets look at the 12min long intro od the film. Why this is
important I will explain later on.
5. Overture
Note: I divided thematic material on themes and motives. I put thematic material under themes, if the material is usually played in its
full length and motives as material, that is often changed and is not necessarily played in its whole length.
The first 14min of the film is almost like a musical overture to the whole score. Zimmer
showcases the main thematic material and sets the mood for the film. I am going to give
an in-depth analysis of this overture since the themes and motives are so well
transmitted. Analyzing this first segment is very important, so we can then look at the
themes used here further on in the movie and see how they transform. The score starts
with the T1 (Progeny theme) *next chapter of sheet music* which is played by a medieval wind
instrument, made out mounting goat horn, called the Gamshorn. It sets the tone of the
movie perfectly since we are immediately transported to a different time and we sense,
that this is not going to be a typical action movie. The theme is simple yet very
emotional and dark. T1 is later on in the film used mostly for Commodus.
T1 transforms into T8 (Commodus theme), which is one of the main themes for
Commodus and his sinister nature. The film is called Gladiator, yet Zimmer decided to
start the movie with the two themes, that are mainly related to Commodus. The music
then goes into M6 (which I call the rhetoric theme), that is played by what sounds like 2
delayed acoustic guitars with beautiful duduk improvisations on top and strings bourdon.
Again Zimmer transports us back in time. The next theme we hear is T2 (Wheat theme)
beautifully sung by Lisa Gerrard, that overlays images of a hand touching fields of
wheat. We also hear children singing in the background and we get a sense of nostalgia
and calmness. The wheat fields give way to an image of the face of Maximus. Acoustic
guitars start playing M5 again while Lisa is still singing the T2. This glues both images
together and we know, the hand we saw in the golden wheat fields was Maximus’s.
Maximus rides of onto the battlefield with his horse and we hear the epic T3 (Maximus
theme) in the horns, which are accompaniment with choirs, strings and strumming
guitars. We finally get both sides of the Maximus character; He is a farmer at heart (T2)
yet a general in the roman army (T3). At 00:04:10 the mood changes when the
barbarians start screaming chants. We hear the guitar danger motif (M4). At 00:05:00
we see a very important scene in the movie, that repeats several times in different
contexts; Maximus bends down, picks up some soil and smells it. We here T6 (Earth
theme B) playing slowly in the cello and the bases in a very ominous nature. This is
what Hans Zimmer says about this scene in the interview “Making of Gladiator”. Zimmer
visited Ridley on the shooting of the beginning battle scene in England, before he starter
writing the score. Quote: “I remember sitting there with Ridley in this muddy field.
Because I had suddenly been shifted from the 20th century to somewhere else, I
remember reaching down and taking up a clump of earth and sort of, suddenly I was in
the movie.” At 00:05:52 after Maximus says: “Strengths and honor” and prepares his
troops for battle we hear a short brass stab, followed by M1 (battle motif1) starts playing
on acoustic guitar followed by staccato strings. M1 follows by M2 in the brass and
orchestra. Maximus rallies his horseman in the forest and has a speech, while variations
of M1 play in the background. When Maximus finishes his famous speech, that ends on:
“What we do in life, echoes in eternity”, the images shifts to the archers preparing for
battle and a augmented variation of M1 plays in the low brass and strings (M1,1). We
see images of soldiers loading up catapults and the heroic T6 plays in the brass, giving
us a sense of power of the Roman legion. The catapults are loaded and the music
becomes more calm and creates a feeling of anxiousness and suspense. We hear T14
playing in the basses while the trumpets are playing M8 (Mars motif), which immediately
reminds us of Holts’s Mars – The Bringer of War (more about this subject later). At
00:07:40 we see the roman horseman slowly starting to movie in the forest, while
archers strain their bows on the battle field. We hear M1 to start to play again in the
strings. At 00:07:48 the catapults release their fiery charges and M1.1 plays in brass
while M1 goes on in the strings. After we hear yet another variation on M1 in staccato
brass while WW and Strings provide marccato accented stabs. 00:07:55 we here M9
play for the first times. While some barbarians get killed in the onslaught of catapults
and arrows, they still chant and cheer as-though nothing has happened. At 00:08:15
Zimmer plays us an augmented version of the ominous M2, to let us know, that the
Barbarian horde is still strong and that the battle is far from over. While M2 plays with an
accompaniment of M7 in the trumpets, the legion foot troops finally movie into action,
while catapults and anchors are still blasting away at the Barbarians. At 00:08:44 we
get an image of Maximus and his horseman galloping through the woods towards the
Barbarians. Maximus screams: “Hold the line!” to rally his troops together. Zimmer
enhances this scene with his very characteristic “Zimmeresc” T7 (Heroic theme – one
of the most notable themes from Gladiator) in the brass and strings. The Barbarians and
and Romans finally start to fight sword on sword and in 00:09:21 we hear the M2 motif
playing again now in an even bigger orchestration with trumpets doubling the horns in
octaves. At 00:09:25 we see Maximus’s dog jump through the fire, followed by Maximus
and his troops. The music transforms in to a marccato and syncopated version of M1.
This was a very wise decision from Zimmer’s side, since although we have a lot of SFX
playing (explosions, swords, other war noises) the music cuts through the mix very well
with its stab-like nature. The orchestration is full powerful. At 00:09:46 we see the
Barbarian leader killing Roman soldiers and Zimmer accompaniments him with the
ominous M6 motive in the strings, while the brass keeps on playing shorts stabs. We
see Maximus on his warhorse galloping into the battle at 00:09:56 and the orchestra
starts playing M2 again for a couple of seconds. Maximus get hit and falls of his horse
and M8 starts playing in the low brass with trumpets blasting away M7. This gets
followed by a big percussion section, that rises up from p – mf, while Maximus lies on
the flore and fights a Barbarian. This section feals almost like it was edited in, since it
kind of creeply and wierdly fades in. It is followed by M6 in the strings. At 00:10:26
Maximus almost sticks a sword into a friendly soldier and Zimmer enchances this
moment with an augmented and sustained version of M2 in brass, strings and choir. At
00:10:28 we see the Barbarian leader still alive all well and fighting. The theat of the
Barbarians winning is still there so Zimmer uses M8 again in fortissimo brass with M8 in
the trumpets. At 00:10:43 Maximus get attacket and thrown on the floor yet again, by a
burning solider and we hear M6 in the strings, with brass stabs and rythmic percussion
ensamble. Maximus gets saved by a friendly horseman and at 00:11:00 and the
dramatic music gives way to slowmotion shots with the Victory theme (T15) playing. The
slow adagio music with warm strings really gives a great mood to the filmography and
edits. The cue finally ends at 00:12:25 and gives way to the sound of the approaching
carrige of Commodus and his sister.
As we see the first cue, that is 12min 25s long really has an imense amount of
thematic and motivic material in it (Tl, T2, T3, T5, T6, T7, T14, T15, M1, M1.1,M2,M4,
M5, M7, M8, M9). What is curios is, that the T4 (Earth theme A) does not apear in the
overture. T5 (Earth theme B) does, but only in an augmented form and in the low
register. Zimmer thus sets a pallet of themes for the movie, that he can use in later
scenes, yet he leaves room for important new material, that he can show and use later
on in the movie and so create contrast.
6. Use of thematic material
1.Maximus
As the protagonist Maximus has a lot of thematic material, which is linked specifically
to him, yet is often use with association with other characters as well.
T2 (Wheat theme) is used in context with his family and nostalgia for his lost homeland.
It is linked to Maximus as a farmer and humble man.
T3 is used to describe the solider and heroic side of Maximus. We first hear it at
0:02:45, when we first see Maximus. T3 and T2 act as contrast to each-other and show
us both sides of Maximus.
T4 and T5 (both themes, that make the overall Earth Theme) are also closely linked to
Maximus and his nature.
T4 is a loving theme, that is first linked to Marcus Aurelius, yet later on translates to
Maximus’s affection towards Aurelius and his affection to Lucilla. We Later on hear the
theme play when Lucilla and Maximus first talk. It is used to enhance the emotional
context, when Maximus talks about his family. It also appears in Cue 37 when Lucilla
comes visit Maximus in his cell. The theme is pure and soft. It has a very strong tonal
c0enter and thus gives us a feeling of security.
T5 describes all the qualities that Maximus has; He is a leader, he is a farmer, father,
husband; he is focused and has a good heart. He is heroic yet can be gentle and loving.
We hear T5 in 9 different cues. T5 slowly evolves and is not heard in its full glory till Cue
35. We first very subtly hear T5 in Cue1 in the low strings when Maximus picks up and
smells soil on the battlefield. Later it appears in Cue7 when we for the first time hear the
whole Earth Theme together (T4/T5). T5 is often used in the low strings in an
augmented version to create tension. We hear the theme in its full glory and fully
orchestrated in Cue 35, when Maximus wins the first battle in the Roman Coliseum. It is
great how Zimmer gives us the theme before Cue35 in less orchestrated versions, so
the full orchestral version in Cue 35 gives a even bigger sense on the importance of the
scene. We also here T5 in a soft orchestration and adagio tempo in Cue48 to portray
Maximus’s love towards Lucilla. We last hear T5 as the final (Cue53) in the film in a
majestic, magical orchestration to portray the importance of the ending of the film and
Maximus’s sacrifice.
We see that T5 shows many different faces and is used to its full potential in the score.
The use of acoustic guitar is also linked to Maximus’s since he is Spaniard, and the
acoustic guitar is very common in Spanish flamenco and music.
M4,M5,M6 We have a few motifs (M4,M5,M6) which are often played by the acoustic
guitar in various relations towards Maximus. M4 is a motif used for anticipation of
“something is going to happen”, M4 is used in the film only twice and has a calm nature
to it, M6 is used for senses related with danger. M4 and M6 are heard often in Cue1 and
other battle scenes. M6 is hear for the first time in Cue2 when Marcus Aurelius talks to
Maximus. It is used again in Cue6 when Cesar asks Maximus to become the next
Cesar, when he passes away.
Acoustic guitar Is used extensively from Cue10 – Cue 13, when Maximus is galloping
home to save his family, to portray him coming closer to his homeland.
2.Commodus
Commodus has several themes, that are distinctively his (T1, T8, T10, T11, T12 , T13).
T1 - Curiously the whole movie starts with the T1, which stated before, is played by a
medieval instrument gamshorn. What is also interesting is, that T1 appears in the score
exactly 9 nice cues, which is the exact number of cues in which T5 (Earth theme B)
appears. Zimmer thus gives almost the same amount of attention to both of the themes
linked to the antagonist and protagonist. In contrast to T5, which evolves in
orchestration and develops slowly through the film, T1 stays pretty constant and uses
similar orchestration throughout. It is usually combined with long sustained string
bourdon notes, voices and the dulcimer like instrument yan ching. The theme usually
played by gamshorn, but in some cues the violins play it in a slightly augmented
version. Yet the theme itself is very simple, in my opinion, it is the most emotional theme
of the film. It really portrays and catches the essence of the personality of Commodus.
Commodus is a character, that just wants to be loved and approved of and the audience
cannot help but feel pity for him. As a viewer of the film, you feel sorry for him, yet you
are scared of him and hate him at the same time. T1 helps with this a lot, since the
theme itself is very pure and soft, but still it evokes fear and uncertainty.
T8 is the next most important theme for Commodus. It is often used after the pure and
soft T1. T8 is primarily played by cello solo or the cello section with no real big
orchestration. It portrays the pure evil side of Commodus. It enhances the scary and
eerie side of T1 with its haunting nature. As T1, we also hear T8 it appear in 9 cues and
this just confirms that Zimmer is showing the same amount of attention to both main
characters.
T10 I named Commodus’s power theme although it first appears in cue 14 together
with T8 (the Maroccan theme). This is strange, since this scene has nothing to do with
Commodus. Maybe Zimmer was trying to add subtext saying, that Maximus is in the
position he is in at the time because of Commodus. T10 really strikes deep in Cue35,
one of the most emotional parts of the film, when Maximus reveals himself to
Commodus as the gladiator. We hear T10 in the low strings right before Maximus turns
to Commodus without his helmet. I believe the T10 is hear meant to portray the anger
Commodus has towards Maximus, since Maximus turned his back on him and you
should never turn your back towards the Cesar. It also portrays Maximus’s fear at the
time and creates a very tense atmosphere. The theme is lastly heard at the end of
cue51 after Commodus stabs Maximus in the back. It creates a feeling of doubt, defeat
of Maximus and the power Commodus has at the time.
T11 (Commodus the merciful) is the most striking theme, or better to say a collection of
themes of the film. It is orchestrated in string orchestra only and is very counterpoinctal.
The first 4 notes are an inversion of T10, so the themes are connected with each other.
It is first used in Cue 38, in the scene, that is only in the extended version of the film,
where Gracus, a general, that was order to execute Maximus, but failed at the task, has
to now order the execution of two soldiers in the presence of Commodus, to prove his
loyalty to the new Cesar. It is very apparent, that the whole cue was just copied from
Cue51, the famous “Am I not merciful” Scene. As Zimmer points out in his interview in
“Making of Gladiator”: “You get a completely new theme, because it feels like all bets
are off now. Everything is just raw emotions. He lost his mind finally. He will do crazy
things about passion and I felt like I could turn everything upside-down on its head and
go for this very, very dark stuff… It is those kinds of things where you surprise the
audience by not doing the obvious, going against type and actually in a funny way, what
you do as a composer, is you forever expose yourself in this sort of emotional way,
where you let them see into your deepest, darkest secrets.”
In the non-extended version T11 really appears for the first time in Cue51 and has an
even more shocking effect on the audience. Although I really like the scene in cue38 I
think, other music should be used for that scene. Although it works great, it ruins the
surprise to come at cue51, since you have already heard the music prior in the film.
Cue38 is probably work of a music editor.
T12,T13 are the themes that appear in cue8 where Commodus murders his father. This
deeply sad and emotional themes, yet has a very passionate character to it, which
makes sense, since Commodus killed his father, because he knew, he would never
have named him the new emperor of Rome. They are orchestrated with string orchestra
with romantic period harmony.
3.Battle Themes and motifs
We have several battle related themes and motives. M1 is a motive of approaching
danger, usually orchestrated with acoustic guitar or string staccatos. M1,1 is a derivative
of M1 and is used in the same way orchestrated in low strings. M2 and M3 are used in
the heat of battle and are usually orchestrated with heavy brass. T6 is a theme that
often appears in heroic moments during battle scenes. M4 if used for moment of
anticipation of an upcoming event. Similar to T6, T14 and M8 is also used during battle
orchestrated in octaves in brass. It is usually combined with M7 (staccato trumpets).
T15 is used at times of victory. We hear it at the end of the battle at cue1 and end of the
battle at cue34. All battle themes and motives are very brass, string and percussion
heavy. It is really the sound, that Zimmer is most known for and masters very well. It is
not orchestration, that would work in a real orchestra scenario, but Zimmer’s recording
and mixing techniques made this sound very popular in modern film scores.
I must point out, that all battle themes/cues are written in a ¾ time signature and
Zimmer calls them Battle Waltzes and states, that they are based on the Viennese
Waltz. This is how he explains his decision in the interview in Making of Gladiator: “So
much of what we perceive as beauty and culture and great architecture is build on
blood, guts and gore of other people. Musically, how can I reflect the architectural
beauty, the architectural symmetry of the Rome? And I was thinking: “What was the
most beautiful form of music? The Viennese Waltzes.” Because we look at these
sculptures and we say “Oh isn’t this beautiful!”, but we forget that it is death and
destruction and savagery that brought them to us. So I decided to write all the action
sequences in waltzes. And just used the waltz and turn it head and show its bloody
underbelly.”
4.Other thematic material
One of the most scenically beautiful scenes in the movie is when we first see Rome
and its Coliseum (Cue17). This is the only time we hear T16 (the Glory of Rome). It is
orchestrated with a large standard orchestra with choir and crash cymbals for accents.
Harmonically it is romantic/post romantic The glory of Rome. The music portrays the
absolute majestic scenery of the beauty of the city, while Commodus rides through the
street on his carriage and people scream disapproving taunts at him which makes for a
great contrast. When the picture shows Luciose’s face we hear a short flute solos
(panned all the way to the right, what is very weird). We have a sudden cut to next cue
at 1:04:33 with an abrupt end.
The Moroccan theme T17 is only once heard in its full version in Cue11. It is
orchestrated with Guitars, percussions, strings, shvi flute, duduk, yan ching and of
course has a very Arabic feel too it. Zimmer points out in his interview in Making of
Gladiator:” Once we are Morocco, I wanted to make it dirty, tribal and gritty.”
M10 is the motif used at the start of the gladiator games in the Roman Coliseum and is
always played by trumpets (doubled with horns). They are part of the source music,
since we see the fanfare players in the picture several times. The motif repeats in
several cues. It appears for the first time in cue19 where we have an “airplane shot”
over the Coliseum.
We have to also note, that Zimmer always uses very dense dissonant, almost atonal
harmony, orchestration and texture whenever we see the Coliseum. This is done, so we
really get the feeling, that the Coliseum, although beautiful on the outside, is a very
terrifying place.
7. Conclusion
First off, I would like to point out, that during my analysis I realized, that there is a lot
more thematic material in Gladiator as I previously thought. There is music almost
throughout the movie and there are only a couple of scenes, where there Is no music.
The thematic material is very well thought out and we can see that Zimmer spends a
lot of time and care with his themes to make them perfect for the characters and
scenes. Because the movie is very character driven the thematic material corresponds
with the protagonist and antagonist. Zimmer decided to use more then one theme for
each of the main characters and thus he opened up for himself more options.
I find it very smart, how the first cue of the film showcases several important themes of
the film and immediately imbeds them into the viewer’s mind, before they even know,
who the themes relate too and why they are there.
As I pointed out in the previous section, themes related to Maximus change through
time and are given different instrumentation versions to portray the emotional
transformation of out protagonist. On the other hand Commodus’s themes get very little
change. He does not change much through the film and Zimmer just wants to portray
him as a mentally and emotionally challenged individual, who rises to power, yet does
not learn and change for the benefit of himself and the people he rules.
The music and orchestration of the battle scenes creates nice contrast to the sensual
thematic material of our main characters. Zimmer successfully caught both sides of the
film; drama on one hand and action on the other. I think this very much contributed to
the success of the film.
We must also note, that all the melodies Zimmer wrote are very catch and are easily
recognizable. This is extremely important, since you want the viewers of your film, to
leave the movie theater with the themes of the movie stuck in their heads. Since
Zimmer wrote so many themes, many of which are extremely catchy, and repeats them
often, viewers of the film are bound to leave the theater with whistling at least one of
them. This of course also helped with the Soundtrack CD sales. The soundtrack albums
of Gladiator are still one of the most successful soundtrack album releases ever.
In conclusion, I think the score of Gladiator is a masterpiece and deserves all the
recognitions it has gotten throughout the years.
8. Phone Call with Hans Zimmer
As part of my research process of my CE, I contacted Hans Zimmer, if he could
answer a few questions about the score of Gladiator for me. He invited me, to have a
phone conversation. We ended up talking for about an hour. For obvious reasons I did
not record the conversation. In this section I will write in an interview format, although I
will use my own words in Zimmer’s responses. At this point I would like to give a big
thank you to Mr. Zimmer to take the time to talk to me.
Q: Can you tell me how it was working on the film? How was your relationship
with Ridley and the team?
Hans explained to me, that they were a very close team and that he was writing music
in the same building as Ridley and his team were cutting the film, so they had constant
interaction between each other. Many cues in the film ended up being reused by the
edit team and many scenes in the film ended being cut to the music, what is very
interesting. An example of this is Cue34 which uses exact music from Cue1 and the
editors cut the scene to the music of Cue1.
Hans said, that is was great working in this kind of team. He also pointed out, that he
loved working together with Lisa Gerrard and Djivan Gasparyan and just “jamming” and
improvising to picture with them in his studio. A lot of these improvisations ended up in
the movie. Since Djivan does not speak a word of English, Hans said, that the only way
they could communicate was through music and that that was really special.
Q: How was the thematic material used in the film. How did you choose what
theme goes where?
As I pointed out earlier in this paper, there is a lot of thematic material in the film.
Hans pointed out, that all these melodies “just kind of happened” and were not meant to
be like light-motifs. Only later in the production, some themes got attached to certain
characters like T4 to Maximus and T1 to Commodus. He also said, that the first cut of
the film was almost 4h long and that that is the reason why all the themes are so long.
Q: How come there are abrupt endings of cues in the film (example Cue 17)?
The film had undergone many changes and cuts, so we had to make changes on the
fly. That is probably the reason why there are abrupt cuts of cues.
Q: In one of your interview you state, that the Commodus the Merciful scene has
its very own music (T11), which appears only once and thus comes as an
surprise to the audience, yet in the extended cut of the movie, we here this theme
in Cue38.
Hans replied, that must have been work of a music editor and that he never really
scene the extended version of Gladiator and he did not know this cue was used in
Cue38.
Q: How come Cue10 uses so many mockup-ed instruments?
Hans told me, that this was one of the last scenes they have gotten and they actually
gotten and it had to be done in great haste. He sais he recored a lot of guitar for this
scene with guitarist. Heitor Pereira. He imagined almost, that he was writing a little
guitar concerto for him.
Q: Did you record the strings and brass separately?
Strings and brass were recorded separately at AirStudios. The first reason for that
was, to give more room for mixing purposes and the second reason Hans pointed out
was, that the brass parts were very intense and hard to play, so in order to make the
players more confortable. Since strings and brass were recorded separately he could
rehears with the brass and let them take pauses, without making the strings players just
sit and wait.
9. Cue Sheet
CUE
Start
End
Cue 1
0:00:02
0:12:25
Function
Instrumentation
Themes /
Motifs
score
Dramatic enhancement and story telling. Setting the tone for
the whole movie. Laying down thematic material.
Borduna & modes, ethnic flute (gamshorn), acoustic guitar, Lisa
Gerrard (voice), yan ching ,tension with rhythmic elements amd
building orchestration. Emotional adagio ending.
Tl, T2, T3,
T5, T6, T7, T14, T15, M1, M1.1,M2,M4, M5, M6, M7, M8
Sense of evil in Commodus’s nature (T1, T8). Story telling
(M6)
Type
Cue 2
0:12:59
0:15:26
score
Cue 3
0:16:35
0:20:44
score - scored
Cue 4
0:20:44
0:22:28
score
Cue 5
0:25:20
26:10
Cue 6
0:27:23
Cue7
Bordun strings. and gamshorn (T1)
Brass chord as glue to T8. Solo cello (T8). Acoustic guitar, duduk
(M6). At 00:15:00 Commodus rides into the scene. Big brassy
ominous chords
T1,T8,M4, Other
mood (Cesar’s sadness and disappointment towards
Commodus). War aftermath and Maximus’s longing for
home. T1 makes sense of Commodus’s presence
Yan ching, Vvoice, ethinc winds and percussions for source music
T1,
Other
Cesars’s love towards Lucilla, Maximus’s soft side.
Duduk solo for Cesar, trumpet solo for Maximus. Sustained strings
T4 (Earth Theme)
score
Maximus’s nostalgia for his home and family.
Sustained strings
T2
0:28:10
score
Tension yet trust. When Cesar starts speaking about Commodus
the music becomes more tense, yet goes back into a more relax
stile after.
Sustained bass strings. Duduk solo, acoustic guitars
M5
0:29:25
0:31:22
score
Love and respect between Lucilla and Maximus. Maximus’s love
towards his family.
Duduk solo, oboe solo and sustains strings, soft acoustic guitars
T4. T5 (Full earth theme)
Cue 8
0:33:40
0:37:30
score
Creating tension, yet an eerie feeling. Creating a feeling of sorrow,
sadness, disappointment. One of the most emotional cue
String orchestra
T12, M10
Cue 9
0:37:45
0:38:40
score
Tension, suspense, sorrow, fear
Chang Ying, Voice.
Variation of T2
Cue 10
0:42:00
0:47:30
score
Action, drama. At 0:44:47 there is an accelerando (time is running
out to save his family)
Synth percussions, strings, guitars, synths. Everything except the
acoustic guitars sound like they were mockuped. yan ching. Vocal
Other, T5 (augmented), T2
Cue 11
0:48:15
0:50:26
score
Set up of new environment. Morocco.
Gutiars, percussions, strings, shvi flute, duduk, synth bass
T17
Cue 12
0:51:26
0:52:00
score
Set up of new environment. Morocco.
Gutiars, percussions, strings, shvi flute, duduk, yan ching
Variation of T17
Cue 13
0:52:40
0:55:46
score
Tension (first part), false sense of calmness (T9)
Cue 14
0:55:46
0:56:50
Source/score
Setting a festive mood with a gory, wrong feeling. (weird cut at
0:56:14)
Cue 15
0:57:36
1:00:03
Score/source
(SFX)
Tension. People screaming “Kill, Kill” and the sound of
the hammer hitting the anvil help with the tension
Cue 16
1:00:03
1:02:22
Cue 17
1:02:22
1:04:33
score
score
Creating a feel for the action scene. The music slowly
gets faster and faster.
The glory of Rome. The music portrays the absolute majestic
scenery of the beauty of the city, while Commodus rides
through the street on his carriage and people scream
disapproving taunts at him. When the picture shows
Luciose’s face we hear a short flute solos (panned all the way
to the right!?). Sudden cut to next cue at 1:04:33
Gutiars, percussion(beginning), vocal, cello, duduk, strings
Ethnic strings, percussions, zurla, strings, duduk
Zurna, string bourdon, strings, percussions. Good incorporation
of SFX with the music
M4, T9
Mix between T10 and T8
Mix between T10 and T8, T5 augmented
Zurna, ethnic voices (sustained and chants), fast percussion,
rhythmic synth bass, rising string lines, brass chords
Other
Large standard orchestra with choir. with romantic era harmonies
and voice leading.
T16
Gams horn, solo cello, strings, bourdon
Cue 19
1:07:26
1:08:46
Cue 21
1:09:57
1:11:52
Cue 22
1:11:52
1:12:3
score
1:08:27 start of orchestral atonal buildup to show to mightiness
Commodus ambitions and dark nature. Mightiness of the
of the coliseums
coliseums
score
Setting mood for action, anticipation and danger
Percussions, ethnic vocal chants, ethnic winds, orchestral bass
motif, bass drums hit (more of SFX)
T1, T8,M10
Other
Strings Bordun, yan ching, Horns, strings
score
Feeling of victory but, sadness
Passion of Proximo towards his years of being a
Gladiator.
Cue 23
1:13:24
1:16:06
score
Cue 24
1:16:05
1:17:20
source
Feeling of nostalgia
Score
Feeling of happiness and adventures, then feeling of
power. T8 for Maximus knowing he is getting near to his
goal of killing Commodus
1:20:07
score
Commodus’s dark nature as he watches Lucius sleep
1:21:50
score
Cue 25
11:17:20
Cue 27
1:20:40
Strings, horns, bass hits, trumpet
T9
Bordun, voice, percussions
T2
Strings, horns (fanfares when we see the coliseum),
percussions. Atonal Orchestration again for the Colloseum
Other, T8
1:19:15
1:19:15
Cue 26
T5
Gamshorn, strings
Commodus trying to defy his fathers wish of giving power
to the senate. Commodus’s anger
T1
T12,T13
String orchestra, solo violin.
T1, T8
Gamshorn, strings
Cue 28
1:24:21
1:25:34
score
Lucilla’s fear of Commodus
Cue 28
1:25:34
1:26:28
score
Gladiators have arrivers
Strings, horn.
Atonal orchestra for Coliseums,
T9, M10
Street music
Cue 29
1:27:05
1:27:45
source
Cue 30
1:27:45
1:28:27
score
Lucious reminds Maximus of his son. Nostalgia
Can 31
1:28.27
1:30:31
score
Maximus realizes Lucios is Lucilla’s son. Gladiators enter
the Coliseum for the first time
Ethnic winds, percussions
Other
yan ching, voice, strings
Strings, brass horns. Trumpets (very Mars like)
T2
M2 augmented,M7 (different version)
Announcement of the beginning of the games
Cue 32
1:30:31
1:30:50
source
Roman fanfares, percussions
M10
Enhance the storytelling. T5 for Maximus leadership
skills
Other, T5 (augmented)
Cue 33
1:31:19
1:32:25
score
Cue 34
1:32:25
1:36:50
score
Cue 35
1:36:50
1:41:03
Score/source
Percussions, brass for the Barbarian horde
Entrance of the chariots, Battle, Themes follow the
turning point in the battle.
Orchestra, percussions
M7, M8, M2,M1,M6,T6, M3, T7, T15,
Acoustic guitars, strings, percussions, Roman fanfares, Orchestra
M4, M11, T10, Other, T5 (in its full glory for the first time)
strings
T1 (augmented)
Strings, duduk, oboe
T4
strings
T11
Roman fanfares, percussions
M10
Roman fanfares, percussions
M10
Roman fanfares, percussions
M10
Strings, brass (sounds mockuped)
Other
Strings, percussions
M4
Feeling of great tension
Commodus’s anger and disappointment
Cue 36
1:44:25
1:45:40
score
Cue 37
1:48:24
1:49:15
score
Love, sadness
Fear towards Commodus, power of Commodus
Cue 38
1:48:15
1:52:00
score
Cue 39
1:53:30
1:54:24
source
Cue 40
1:55:08
1:55:30
source
Cue 41
1:56:00
1:56:50
source
Cue 42
1:59:26
2:00:31
score
Cue 43
2:00:49
2:02:00
score
fanfares
fanfares
fanfares
Creating tension
Creating tension
Nostalgia, sadness
Cue
44
2:00:03
2:03:45
score
Cue
45
2:03:45
2:04:42
score
Cue
46
2:05:10
2:08:15
score
Voice, Strings bourdon. yan ching /percussions, strings, brass
T2,T3
Strings, voice
T2
Percussions, gamshorn, low strings
T11 (variation), gimps of T1, M9
Strings, percussions, detuned voices, yan ching
T9, M9, T1
Strings, choir, plucked instrument
T5 (soft version)
Synth pads, voices, ethnic flute, strings, brass pads
T1,T8
Brass, strings, cymbals, guitars
M6,M2,M3,T5,T7, other
Strings, gamshorn, solo cello/Choirs, brass for T10
T11,T1,T10
Synth pads, strings, Yan Ching
Other
Pads, voice, strings, tumpet, brass,
“Now we are free”. T5,
Nostalgia
Commodus’s anger and frustrations. Planning…
Sense that everything is going to plan…, tension
Cue
47
2:11:19
2:18:40
score
Cue
48
2:19:34
2:20:50
score
Cue 49
2:21:22
2:24:17
score
Cue
50
2:24:17
2:28:56
score
Cue
51
2:28:58
2:35:49
score
Cue
52
2:37:00
2:37:40
score
2:38:47
To
credits
score
Passion, love, loneliness
Betrayal, fear
Action (seems to be a music edit of the beginning
Battle scene.
Disappointment, anger, craziness of Commodus.
Cue
53
Delusional state of Maximus
Maximus is dying. He is going to his afterlife, to
his family
10. List of references:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Gladiator: Extended edition, Paramount Pictures, released in 2001
Gladiator (film, 2000): http://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiator_(film,_2000)
Hans Zimmer - Interview on Gladiator soundtrack:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goafUm5cDbo
Making of Gladiator/ interview with Hans Zimmer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JAlOTl84yc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGPoJvQhhKk
An interview with Hans Zimmer: ptless.org/hzimmer/gladiator.html by John Pattyson
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172495/
Master’s degree culminating experience
Soundtrack Analysis of thematic material
Gladiator (2000)
Extended edition
Valencia (Spain), 10th July 2014
Student: Anže Rozman
Program: Master’s of Scoring for film, Tv and Video Games
Mentors: Lucio Godoy, Alfons Conde
Institution: Berklee College of Music, Valencia
Address: Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía – Anexo Sur,
Av Profesor Lopez Piñeiro, 1,
46013 Valencia, Spain
Table of Content
Introduction
...........................................................................................................................................
4
1.
Important information
...............................................................................................................
4
2.
Synopsis
.........................................................................................................................................
6
3.
Broad view on the overall score
...........................................................................................
8
4.
Broad Theme analysis
............................................................................................................
10
5.
Overture
........................................................................................................................................
11
6. Use of thematic material
...........................................................................................................
15
1.Maximus
.......................................................................................................................................................
15
2.Commodus
.................................................................................................................................................
18
3.Battle Themes and motifs
.....................................................................................................................
21
4.Other thematic material
.........................................................................................................................
24
7. Conclusion
......................................................................................................................................
25
8. Phone Call with Hans Zimmer
.................................................................................................
27
9. Cue Sheet
........................................................................................................................................
28
10. List of references:
......................................................................................................................
31
Introduction
When I was 11 years old, Gladiator came out into the cinemas. I remember go
watching it with my brother and father and it immediately became one of my favorite
movies. The soundtrack of Gladiator was the first ever soundtrack CD I have ever
bought (I bought it as a present for my brother). Since then, I have listened to the
soundtrack many times and watched the movie over 10 times, yet I am always
impressed and am struck by, how it makes me emotional even after seeing it so many
times.
Part of the success of the movie is definitely in its music. In this analysis I will try to
uncover the emotional content of the thematic material and how the thematic relates to
the picture and how it is used, to get the most out of the film’s dramaturgy.
1. Important information
Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: David Franzoni
John Logan
William Nicholson
Actors:
Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Ralf Möller, Oliver
Reed, Djimon Hounsou, Derek Jacobi, John Shrapnel, and Richard Harris.
Producer: Douglas Wick
Production house and Distribution: Universal Pictures, DreamWorks
Music by: Hans Zimmer
Lisa Gerrard (Additional music)
Klaus Badelt (Additional music)
Orchestra recorded at: Air Lyndhurst Studios
Orchestra Conducted by: Gavin Greenaway
Music production: Alan Mayerson and Hans Zimmer
Musicians: Air Lyndhurst Orchestra
Djivan Gasparyan-duduk, Jeff Rona-flute (gamshorn(,Tony Pleeth-cello. Lisa Gerrardvocals & Yan Ching, Heitor Pereira-guitar
Soundtrack released by: Universal, Decca
Movie release date: May 5th 2000
Runtime: 2h 43min
Production Budget: $103 million
Box office in first weekend: $34,819,017
Total box office: $187,705,427
Released in the United States on May 5, 2000, Gladiator was a box office success
earning, receiving positive reviews, and was credited with rekindling interest in the
historical epic. The film was nominated for and won multiple awards, notably five
Academy Awards in the 73rd Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor
for Crowe. The Score won the Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award 2000,
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award 2001, ASCAP Film and Television
Music Award 2001, Golden Globes Award 2001. The album won the Golden Globe
Award for Best Original Score and was also nominated for the Academy Award and
BAFTA Award for Best Score ("Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music"). The score was
also nominated for the Grammy award, Online Film Critics Society Award, Chicago
Film Critics Association Award 2001, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy &
Horror Films, USA 2001, ARIA Music Award 2001, BAFTA Award 2001.The original
soundtrack album was a huge success for Universal and Decca, selling platinum in
sales and prompting multiple album releases in the future. The Gladiator score goes
without saying among Star Wars, Titanic & Lord of the Rings as one of the most
important in the modern age of soundtracks, bringing recognition to the genre of
soundtrack music to the masses and has influenced many young composers of our
generation.
2. Synopsis
Crowe plays the fictional character who was a family man and farmer from Spain, yet
becomes a loyal Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius, who is betrayed when the
emperor Marcus Aurelius's ambitious son, Commodus, murders his father and seizes
the throne and orders the execution of Maximus, since Marcus Aurelius was very fond
of Maximus and wanted to crown him the next Emperor. Maximus manages to escape
his death but discovers, that Commodus killed his son and wife and burnt his farmland.
Wounded and emotionally drained, Maximus collapse in front of his brunt corpses and
house of his family.
A Moroccan merchant and ex-gladiator Proximo takes him as a slave and makes him
fight as a gladiator. With his army skills he ends up winning several fights in the small
Moroccan gladiator arena. As a new Emperor Commodus re-opens the Roman
Coliseums for months of gladiator games. Proximo takes his best gladiators to Rome to
fight in the big Roman Coliseums. Because of Maximus’s superior fighting and
leadership skills, Proximo’s gladiators win their first match in the Colosseum as the
Barbarian Horde. Maximus instantly wins the loyalty of the crowd (the mob as it is called
in the film by the roman senators). Commodus now wants to meet the new gladiator
celebrity and is shocked to realize it is Maximus. Commodus yearns to kill Maximus on
the spot, yet he cannot because doing so would cause the watching crowd to see him
as merciless and develop distaste for his leadership, since the crowd loves Maximus.
He makes Maximus fight in the arena again against Tigris of Gaul, a former champion
gladiator who has never been defeated and thus earned his freedom. Tigris was joined
in the area by the Coliseums staff who unleashed hungry tigers upon Maximus. Against
all odds, Maximus won the match and decided to spare Tigris’s life defying the will of
Commodus, yet again and winning even more appreciation from the crowd who now
called him “Maximus the Merciful”.
Maximus is then escorted back to the gladiator's quarters; his former servant Cicero
approaches him and says that Maximus still has the loyalty of his army. Commodus's
sister Lucilla and the senator Gracchus secure a meeting with Maximus, and Maximus
obtains their consent to rejoin his army, topple Commodus by force, and hand power
over to the senate. Commodus, however, suspects a plot against him, and forces Lucilla
to confess it by threatening to kill her son. Maximus is captured. Commodus decides to
fight Maximus in the arena himself and thus restore his glory as an emperor. Before the
match he wounds Maximus with a dagger, so he would have an advantage in the fight.
Despite the odds of Maximus being week, delirious and wounded, he still manages to
kills Commodus, yet falls to the ground fatally wounded himself. In his last breaths,
Maximus gives power back to the senate.
3. Broad view on the overall score
It is well known, that Hans Zimmer was one of the pioneers of synth programming
and using sampling techniques and samplers in the creation of film scores. He is known
for his hybrid sound (combining live orchestra and other instruments with samplers and
synthesizers), which he has been perfecting throughout his career that contributed to
his worldwide success. As Zimmer states in his interview about Gladiator’s score with
Ian Lace fir the Film Music on the Web: “I have to say that I did not want to turn into a
musical anthropologist, to research ancient Roman music [as Miklos Rozsa did for his
Ben-Hur and Quo Vadis scores]. But at the same time I wanted to have a sound that
was not contemporary to today.” We can see, that Zimmer made a conscious choice of
creating a sound for this movie, which would transfer the viewer of the film to the
Roman times. With the extensive use of the German medieval instrument the
gamshorn, which plays the Progeny theme (T1), the more then 3000year old Armenian
instrument Duduk, played by master duduk player Djivan Gasparyan, a very rare
dulcimer-like hammered string instrument Yang Ching, performed by Lisa Gerrard,
Lisa’s beautiful eternal-ethnic like vocals with a combination of solo cello, trumpet,
orchestra, ethnic Arabic percussions, synth percussions and synth apreggiators, pads
and stabs, Zimmer achieved in creating a very fresh sound that evokes the past, yet is
very modern and emotional. Zimmer point out in his interview with Ian Lace: “World
music has become the "in-thing" just now but I believe I have contrasted that sound
fairly well with the use of such an enormous orchestra. I've always wanted to write for
Djivan Gasparyan. I think he is one of the most amazing musicians in the world. He
creates a sound that has a lonely yet haunting quality and is thousands of years old ageless.” Many music critics argue, that Zimmer should have approached the score
from a more accurate historical representation of the music the ancient Romans used,
yet I disagree with the critics in this point, since film music is not always supposed to
accurately represent the time and era the film portrays, but is more of a 3 person
narrator of the story, emotions and scenery. Gladiator’s score is pure of emotion and
drama and it engulfs the viewer into the picture and, in my opinion, blends perfectly with
the way the film is shot and the colors of the picture. In an interview about Gladiator’s
soundtrack, Ridley Scott says: “The music puts on a fourth dimension. The music plays
what you cannot see, the music plays when you are in the room it plays the world
around you, outside, and the environment outside and the world you have entered.”
Zimmer and his crew have thus created a new dimension for the film. Zimmer also
stated in an interview: “It felt like such a boy’s movie and my ambition was to make it
romantic. To have not a single women get out of her seat or be bored or be put off by it.
Contextualize in a way the violence of the story through the music. So It is not just
blood, guts and gore, because it is exciting, but actually make it a very much part of this
idea of the simple man, the farmer, who looses his family, who looses his voice. He
does not hardly speak in the second act. Thus the music has to speak for him. I
managed too tell a story without getting caught at it, I managed to keep things emotional
in its own way and I managed to contain the heroics and not make them just cheap
heroics.” This score could have easily turned out completely different if Zimmer and
Ridley would have decided to take an alternative, less romantic and more action
approach on the score. But we must know, that Gladiator is primarily not an action
movie, but a fictional historic drama. I believe that Zimmer’s choice in what way to
compose the music had a big impact on the big success the movie had around the
world.
4. Broad Theme analysis
In Gladiator we find 16 different themes and motives 11 different motives most of
which are reoccurring. It is hard to point out which theme is “the overall main theme”,
but the Earth theme (as named by Zimmer and Ridley themselves), which is related to
the protagonist Maximus is definitely most prominent and important for the protagonist.
As Zimmer states in an interview with John Pattyson: “The thing that became the main
theme, Lisa kept calling it the "Earth Theme". The first time I played it to her, she
absolutely got what I was going after, which is actually this very, very beautiful theme.
But I can turn it on its head, and before a battle scene hear it down in the basses, and
it's very threatening. And at the same time it becomes the kiss. It becomes the figurines.
It becomes the thing about family. But it really is about this personal life of this
character. And what was fun was to take this very humble theme and turn it into a
thousand different emotions just the way it would be. Really, it's about danger. At the
same time it's about peace.”
The different themes in Gladiator have a role of emphasizing the emotional context of
the drama. As contrast to the very emotional themes like the Earth theme (which is
divided in to two sections) we have many battle, heroic and action motifs and themes.
In the next section I will dive more deep into the analysis of the Earth theme
throughout the movie. But first lets look at the 12min long intro od the film. Why this is
important I will explain later on.
5. Overture
Note: I divided thematic material on themes and motives. I put thematic material under themes, if the material is usually played in its
full length and motives as material, that is often changed and is not necessarily played in its whole length.
The first 14min of the film is almost like a musical overture to the whole score. Zimmer
showcases the main thematic material and sets the mood for the film. I am going to give
an in-depth analysis of this overture since the themes and motives are so well
transmitted. Analyzing this first segment is very important, so we can then look at the
themes used here further on in the movie and see how they transform. The score starts
with the T1 (Progeny theme) *next chapter of sheet music* which is played by a medieval wind
instrument, made out mounting goat horn, called the Gamshorn. It sets the tone of the
movie perfectly since we are immediately transported to a different time and we sense,
that this is not going to be a typical action movie. The theme is simple yet very
emotional and dark. T1 is later on in the film used mostly for Commodus.
T1 transforms into T8 (Commodus theme), which is one of the main themes for
Commodus and his sinister nature. The film is called Gladiator, yet Zimmer decided to
start the movie with the two themes, that are mainly related to Commodus. The music
then goes into M6 (which I call the rhetoric theme), that is played by what sounds like 2
delayed acoustic guitars with beautiful duduk improvisations on top and strings bourdon.
Again Zimmer transports us back in time. The next theme we hear is T2 (Wheat theme)
beautifully sung by Lisa Gerrard, that overlays images of a hand touching fields of
wheat. We also hear children singing in the background and we get a sense of nostalgia
and calmness. The wheat fields give way to an image of the face of Maximus. Acoustic
guitars start playing M5 again while Lisa is still singing the T2. This glues both images
together and we know, the hand we saw in the golden wheat fields was Maximus’s.
Maximus rides of onto the battlefield with his horse and we hear the epic T3 (Maximus
theme) in the horns, which are accompaniment with choirs, strings and strumming
guitars. We finally get both sides of the Maximus character; He is a farmer at heart (T2)
yet a general in the roman army (T3). At 00:04:10 the mood changes when the
barbarians start screaming chants. We hear the guitar danger motif (M4). At 00:05:00
we see a very important scene in the movie, that repeats several times in different
contexts; Maximus bends down, picks up some soil and smells it. We here T6 (Earth
theme B) playing slowly in the cello and the bases in a very ominous nature. This is
what Hans Zimmer says about this scene in the interview “Making of Gladiator”. Zimmer
visited Ridley on the shooting of the beginning battle scene in England, before he starter
writing the score. Quote: “I remember sitting there with Ridley in this muddy field.
Because I had suddenly been shifted from the 20th century to somewhere else, I
remember reaching down and taking up a clump of earth and sort of, suddenly I was in
the movie.” At 00:05:52 after Maximus says: “Strengths and honor” and prepares his
troops for battle we hear a short brass stab, followed by M1 (battle motif1) starts playing
on acoustic guitar followed by staccato strings. M1 follows by M2 in the brass and
orchestra. Maximus rallies his horseman in the forest and has a speech, while variations
of M1 play in the background. When Maximus finishes his famous speech, that ends on:
“What we do in life, echoes in eternity”, the images shifts to the archers preparing for
battle and a augmented variation of M1 plays in the low brass and strings (M1,1). We
see images of soldiers loading up catapults and the heroic T6 plays in the brass, giving
us a sense of power of the Roman legion. The catapults are loaded and the music
becomes more calm and creates a feeling of anxiousness and suspense. We hear T14
playing in the basses while the trumpets are playing M8 (Mars motif), which immediately
reminds us of Holts’s Mars – The Bringer of War (more about this subject later). At
00:07:40 we see the roman horseman slowly starting to movie in the forest, while
archers strain their bows on the battle field. We hear M1 to start to play again in the
strings. At 00:07:48 the catapults release their fiery charges and M1.1 plays in brass
while M1 goes on in the strings. After we hear yet another variation on M1 in staccato
brass while WW and Strings provide marccato accented stabs. 00:07:55 we here M9
play for the first times. While some barbarians get killed in the onslaught of catapults
and arrows, they still chant and cheer as-though nothing has happened. At 00:08:15
Zimmer plays us an augmented version of the ominous M2, to let us know, that the
Barbarian horde is still strong and that the battle is far from over. While M2 plays with an
accompaniment of M7 in the trumpets, the legion foot troops finally movie into action,
while catapults and anchors are still blasting away at the Barbarians. At 00:08:44 we
get an image of Maximus and his horseman galloping through the woods towards the
Barbarians. Maximus screams: “Hold the line!” to rally his troops together. Zimmer
enhances this scene with his very characteristic “Zimmeresc” T7 (Heroic theme – one
of the most notable themes from Gladiator) in the brass and strings. The Barbarians and
and Romans finally start to fight sword on sword and in 00:09:21 we hear the M2 motif
playing again now in an even bigger orchestration with trumpets doubling the horns in
octaves. At 00:09:25 we see Maximus’s dog jump through the fire, followed by Maximus
and his troops. The music transforms in to a marccato and syncopated version of M1.
This was a very wise decision from Zimmer’s side, since although we have a lot of SFX
playing (explosions, swords, other war noises) the music cuts through the mix very well
with its stab-like nature. The orchestration is full powerful. At 00:09:46 we see the
Barbarian leader killing Roman soldiers and Zimmer accompaniments him with the
ominous M6 motive in the strings, while the brass keeps on playing shorts stabs. We
see Maximus on his warhorse galloping into the battle at 00:09:56 and the orchestra
starts playing M2 again for a couple of seconds. Maximus get hit and falls of his horse
and M8 starts playing in the low brass with trumpets blasting away M7. This gets
followed by a big percussion section, that rises up from p – mf, while Maximus lies on
the flore and fights a Barbarian. This section feals almost like it was edited in, since it
kind of creeply and wierdly fades in. It is followed by M6 in the strings. At 00:10:26
Maximus almost sticks a sword into a friendly soldier and Zimmer enchances this
moment with an augmented and sustained version of M2 in brass, strings and choir. At
00:10:28 we see the Barbarian leader still alive all well and fighting. The theat of the
Barbarians winning is still there so Zimmer uses M8 again in fortissimo brass with M8 in
the trumpets. At 00:10:43 Maximus get attacket and thrown on the floor yet again, by a
burning solider and we hear M6 in the strings, with brass stabs and rythmic percussion
ensamble. Maximus gets saved by a friendly horseman and at 00:11:00 and the
dramatic music gives way to slowmotion shots with the Victory theme (T15) playing. The
slow adagio music with warm strings really gives a great mood to the filmography and
edits. The cue finally ends at 00:12:25 and gives way to the sound of the approaching
carrige of Commodus and his sister.
As we see the first cue, that is 12min 25s long really has an imense amount of
thematic and motivic material in it (Tl, T2, T3, T5, T6, T7, T14, T15, M1, M1.1,M2,M4,
M5, M7, M8, M9). What is curios is, that the T4 (Earth theme A) does not apear in the
overture. T5 (Earth theme B) does, but only in an augmented form and in the low
register. Zimmer thus sets a pallet of themes for the movie, that he can use in later
scenes, yet he leaves room for important new material, that he can show and use later
on in the movie and so create contrast.
6. Use of thematic material
1.Maximus
As the protagonist Maximus has a lot of thematic material, which is linked specifically
to him, yet is often use with association with other characters as well.
T2 (Wheat theme) is used in context with his family and nostalgia for his lost homeland.
It is linked to Maximus as a farmer and humble man.
T3 is used to describe the solider and heroic side of Maximus. We first hear it at
0:02:45, when we first see Maximus. T3 and T2 act as contrast to each-other and show
us both sides of Maximus.
T4 and T5 (both themes, that make the overall Earth Theme) are also closely linked to
Maximus and his nature.
T4 is a loving theme, that is first linked to Marcus Aurelius, yet later on translates to
Maximus’s affection towards Aurelius and his affection to Lucilla. We Later on hear the
theme play when Lucilla and Maximus first talk. It is used to enhance the emotional
context, when Maximus talks about his family. It also appears in Cue 37 when Lucilla
comes visit Maximus in his cell. The theme is pure and soft. It has a very strong tonal
c0enter and thus gives us a feeling of security.
T5 describes all the qualities that Maximus has; He is a leader, he is a farmer, father,
husband; he is focused and has a good heart. He is heroic yet can be gentle and loving.
We hear T5 in 9 different cues. T5 slowly evolves and is not heard in its full glory till Cue
35. We first very subtly hear T5 in Cue1 in the low strings when Maximus picks up and
smells soil on the battlefield. Later it appears in Cue7 when we for the first time hear the
whole Earth Theme together (T4/T5). T5 is often used in the low strings in an
augmented version to create tension. We hear the theme in its full glory and fully
orchestrated in Cue 35, when Maximus wins the first battle in the Roman Coliseum. It is
great how Zimmer gives us the theme before Cue35 in less orchestrated versions, so
the full orchestral version in Cue 35 gives a even bigger sense on the importance of the
scene. We also here T5 in a soft orchestration and adagio tempo in Cue48 to portray
Maximus’s love towards Lucilla. We last hear T5 as the final (Cue53) in the film in a
majestic, magical orchestration to portray the importance of the ending of the film and
Maximus’s sacrifice.
We see that T5 shows many different faces and is used to its full potential in the score.
The use of acoustic guitar is also linked to Maximus’s since he is Spaniard, and the
acoustic guitar is very common in Spanish flamenco and music.
M4,M5,M6 We have a few motifs (M4,M5,M6) which are often played by the acoustic
guitar in various relations towards Maximus. M4 is a motif used for anticipation of
“something is going to happen”, M4 is used in the film only twice and has a calm nature
to it, M6 is used for senses related with danger. M4 and M6 are heard often in Cue1 and
other battle scenes. M6 is hear for the first time in Cue2 when Marcus Aurelius talks to
Maximus. It is used again in Cue6 when Cesar asks Maximus to become the next
Cesar, when he passes away.
Acoustic guitar Is used extensively from Cue10 – Cue 13, when Maximus is galloping
home to save his family, to portray him coming closer to his homeland.
2.Commodus
Commodus has several themes, that are distinctively his (T1, T8, T10, T11, T12 , T13).
T1 - Curiously the whole movie starts with the T1, which stated before, is played by a
medieval instrument gamshorn. What is also interesting is, that T1 appears in the score
exactly 9 nice cues, which is the exact number of cues in which T5 (Earth theme B)
appears. Zimmer thus gives almost the same amount of attention to both of the themes
linked to the antagonist and protagonist. In contrast to T5, which evolves in
orchestration and develops slowly through the film, T1 stays pretty constant and uses
similar orchestration throughout. It is usually combined with long sustained string
bourdon notes, voices and the dulcimer like instrument yan ching. The theme usually
played by gamshorn, but in some cues the violins play it in a slightly augmented
version. Yet the theme itself is very simple, in my opinion, it is the most emotional theme
of the film. It really portrays and catches the essence of the personality of Commodus.
Commodus is a character, that just wants to be loved and approved of and the audience
cannot help but feel pity for him. As a viewer of the film, you feel sorry for him, yet you
are scared of him and hate him at the same time. T1 helps with this a lot, since the
theme itself is very pure and soft, but still it evokes fear and uncertainty.
T8 is the next most important theme for Commodus. It is often used after the pure and
soft T1. T8 is primarily played by cello solo or the cello section with no real big
orchestration. It portrays the pure evil side of Commodus. It enhances the scary and
eerie side of T1 with its haunting nature. As T1, we also hear T8 it appear in 9 cues and
this just confirms that Zimmer is showing the same amount of attention to both main
characters.
T10 I named Commodus’s power theme although it first appears in cue 14 together
with T8 (the Maroccan theme). This is strange, since this scene has nothing to do with
Commodus. Maybe Zimmer was trying to add subtext saying, that Maximus is in the
position he is in at the time because of Commodus. T10 really strikes deep in Cue35,
one of the most emotional parts of the film, when Maximus reveals himself to
Commodus as the gladiator. We hear T10 in the low strings right before Maximus turns
to Commodus without his helmet. I believe the T10 is hear meant to portray the anger
Commodus has towards Maximus, since Maximus turned his back on him and you
should never turn your back towards the Cesar. It also portrays Maximus’s fear at the
time and creates a very tense atmosphere. The theme is lastly heard at the end of
cue51 after Commodus stabs Maximus in the back. It creates a feeling of doubt, defeat
of Maximus and the power Commodus has at the time.
T11 (Commodus the merciful) is the most striking theme, or better to say a collection of
themes of the film. It is orchestrated in string orchestra only and is very counterpoinctal.
The first 4 notes are an inversion of T10, so the themes are connected with each other.
It is first used in Cue 38, in the scene, that is only in the extended version of the film,
where Gracus, a general, that was order to execute Maximus, but failed at the task, has
to now order the execution of two soldiers in the presence of Commodus, to prove his
loyalty to the new Cesar. It is very apparent, that the whole cue was just copied from
Cue51, the famous “Am I not merciful” Scene. As Zimmer points out in his interview in
“Making of Gladiator”: “You get a completely new theme, because it feels like all bets
are off now. Everything is just raw emotions. He lost his mind finally. He will do crazy
things about passion and I felt like I could turn everything upside-down on its head and
go for this very, very dark stuff… It is those kinds of things where you surprise the
audience by not doing the obvious, going against type and actually in a funny way, what
you do as a composer, is you forever expose yourself in this sort of emotional way,
where you let them see into your deepest, darkest secrets.”
In the non-extended version T11 really appears for the first time in Cue51 and has an
even more shocking effect on the audience. Although I really like the scene in cue38 I
think, other music should be used for that scene. Although it works great, it ruins the
surprise to come at cue51, since you have already heard the music prior in the film.
Cue38 is probably work of a music editor.
T12,T13 are the themes that appear in cue8 where Commodus murders his father. This
deeply sad and emotional themes, yet has a very passionate character to it, which
makes sense, since Commodus killed his father, because he knew, he would never
have named him the new emperor of Rome. They are orchestrated with string orchestra
with romantic period harmony.
3.Battle Themes and motifs
We have several battle related themes and motives. M1 is a motive of approaching
danger, usually orchestrated with acoustic guitar or string staccatos. M1,1 is a derivative
of M1 and is used in the same way orchestrated in low strings. M2 and M3 are used in
the heat of battle and are usually orchestrated with heavy brass. T6 is a theme that
often appears in heroic moments during battle scenes. M4 if used for moment of
anticipation of an upcoming event. Similar to T6, T14 and M8 is also used during battle
orchestrated in octaves in brass. It is usually combined with M7 (staccato trumpets).
T15 is used at times of victory. We hear it at the end of the battle at cue1 and end of the
battle at cue34. All battle themes and motives are very brass, string and percussion
heavy. It is really the sound, that Zimmer is most known for and masters very well. It is
not orchestration, that would work in a real orchestra scenario, but Zimmer’s recording
and mixing techniques made this sound very popular in modern film scores.
I must point out, that all battle themes/cues are written in a ¾ time signature and
Zimmer calls them Battle Waltzes and states, that they are based on the Viennese
Waltz. This is how he explains his decision in the interview in Making of Gladiator: “So
much of what we perceive as beauty and culture and great architecture is build on
blood, guts and gore of other people. Musically, how can I reflect the architectural
beauty, the architectural symmetry of the Rome? And I was thinking: “What was the
most beautiful form of music? The Viennese Waltzes.” Because we look at these
sculptures and we say “Oh isn’t this beautiful!”, but we forget that it is death and
destruction and savagery that brought them to us. So I decided to write all the action
sequences in waltzes. And just used the waltz and turn it head and show its bloody
underbelly.”
4.Other thematic material
One of the most scenically beautiful scenes in the movie is when we first see Rome
and its Coliseum (Cue17). This is the only time we hear T16 (the Glory of Rome). It is
orchestrated with a large standard orchestra with choir and crash cymbals for accents.
Harmonically it is romantic/post romantic The glory of Rome. The music portrays the
absolute majestic scenery of the beauty of the city, while Commodus rides through the
street on his carriage and people scream disapproving taunts at him which makes for a
great contrast. When the picture shows Luciose’s face we hear a short flute solos
(panned all the way to the right, what is very weird). We have a sudden cut to next cue
at 1:04:33 with an abrupt end.
The Moroccan theme T17 is only once heard in its full version in Cue11. It is
orchestrated with Guitars, percussions, strings, shvi flute, duduk, yan ching and of
course has a very Arabic feel too it. Zimmer points out in his interview in Making of
Gladiator:” Once we are Morocco, I wanted to make it dirty, tribal and gritty.”
M10 is the motif used at the start of the gladiator games in the Roman Coliseum and is
always played by trumpets (doubled with horns). They are part of the source music,
since we see the fanfare players in the picture several times. The motif repeats in
several cues. It appears for the first time in cue19 where we have an “airplane shot”
over the Coliseum.
We have to also note, that Zimmer always uses very dense dissonant, almost atonal
harmony, orchestration and texture whenever we see the Coliseum. This is done, so we
really get the feeling, that the Coliseum, although beautiful on the outside, is a very
terrifying place.
7. Conclusion
First off, I would like to point out, that during my analysis I realized, that there is a lot
more thematic material in Gladiator as I previously thought. There is music almost
throughout the movie and there are only a couple of scenes, where there Is no music.
The thematic material is very well thought out and we can see that Zimmer spends a
lot of time and care with his themes to make them perfect for the characters and
scenes. Because the movie is very character driven the thematic material corresponds
with the protagonist and antagonist. Zimmer decided to use more then one theme for
each of the main characters and thus he opened up for himself more options.
I find it very smart, how the first cue of the film showcases several important themes of
the film and immediately imbeds them into the viewer’s mind, before they even know,
who the themes relate too and why they are there.
As I pointed out in the previous section, themes related to Maximus change through
time and are given different instrumentation versions to portray the emotional
transformation of out protagonist. On the other hand Commodus’s themes get very little
change. He does not change much through the film and Zimmer just wants to portray
him as a mentally and emotionally challenged individual, who rises to power, yet does
not learn and change for the benefit of himself and the people he rules.
The music and orchestration of the battle scenes creates nice contrast to the sensual
thematic material of our main characters. Zimmer successfully caught both sides of the
film; drama on one hand and action on the other. I think this very much contributed to
the success of the film.
We must also note, that all the melodies Zimmer wrote are very catch and are easily
recognizable. This is extremely important, since you want the viewers of your film, to
leave the movie theater with the themes of the movie stuck in their heads. Since
Zimmer wrote so many themes, many of which are extremely catchy, and repeats them
often, viewers of the film are bound to leave the theater with whistling at least one of
them. This of course also helped with the Soundtrack CD sales. The soundtrack albums
of Gladiator are still one of the most successful soundtrack album releases ever.
In conclusion, I think the score of Gladiator is a masterpiece and deserves all the
recognitions it has gotten throughout the years.
8. Phone Call with Hans Zimmer
As part of my research process of my CE, I contacted Hans Zimmer, if he could
answer a few questions about the score of Gladiator for me. He invited me, to have a
phone conversation. We ended up talking for about an hour. For obvious reasons I did
not record the conversation. In this section I will write in an interview format, although I
will use my own words in Zimmer’s responses. At this point I would like to give a big
thank you to Mr. Zimmer to take the time to talk to me.
Q: Can you tell me how it was working on the film? How was your relationship
with Ridley and the team?
Hans explained to me, that they were a very close team and that he was writing music
in the same building as Ridley and his team were cutting the film, so they had constant
interaction between each other. Many cues in the film ended up being reused by the
edit team and many scenes in the film ended being cut to the music, what is very
interesting. An example of this is Cue34 which uses exact music from Cue1 and the
editors cut the scene to the music of Cue1.
Hans said, that is was great working in this kind of team. He also pointed out, that he
loved working together with Lisa Gerrard and Djivan Gasparyan and just “jamming” and
improvising to picture with them in his studio. A lot of these improvisations ended up in
the movie. Since Djivan does not speak a word of English, Hans said, that the only way
they could communicate was through music and that that was really special.
Q: How was the thematic material used in the film. How did you choose what
theme goes where?
As I pointed out earlier in this paper, there is a lot of thematic material in the film.
Hans pointed out, that all these melodies “just kind of happened” and were not meant to
be like light-motifs. Only later in the production, some themes got attached to certain
characters like T4 to Maximus and T1 to Commodus. He also said, that the first cut of
the film was almost 4h long and that that is the reason why all the themes are so long.
Q: How come there are abrupt endings of cues in the film (example Cue 17)?
The film had undergone many changes and cuts, so we had to make changes on the
fly. That is probably the reason why there are abrupt cuts of cues.
Q: In one of your interview you state, that the Commodus the Merciful scene has
its very own music (T11), which appears only once and thus comes as an
surprise to the audience, yet in the extended cut of the movie, we here this theme
in Cue38.
Hans replied, that must have been work of a music editor and that he never really
scene the extended version of Gladiator and he did not know this cue was used in
Cue38.
Q: How come Cue10 uses so many mockup-ed instruments?
Hans told me, that this was one of the last scenes they have gotten and they actually
gotten and it had to be done in great haste. He sais he recored a lot of guitar for this
scene with guitarist. Heitor Pereira. He imagined almost, that he was writing a little
guitar concerto for him.
Q: Did you record the strings and brass separately?
Strings and brass were recorded separately at AirStudios. The first reason for that
was, to give more room for mixing purposes and the second reason Hans pointed out
was, that the brass parts were very intense and hard to play, so in order to make the
players more confortable. Since strings and brass were recorded separately he could
rehears with the brass and let them take pauses, without making the strings players just
sit and wait.
9. Cue Sheet
CUE
Start
End
Cue 1
0:00:02
0:12:25
Function
Instrumentation
Themes /
Motifs
score
Dramatic enhancement and story telling. Setting the tone for
the whole movie. Laying down thematic material.
Borduna & modes, ethnic flute (gamshorn), acoustic guitar, Lisa
Gerrard (voice), yan ching ,tension with rhythmic elements amd
building orchestration. Emotional adagio ending.
Tl, T2, T3,
T5, T6, T7, T14, T15, M1, M1.1,M2,M4, M5, M6, M7, M8
Sense of evil in Commodus’s nature (T1, T8). Story telling
(M6)
Type
Cue 2
0:12:59
0:15:26
score
Cue 3
0:16:35
0:20:44
score - scored
Cue 4
0:20:44
0:22:28
score
Cue 5
0:25:20
26:10
Cue 6
0:27:23
Cue7
Bordun strings. and gamshorn (T1)
Brass chord as glue to T8. Solo cello (T8). Acoustic guitar, duduk
(M6). At 00:15:00 Commodus rides into the scene. Big brassy
ominous chords
T1,T8,M4, Other
mood (Cesar’s sadness and disappointment towards
Commodus). War aftermath and Maximus’s longing for
home. T1 makes sense of Commodus’s presence
Yan ching, Vvoice, ethinc winds and percussions for source music
T1,
Other
Cesars’s love towards Lucilla, Maximus’s soft side.
Duduk solo for Cesar, trumpet solo for Maximus. Sustained strings
T4 (Earth Theme)
score
Maximus’s nostalgia for his home and family.
Sustained strings
T2
0:28:10
score
Tension yet trust. When Cesar starts speaking about Commodus
the music becomes more tense, yet goes back into a more relax
stile after.
Sustained bass strings. Duduk solo, acoustic guitars
M5
0:29:25
0:31:22
score
Love and respect between Lucilla and Maximus. Maximus’s love
towards his family.
Duduk solo, oboe solo and sustains strings, soft acoustic guitars
T4. T5 (Full earth theme)
Cue 8
0:33:40
0:37:30
score
Creating tension, yet an eerie feeling. Creating a feeling of sorrow,
sadness, disappointment. One of the most emotional cue
String orchestra
T12, M10
Cue 9
0:37:45
0:38:40
score
Tension, suspense, sorrow, fear
Chang Ying, Voice.
Variation of T2
Cue 10
0:42:00
0:47:30
score
Action, drama. At 0:44:47 there is an accelerando (time is running
out to save his family)
Synth percussions, strings, guitars, synths. Everything except the
acoustic guitars sound like they were mockuped. yan ching. Vocal
Other, T5 (augmented), T2
Cue 11
0:48:15
0:50:26
score
Set up of new environment. Morocco.
Gutiars, percussions, strings, shvi flute, duduk, synth bass
T17
Cue 12
0:51:26
0:52:00
score
Set up of new environment. Morocco.
Gutiars, percussions, strings, shvi flute, duduk, yan ching
Variation of T17
Cue 13
0:52:40
0:55:46
score
Tension (first part), false sense of calmness (T9)
Cue 14
0:55:46
0:56:50
Source/score
Setting a festive mood with a gory, wrong feeling. (weird cut at
0:56:14)
Cue 15
0:57:36
1:00:03
Score/source
(SFX)
Tension. People screaming “Kill, Kill” and the sound of
the hammer hitting the anvil help with the tension
Cue 16
1:00:03
1:02:22
Cue 17
1:02:22
1:04:33
score
score
Creating a feel for the action scene. The music slowly
gets faster and faster.
The glory of Rome. The music portrays the absolute majestic
scenery of the beauty of the city, while Commodus rides
through the street on his carriage and people scream
disapproving taunts at him. When the picture shows
Luciose’s face we hear a short flute solos (panned all the way
to the right!?). Sudden cut to next cue at 1:04:33
Gutiars, percussion(beginning), vocal, cello, duduk, strings
Ethnic strings, percussions, zurla, strings, duduk
Zurna, string bourdon, strings, percussions. Good incorporation
of SFX with the music
M4, T9
Mix between T10 and T8
Mix between T10 and T8, T5 augmented
Zurna, ethnic voices (sustained and chants), fast percussion,
rhythmic synth bass, rising string lines, brass chords
Other
Large standard orchestra with choir. with romantic era harmonies
and voice leading.
T16
Gams horn, solo cello, strings, bourdon
Cue 19
1:07:26
1:08:46
Cue 21
1:09:57
1:11:52
Cue 22
1:11:52
1:12:3
score
1:08:27 start of orchestral atonal buildup to show to mightiness
Commodus ambitions and dark nature. Mightiness of the
of the coliseums
coliseums
score
Setting mood for action, anticipation and danger
Percussions, ethnic vocal chants, ethnic winds, orchestral bass
motif, bass drums hit (more of SFX)
T1, T8,M10
Other
Strings Bordun, yan ching, Horns, strings
score
Feeling of victory but, sadness
Passion of Proximo towards his years of being a
Gladiator.
Cue 23
1:13:24
1:16:06
score
Cue 24
1:16:05
1:17:20
source
Feeling of nostalgia
Score
Feeling of happiness and adventures, then feeling of
power. T8 for Maximus knowing he is getting near to his
goal of killing Commodus
1:20:07
score
Commodus’s dark nature as he watches Lucius sleep
1:21:50
score
Cue 25
11:17:20
Cue 27
1:20:40
Strings, horns, bass hits, trumpet
T9
Bordun, voice, percussions
T2
Strings, horns (fanfares when we see the coliseum),
percussions. Atonal Orchestration again for the Colloseum
Other, T8
1:19:15
1:19:15
Cue 26
T5
Gamshorn, strings
Commodus trying to defy his fathers wish of giving power
to the senate. Commodus’s anger
T1
T12,T13
String orchestra, solo violin.
T1, T8
Gamshorn, strings
Cue 28
1:24:21
1:25:34
score
Lucilla’s fear of Commodus
Cue 28
1:25:34
1:26:28
score
Gladiators have arrivers
Strings, horn.
Atonal orchestra for Coliseums,
T9, M10
Street music
Cue 29
1:27:05
1:27:45
source
Cue 30
1:27:45
1:28:27
score
Lucious reminds Maximus of his son. Nostalgia
Can 31
1:28.27
1:30:31
score
Maximus realizes Lucios is Lucilla’s son. Gladiators enter
the Coliseum for the first time
Ethnic winds, percussions
Other
yan ching, voice, strings
Strings, brass horns. Trumpets (very Mars like)
T2
M2 augmented,M7 (different version)
Announcement of the beginning of the games
Cue 32
1:30:31
1:30:50
source
Roman fanfares, percussions
M10
Enhance the storytelling. T5 for Maximus leadership
skills
Other, T5 (augmented)
Cue 33
1:31:19
1:32:25
score
Cue 34
1:32:25
1:36:50
score
Cue 35
1:36:50
1:41:03
Score/source
Percussions, brass for the Barbarian horde
Entrance of the chariots, Battle, Themes follow the
turning point in the battle.
Orchestra, percussions
M7, M8, M2,M1,M6,T6, M3, T7, T15,
Acoustic guitars, strings, percussions, Roman fanfares, Orchestra
M4, M11, T10, Other, T5 (in its full glory for the first time)
strings
T1 (augmented)
Strings, duduk, oboe
T4
strings
T11
Roman fanfares, percussions
M10
Roman fanfares, percussions
M10
Roman fanfares, percussions
M10
Strings, brass (sounds mockuped)
Other
Strings, percussions
M4
Feeling of great tension
Commodus’s anger and disappointment
Cue 36
1:44:25
1:45:40
score
Cue 37
1:48:24
1:49:15
score
Love, sadness
Fear towards Commodus, power of Commodus
Cue 38
1:48:15
1:52:00
score
Cue 39
1:53:30
1:54:24
source
Cue 40
1:55:08
1:55:30
source
Cue 41
1:56:00
1:56:50
source
Cue 42
1:59:26
2:00:31
score
Cue 43
2:00:49
2:02:00
score
fanfares
fanfares
fanfares
Creating tension
Creating tension
Nostalgia, sadness
Cue
44
2:00:03
2:03:45
score
Cue
45
2:03:45
2:04:42
score
Cue
46
2:05:10
2:08:15
score
Voice, Strings bourdon. yan ching /percussions, strings, brass
T2,T3
Strings, voice
T2
Percussions, gamshorn, low strings
T11 (variation), gimps of T1, M9
Strings, percussions, detuned voices, yan ching
T9, M9, T1
Strings, choir, plucked instrument
T5 (soft version)
Synth pads, voices, ethnic flute, strings, brass pads
T1,T8
Brass, strings, cymbals, guitars
M6,M2,M3,T5,T7, other
Strings, gamshorn, solo cello/Choirs, brass for T10
T11,T1,T10
Synth pads, strings, Yan Ching
Other
Pads, voice, strings, tumpet, brass,
“Now we are free”. T5,
Nostalgia
Commodus’s anger and frustrations. Planning…
Sense that everything is going to plan…, tension
Cue
47
2:11:19
2:18:40
score
Cue
48
2:19:34
2:20:50
score
Cue 49
2:21:22
2:24:17
score
Cue
50
2:24:17
2:28:56
score
Cue
51
2:28:58
2:35:49
score
Cue
52
2:37:00
2:37:40
score
2:38:47
To
credits
score
Passion, love, loneliness
Betrayal, fear
Action (seems to be a music edit of the beginning
Battle scene.
Disappointment, anger, craziness of Commodus.
Cue
53
Delusional state of Maximus
Maximus is dying. He is going to his afterlife, to
his family
10. List of references:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Gladiator: Extended edition, Paramount Pictures, released in 2001
Gladiator (film, 2000): http://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiator_(film,_2000)
Hans Zimmer - Interview on Gladiator soundtrack:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goafUm5cDbo
Making of Gladiator/ interview with Hans Zimmer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JAlOTl84yc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGPoJvQhhKk
An interview with Hans Zimmer: ptless.org/hzimmer/gladiator.html by John Pattyson
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172495/
