Hans Zimmer & Mexican Guitar Duo Rodrigo Y Gabriela Teaming For 'On Stranger Tides' Score

by Kevin Jagernauth
February 22, 2011 2:42 AM
3 Comments

Soundtrack Will Hit Stores On May 17th

Hans Zimmer has certainly never been any slouch, but lately, the composer seems to have been newly inspired in a way some of his other longstanding contemporaries haven't been. His work for Christopher Nolan on "The Dark Knight" and the Oscar-nominated "Inception" have been brilliantly left-of-field, while his score for "Sherlock Holmes" was inventive in ways we didn't imagine. And it looks like Zimmer is going to continue his unique approach heading into his next big gig.

According to a press release from Walt Disney Records, Zimmer is teaming with acclaimed Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo Y Gabriela for the score for the forthcoming "Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides." With four studio albums, and two live albums under their belts, Rodrigo Y Gabriela have become unlikely worldwide stars meeting with a strong fanbase in Europe, but they've also broken through in the United States, getting play on MTV, making appearances on late night television and even playing at the White House. Musically speaking, the duo's vibrant and distinct style of playing should be breath of fresh air in the long-running franchise -- of which Zimmer has scored every film except the first -- and we're curious to hear the results of the collaboration.

The film stars Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane, Stephen Graham, Richard Griffiths, Keith Richards, Judi Dench, Sam Clafin and Astrid Berges-Frisby and will hit theaters this spring on May 20th. The soundtrack will arrive in stores a few days earlier on May 17th.

More: Films, Composers, Musicians, Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Hans Zimmer, Rodrigo Y Gabriela

3 Comments

| Reply
Chris | February 22, 2011 6:34 AMReply

@BuntyHoven Hans has said he wrote an 8 minute demo that served as the template for the 1st film that he gave to Klaus, and that piece contained the themes we think of as being "Pirates". Credit went to Klaus as he was the one writing most of the film while Hans served as manager. They did the whole movie in ~ two weeks. Everyone over there was writing as fast as they could.

Klaus struck out on his own sometime after 'Pirates' and was not involved in the later films.
Michael | February 22, 2011 3:22 AMReply

Awesome! Figured Hans would use the guitar for the Spanish accents in the movie. Rodrigo Y Gabriela sound amazing.

Can't wait to hear the soundtrack!
BuntyHoven | February 22, 2011 2:59 AMReply

What was the deal with the first film? Score was credited to Klaus Badelt, but contained all of the recurring themes that Zimmer has retained throughout the series. Was it a case of the Remote Control factory designing the score by committee? I know often a Zimmer score will contain work from other Remote Control composers, but haven't really seen the credit transferred like it was on te Pirates sequels. Didn't even say anything like "contains themes from Klaus Badelt" or anything.

Weird.