An organ in space
Interstellar (2014) · Hans Zimmer
Before telling him what the film was about, Christopher Nolan gave Zimmer a single page in an envelope. It said nothing about spaceships or black holes. It was a short story about a father who has to leave his child to do an important job, with two lines of dialogue: 'I'll come back' and 'When?'. Zimmer had one day to write something and play it to him.
That produced an intimate, almost chamber-like theme that became the heart of the score. To grow it to the size of space, Zimmer chose an unexpected instrument: the organ of Temple Church in London, built in 1926 by Harrison & Harrison and played by Roger Sayer, the church's organist.
Zimmer said the pipes reminded him of a spaceship's afterburners, and that an instrument that sounds with air made him think that, for an astronaut, every breath counts. The organ was joined by 34 strings, 24 woodwinds, four pianos and a 60-voice choir, recorded in London in spring 2014.
The score was nominated for an Oscar. But what sets it apart is the contrast: the film talks about galaxies, and the music, all the way through, about a father who leaves.