Hans Zimmer wins a first-ever BAFTA for Dune

The stars aligned yesterday evening at the Royal Albert Hall as Hans Zimmer’s music for Dune won the BAFTA for Original Score, his first accolade from the British Film Academy.

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BERLIN, GermanY - MARCH 08: International German film composer and music producer Hans Zimmer during the Hans Zimmer Live Europe Tour 2022 press get together at 260 Grad Rooftop bar on March 8, 2022 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Tristar Media/Getty Images)

Michael Beek

Published: March 14, 2022 at 10:07 am

The 75th BAFTA Film Awards took place at the Royal Albert Hall yesterday evening and it was a suitably glittering occasion. It was made all the more special as the great and good of the film industry could gather in person, following the lifting of coronavirus restrictions in the UK.

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune was one of the hotly tipped winners of the evening and it didn’t disappoint, scooping five awards. One went to composer Hans Zimmer for his deeply immersive original score.

Zimmer couldn’t attend the ceremony as he is currently in the midst of a European tour, but he is sure to be thrilled with the win. Despite nine prior film awards nominations (his first was in 1992 for Thelma and Louise), the German-born film music titan hadn’t won a BAFTA for his music before now.

Disappointingly the televised ceremony didn’t feature the music award, but there was a vein of music running through the show. It opened with a live performance of ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, one of the best James Bond themes, in honour of 007’s 60th anniversary. Dame Shirley Bassey gave a fabulous rendition, supported by a small orchestra (credited as ‘The Shirley Bassey Orchestra) placed in the right Choir Stalls.

There was also a live performance of Joni Mitchell’s ‘Both Sides Now’, which features in the film Coda. It was performed by the film’s star, Emilia Jones, whose vocals were interpreted on stage in ASL and BSL sign language.

The ‘In Memoriam’ sequence featured a lovely arrangement of the late Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Send in the Clowns’.

All eyes (and ears) will now turn to the Oscars. The 94th Academy Awards take place in Los Angeles on Sunday 27 March. With a BAFTA win under his belt, Hans Zimmer may be in line for a second Oscar… Check out our Best Original Score predictions.

Hans Zimmer at the film BAFTAs

2022 Winner – Dune

2018 Nominee – Blade Runner: 2049 (with Benjamin Wallfisch) Nominee – Dunkirk

2015 Nominee – Interstellar

2014 Nominee – 12 Years a Slave

2011 Nominee – Inception

2009 Nominee – The Dark Knight (with James Newton Howard)

2001 Nominee – Gladiator

1995 Nominee – The Lion King

1992 Nominee – Thelma & Louise

(Photo by Tristar Media/Getty Images)

Michael Beek

Reviews Editor, BBC Music Magazine

Michael is the Reviews Editor of BBC Music Magazine. He looks after the 26 pages of recording and book reviews in the magazine each month, deciding what will be reviewed – no easy task with so much being sent in for consideration! Michael joined the team in 2018, following ten years as a freelance film music journalist and fifteen years at St George's Bristol. Film and television music is his favourite thing, and when he’s not listening to things to be reviewed in the mag, Michael loves nothing more than to listen to the music of John Williams and James Horner – his favourite film composers. He was the Editor of MusicfromtheMovies.com and has written for the BBC Proms, BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Albert Hall, Hollywood in Vienna and Silva Screen Records. His favourite writing gigs so far have been programmes for each of the Doctor Who Proms, soundtrack album notes for Doctor Who – Series 4 and Torchwood – Children of Earth, plus programmes and features for live concert screenings of Jurassic Park, Gladiator, Back to the Future and Raiders of the Lost Ark. While he never got the chance to interview the late James Horner, Michael was delighted to spend an hour on the phone with John Williams for the 2020 Christmas issue of BBC Music Magazine. Also a presenter, Michael has hosted concerts and live events for Bristol Film Festival and St George's Bristol, plus Debbie Wiseman's ‘Music and Words from Wolf Hall’ shows at venues across the UK. Michael has worked regularly with Debbie Wiseman over the years, writing concert programmes and scripts (for Terry Wogan and Simon Bates) and producing her 2011 album Piano Stories.

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