Dune’s music was written to honor the strong female characters of the 1965 novel, says composer Hans Zimmer. After delays due to the coronavirus pandemic, Dune was released in US cinemas and on HBO Max in October. It's the third major attempt to bring Frank Herbert's story to the big screen, following Alejandro Jodorowsky abandoned project in the 1970s and the 1984 film David Lynch has disowned. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, the epic science-fiction film has been a success with audiences, critics, and even fellow creatives, with Villeneuve's Hollywood contemporary Christopher Nolan praising Dune for its special effects, scale, and story.
Following their work together on Blade Runner 2049, Zimmer reteamed with Villeneuve to compose the score for Dune. Perhaps the most recognizable film composer working today, Zimmer is best known for his work with Nolan, including Interstellar and The Dark Knight trilogy, as well as on numerous other blockbuster films, such as the Pirates of the Caribbean series. More recently, the German composer scored Craig's final 007 outing, No Time To Die, which included homages to the Bond legacy.
Similarly, in his work on Dune, Zimmer also sought to pay tribute to the legacy of Herbert's original story. Speaking with Den of Geek, the prolific composer says that he and director Villeneuve felt “very strongly” about using female voices in the score. They felt that the novel had positioned women as having "the true strength,” and Zimmer worked to ensure that the score reflected that. Read the full quote below:
Both Denis and I felt very strongly about the presence of female voices. I think the underlying game Frank Herbert plays with us is that what drives the story forward is really the women. They’re in charge, the Bene Gesserit. It’s always a woman who seems to have the true strength in these stories.
Dune's otherworldly score has been well received as something unorthodox for Zimmer. Pulling from a variety of cultures to represent the different planets, as well as creating new instrumentation to get across the science-fiction element, the score's most notable motifs contain female voices and choirs. Three full soundtrack albums were released for the film - The Dune Sketchbook, Dune (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), and The Art and Soul of Dune - and women's voices come to the fore throughout. The song "Paul's Dream" from The Dune Sketchbook contains perhaps the most notable striking female voice, used in the movie's theatrical trailer.
While Timothée Chalamet's Paul Atreides is the story's protagonist, the music does indeed reflect the strength that female characters possess in Villeneuve's adaptation. The Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit - the all-female religious order to which Paul's mother, Lady Jessica, belongs - exhibits both power and authority in Dune's famous Gom Jabbar scene. It's Lady Jessica who trains Paul in the ways of the Bene Gesserit, passing her knowledge down to him, and though Zendaya's Chani gets less screen-time than the trailers suggested, she appears as a capable warrior who is certain to play a greater part in the sequel. With Dune: Part 2 now confirmed for 2023, Zimmer will also be returning, and fans are hoping that he hasn't already exhausted his library of otherworldly sounds.
Source: Den of Geek
