Heaven and Hans Zimmer

A full Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, played host to a recent concert featuring music that left those in attendance remembering childhood, grappling with emotions, and longing for something beyond our everyday experiences. It wasn’t a major pop star or rapper on the stage, but rather a full orchestra led by film composer Hans Zimmer.

Over two sets, Zimmer conducted, played, and guided the orchestra through his music, performing popular pieces from films like Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dark Knight, and Dune: Part Two (a score which earned Zimmer a Grammy two days before the Columbus show).

The concert was a wonderful experience, in part because I joined the chorus of thousands whose lives Zimmer’s music has impacted. Many of us surely had anxieties and stressors waiting in the outside world. For a few short hours, though, those things passed away to make room for the music. We engaged in the process of “self-emptying.” Leaving the show, I thought, “You can’t tell me there’s not something spiritual happening.”

Perhaps that sentiment would be best suited for a Christian praise concert, where there is little doubt about the intentions of everyone involved. Zimmer’s personal beliefs do not come through in his music, which itself is not inherently religious. Those in the crowd surely represented a large array of different beliefs and perspectives. But to say someone cannot feel God when listening to instrumental music is to diminish God’s power and common grace, to deny his presence in the very art he enables.

During Zimmer’s concert, this power and grace prompted me to think about heaven. Again, this is probably a common occurrence at Christian concerts. My childhood memories are flooded with images and sounds from such events, where someone—either from the stage, in the crowd, or right next to me—would say, “If this crowd sounds this beautiful, imagine what heaven will sound like.” The music Zimmer performed was undeniably beautiful, but rather than thinking of what heaven will sound like, I became focused on what heaven will look like. Throughout the show, Zimmer recognized several members of his band, including Pedro Eustache, a Venezuelan woodwinds instrumentalist (and self-proclaimed Christian); Tina Guo, a Chinese-born cellist; and many others. All these musicians shared the stage together, offering a lovely reminder of the promise in Revelation 7: that members of every tribe, tongue, and nation will worship the Lord together in song.

This reminder of heaven’s harmony had me thinking about the church’s current disarray. Causes of schism in the church today include denominational differences and racial and ethnic divisions. (Martin Luther King Jr. famously stated that 11 a.m. on Sunday is one of “the most segregated hours in Christian America.”) The divisions within the church today feel almost natural, but Scripture clearly states there should be no such disunity. The church is meant to function as “God’s household,” acting as an earthly prelude to heaven. That household is meant to be filled with unified worship, regardless of race, culture, or denominational position. When a concert like Zimmer’s gives a clearer picture of what heaven looks like than the average church on Sunday morning, something is amiss.

In addition to thinking of heaven, I also began piecing together common themes in the films for which Zimmer has scored. Those scores often reflect the main ideas of the movies they inhabit. Central to several of these works is a sense of longing, something that, by extension, is integral to Zimmer’s music. Often, that longing has to do with the reunion and reconciliation between a parent and a child. Consider his score for Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. Zimmer stated, both at this concert and elsewhere, that he wrote the film’s main musical theme after Nolan presented him a one-page story about a father-daughter relationship. That relationship, represented by this simple, piano-driven piece, became the beating heart of the epic space drama. The idea of connection, even while worlds apart, should resonate with Christians. While we believe in God’s omnipresence, we also know that he exists somewhere far beyond the reaches of this fallen, sinful world. While our ultimate citizenship is in heaven, joined together with Christ, we still have a connection with him here and now by way of the Holy Spirit.

Joining together with loved ones is also a prominent idea in Inception. With “Time,” the track that plays during that film’s conclusion—when Leonardo DiCaprio’s Cobb is (seemingly) reunited with his children—Zimmer offers a sense of triumph, as well as quiet intimacy. The booming score gives way to a soft piano, as Cobb accomplishes his mission and returns to embrace his children. Conversely, in The Lion King, Zimmer’s music captures the emotionality of longing for someone who has passed. His score, laid over lyrics and dialogue about the circle of life and the mourning of the loss of loved ones, offers a hope, maybe even a promise, about the reunion that will take place in a more spiritual place. For Christians, that place is heaven. Looking around the venue while these performances occurred, I thought about those in the crowd who may have lost someone. I thought about the people in my own life who have passed. And in these moments, I thought about how the music bound us together in our shared experiences of longing, loss, grief, and hope.

Being part of this chorus in Columbus was special. Getting to leave the world’s problems at the door and connect with others through music was special. And yet, those Christian worship leaders of my youth were right: Zimmer’s music, too, is simply a fractional glimpse of what awaits us in heaven.

_______________

At Think Christian, we encourage careful cultural discernment. We recognize and respect that many Christians choose not to engage with pop culture that contains particular content, such as abuse, sex, violence, alcohol or drug use, or that employs the use of coarse language. To that end, we suggest visiting Common Sense Media for detailed information regarding the content of the particular pieces of pop culture discussed in this article.