Review
This score instantly became a favorite of mine when I first heard it. I had been a big fan of Hans Zimmer along with Christopher Nolan (who directed the film) for years prior to Interstellar, so naturally I was anticipating the music release just as much as the film. And Hans Zimmer did not disappoint. He delivered a score that leans heavily on the pipe organ, and despite it not being an instrument I cared for previously, this soundtrack changed my mind on that. There are so many groundbreaking things Zimmer does in this soundtrack. This score is, as I said, heavy on the organ, with beautiful piano that ranges from suspenseful, to lonesome, and almost to eerie, such as in the track “Message from Home.” The core theme of the film is most clearly stated in the track “S.T.A.Y.” It is simple, and, in fact, it was something that Zimmer composed for Nolan based solely on the prompt of a father who has to leave a child to do something important, and the dialogue of the father, “I’ll come back,” to which the child replies, “When?” This is almost verbatim to an early scene of the film with the main character Cooper and his daughter Murph before he leaves to go on the mission to space. When Nolan gave Zimmer this prompt, Nolan had not even decided to make the film, but Zimmer’s theme sealed the deal (interestingly, early versions of the script were written by Christopher Nolan’s brother Jonathan, and Steven Spielberg was originally slated to direct). The theme that Zimmer wrote off an early prompt thus became an integral part of the score, and the project as a whole. The score evokes a wide range of emotions: from suspense, such as in the track “Imperfect Lock,” to bittersweet sadness or heartbreak, even to awe, as in parts of the track “Where We’re Going.” The Expanded Edition features several bonus tracks which have a more ambient feel to them than the rest of the score. They are a more mellow listen than the rest of the album, so sometimes I will put on just the bonus tracks if I’m in the mood for something more ambient.
Review by Michael.