Latest Release
- NOV 17, 2023
- 40 Songs
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Pt. 1 (Original Motion Picture Score) · 2014
- The Dark Knight (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) · 2008
- The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (Music From & Inspired By) · 2023
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Pt. 2 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) · 2015
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Deluxe Edition] · 2016
- Batman Begins (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) · 2005
- The Dark Knight (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) · 2008
- Jungle Cruise (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) · 2021
- The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Original Motion Picture Score) · 2023
- Jungle Cruise (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) · 2021
Essential Albums
- There’s little breathing room on Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard’s brilliantly conceived soundtrack for The Dark Knight. Just like Heath Ledger’s totally psycho portrayal of The Joker, almost every track is heavy, dense, and claustrophobic. Zimmer is a sucker for industrial music and dark electronics, both of which creep their way into “Agent of Chaos” and the violently rhythmic “Why So Serious?” Even the reflective orchestral offerings are smeared in grim textures and dystopian murk. Definitely file under “uneasy listening.”
- Batman Begins, the first film in the most recent series that features the caped superhero—Batman’s origins date back to the 1930s—was directed by Christopher Nolan, and released in 2005. The film’s score was written by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, two of Hollywood’s most well-known composers. The soundtrack opens with the moody “Vespertilio,” where chugging strings, ominous brass, and electronics effectively set the stage for the action to come. (The track titles are based on the Latin names for various types of bats.) The insistent pulse of minimalism drives one section of “Eptesicus,” a cut that is also nicely colored by touches of oboe and acoustic piano. The second half of “Tadarida” is one of the wildest things here: the edgy sound effects, chattering voices, and pounding drums reek of danger. “Molossus,” with its driving rhythm and counterbalanced horns and strings, is super urgent, while “Corynorhinus” spotlights melancholy strings and gentle piano. The reflective closer, “Lasiurus,” surges with emotion towards its conclusion.
Music Videos
Artist Playlists
- His scores give a symphonic boost to some of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters.
Singles & EPs
Compilations
Appears On
More To Hear
- James Newton Howard guests.
About James Newton Howard
Howard attended the University of Southern California as a piano performance major, but he dropped out of the program after only six weeks. ∙ Beginning in 1975, he spent several years touring and recording with Elton John. ∙ Howard has collaborated with such artists as Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, Ringo Starr, and Eric Clapton. ∙ During the ’80s, Howard began moving into TV and film scoring, achieving his breakthrough with the blockbuster movie Pretty Woman. ∙ He wrote the opening theme for TV medical drama ER and also scored the series’ iconic two-hour pilot. ∙ He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, in addition to a Grammy Award for his work on The Dark Knight, which he scored with Hans Zimmer. ∙ A winner of ASCAP’s Henry Mancini Award for lifetime achievement, Howard has more than 100 film scores to his name.
- HOMETOWN
- Los Angeles, CA, United States
- BORN
- June 9, 1951
- GENRE
- Soundtrack