Composer
Hans Zimmer (Gladiator, Thin Red Line, Batman Begins) successfully fused his signature brand of overwrought but highly effective melodrama to the backbone of director Ron Howard's 2006 movie adaptation of Dan Brown's controversial religious thriller the Da Vinci Code. That film's main theme, "Chevaliers de Sangreal," has been re-tooled for the 2009 sequel (the book was actually a prequel) Angels & Demons, preserving all of its elegiac atmosphere while bringing in more choral elements, as well as the nimble fingers of Grammy Award-winning violinist
Joshua Bell to reflect the story's central character, Vatican City. ~ James Christopher Monger