HANS Zimmer’s music has shaped the cinematic experience of generations of film-goers for more than 30 years.

His dramatic, emotionally intelligent scores have accompanied more than 150 films, from arthouse favourites such as My Beautiful Laundrette to countless blockbusters such as The Lion King, The Da Vinci Code, Gladiator, the Pirates of the Caribbean series and the singular films of modern master Christopher Nolan.

Zimmer has scored most of Nolan’s work since his Dark Knight Trilogy, providing the unforgettable, highly-charged soundtracks to Inception, Interstellar and Dunkirk – the latter a coupling of imagery and sound so intense you could barely draw breath for the film’s 100-minute duration.

This “symphonic celebration” of his work is the result of months of preparation by the composer, who has adapted his soundtracks into opulent concert suites. They are performed here by the Belarusian Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, the Belarus Radio and Television Choir and a revolving cast of world-class guest musicians such as Lisa Gerrard, the Australian singer with whom Zimmer shares a Golden Globe for their work on Gladiator.

On this tour, which is currently selling out across Europe, Gerrard will perform a selection of some of the most popular works she co-wrote with the composer for films including Mission: Impossible and Black Hawk Down.

The spectacular will be led by Gavin Greenaway, Zimmer’s soundtrack conductor for more than 20 years and a man Zimmer says he trusts more than himself to deliver his music.

Indeed, Greenaway has conducted most of Zimmer’s UK recordings since 1998’s landmark score for Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line, from the horror of Hannibal to the zany joy of Kung Fu Panda.

The pair’s professional relationship stretches back to the late 1980s, when the German was called to the US to work on the soundtrack to Rain Man.

“He had left an advert for Colgate toothpaste unfinished, and I was called in to finish it in his style,” says Greenaway, who has worked on a number of film scores by other composers such as John Williams for Solo: A Star Wars Story and John Powell for the How To Train Your Dragon films.

The two have known each other since the 1970s, when Zimmer was the synthesizer player in a band called Krakatoa and Greenaway was hanging around the studio of his record-producing father Roger.

“Hans taught me how to programme my first synthesizer,” says Greenaway, who also helped shaped the show.

That Zimmer – a composer who never stands in front of an orchestra as a conductor – trusts Greenaway to bring his music to life is a result of their long working relationship and shared taste.

“We like things a certain way and we think in a similar way about sound and structure, so I can understand him really quickly,” Greenaway says.

“Musical notation doesn’t tell you the full story. It gets you some of the way there, but there is a huge amount of interpretation. I’ve learned a sort of shorthand to get what Hans wants out of the orchestra. Standing in front of an orchestra, I can second-guess him, in a way, in terms of what is needed. I’m not always right, but usually I get to where he wanted things to get to quickly.”

Clips from the films featured will accompany the scores, each of which has been re-engineered to work in arenas.

“When you’re conducting someone else’s music, you’re the conduit between the composer and the orchestra,” Greenaway says.

“I hang my ego at the door and think about how I can best achieve what they want.When it goes well, it feels like you’re not doing anything.”

The World Of Hans Zimmer – A Symphonic Celebration
March 22,
SSE Hydro, Glasgow