Saudi Arabia has asked Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer to work on a new version of its national anthem, a senior official said.
Zimmer, whose film scores include 1994’s “The Lion King”, “Dune” and the “Dark Knight” trilogy, has agreed to the “broad outlines” of the project, General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Alalshikh said.
“We discussed a lot about many future projects that I hope will see the light of day soon… including rearranging the Saudi national anthem with different instruments,” Alalshikh, the ringmaster behind several Saudi initiatives, posted on X.
Germany’s Zimmer also discussed a Saudi-inspired musical called “Arabia”, a “very large concert” and the soundtrack for “The Battle of Yarmuk”, a forthcoming Saudi film, Alalshikh said.
“We agreed on the broad outlines of all these projects and I hope we will reach a final agreement on them,” he said.
The Saudi anthem “Aash Al-Malik” (“Long Live The King”) was written in 1947 by Egyptian composer Abdul Rahman Al-Khateeb.
The current version is in the “Arab fanfare” style common in the region in that era, the website said.
AFP
