After the tragic loss of Heath Ledger, due – surely – in part to his apparently mind-blowing role in the upcoming movie, The Dark Knight, the film’s composer Hans Zimmer almost scrapped the theme he had written for Ledger’s character, the Joker.

The composer told Parade that he had considered redoing the The Joker theme completely, but ultimately felt the original theme better honored Ledger’s performance.

Zimmer’s co-composer, James Newton Howard, agreed with Zimmer’s sentiment (once again from Parade):

I think comments like these can often be seen as trite, when weighing up a man’s life and untimely end against, for example, a music score. But for these two men, who have between them racked up movie titles such as Gladiator, My Best Friend’s Wedding, The Lion King and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, this is their life. This is what they dedicate their time too, and when they feel that they are doing some small part in honoring the name of someone whose work will be influenced by theirs, I think that is not a small thing.