What do we know about Howard Shore?
Well, he’s Canadian, born in Toronto in 1946. He used to belong to a band called Lighthouse, but left them in 1978 for a career in film music. At first he worked a lot with the director David Cronenberg, and provided the music for his ‘The Fly’, ‘Scanners’, ‘Videodrome’ and ‘Naked Lunch;’ more recently ‘Existenz.’ As Cronenberg is regarded as an innovative director, so Shore is regarded as having ‘a difficult, confrontational style which constantly challenges the perceptions and ideas of film music.’ (Movie Music UK)
This sounds very promising; the ideal kind of person to work with PJ and his team, who are similarly constantly working on the edges of what’s expected.
There’s a whopping great huge list of Shore’s filmography on UK Movie Music br>In there it also mentions that Shore has the flexibility to compose in a range of styles. It’s very promising what they say about his feel for the ‘dark uncertain world of thrillers and horrors.’He did the soundtrack for ‘Silence of the Lambs.’ Here’s the great review it got from Movie Music UK:
“…this superbly chilling score by Howard Shore, whose ability to create a musical sense of overpowering tension is second to none in Hollywood at the moment. The score is performed by a full symphony orchestra throughout, but intentionally adopts a languorous tone and pace. This is the absolute epitome of “dark” film music, with the performers of the Munich Symphony Orchestra regularly playing their instruments at the lowest possible end of their ranges, and through orchestrations so thick they almost become a solid wall of sound. “
Or what about this review from the same source, this time for ‘M. Butterfly’:
“Complementing Cronenberg’s unique visual style and Peter Suschitzky’s sumptuous, panoramic cinematography is Howard Shore’s sublime music, who was given free reign leave the shackles of dissonance far behind him and compose a work of exquisite beauty, texture and restraint. The main theme, given a full rendition in the first track ‘M Butterfly’, is built around a lovely four note motif, and is granted a thunderous opening statement on horns before moving on to be performed by woodwinds with a string backing and accompaniment from a delicate harp”
Whaah! I can’t wait.
