Classic FM’s Movie Music Chart is the world’s largest survey of film music tastes. Every year they ask people to vote for their favourite film scores – and Howard Shore’s The Lord Of The Rings score was at the top in 2012 . They are asking all LOTR/Hobbit fans if we would like to get behind his music and ensure his great scores remain at the top.
Sir Peter Jackson’s second instalment of The Hobbit movie has become music to the ears of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
The NZSO will record the soundtrack to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in Wellington Town Hall, most probably in September, before the century-old venue undergoes $43.7 million of earthquake strengthening.
The orchestra will work with Oscar-winning Canadian composer Howard Shore.
“The very first music ever recorded for Howard Shore’s magnificent score for The Lord of the Rings was done here, in Wellington, back in 2001 in the town hall,” said Sir Peter. “The piece, written for the Fellowship’s journey into the Mines of Moria, was beautifully performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and showcased the exceptional acoustics of this over 100-year-old building.” (more…)
Man sí minna? Man ammen toltha i dann hen Amarth? I anann darthant dam morn, si dannatha.
A little more than a decade ago, these very words drew us into the world of Middle-earth even as a woman in her deep voice began narrating the tale of its history with the unforgettable words “The world has changed. I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth, I smell it in the air…”
Voiced by Miriam Stockley, a vocalist hailing from Johannesburg, South Africa, the text entitled “The Footsteps Of Doom” speaks to the theme of Galadriel facing her ultimate temptation and her choice that would determine the eventual fate of Lothlórien, and Middle-earth:
Who enters here? Who brings to us this token of Doom? That which has stood so long against the darkness will now fall.
Join us in this exclusive interview with Miriam as she takes us back to the year 2001 to talk about her time recording with The London Voice on the score for The Lord of the Rings. (more…)
Over on Tracksounds.com, Doug Adams (author of Music of Lord of the Rings) discusses Howard Shore’s score for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Stream the Episode 54 of The Soundcast directly from the site, or download the podcast and listen later. In the episode, Adams discusses the effect of the format on film experience, how the score caused people some headscratching, and why this whole thing is just a huge “game of themes.” It does take the panel a fair chunk of time to actually get down to talking about the OST. If like me, you find that frustrating, you might want to skip the first 10 minutes or so.
Episode Highlights
00:00 Blunt the Opening and Doug Adams Intro
05:46 What we were expecting from this film
9:58 General reactions and comparing to Lord of the Rings
11:45 Reacting to the film and it’s music (spoilers)
31:21 Headscratching: Reacting to the score
49:56 A Game of Themes?
78:50 Wrapping it up
Christmas brings to mind the timeless, poignant image of a mother cradling her newborn child.
At this rather apt time of year then, TORn’s music geeks are pleased to bring you an exclusive interview with Hilary Summers.
An alto hailing from Wales, UK, Hilary recorded “Gilraen’s Song” that plays over the scene where Aragorn kneels in reverence before his mother Gilraen’s memorial in Rivendell, and whose lyrics hark back to the words once spoken by Gilraen herself.
Little boy, little one, night is falling, come into my arms, let me hold you safe. But still you run through the twilight, lost in your play, slaying demons in the shadows. Little boy, little one, full of grace, full of joy, oh, my heart will break,
For I see it in your eyes… you are your father’s son, not your mother’s child.
Join us in this exclusive interview as we talk to Hilary about her experience recording the song for The Lord of the Rings.
TORn Staffer Magpie reports that for the LoTR sheet music, which is available on the same site, “you could print the sheet music once and it has your name on it. But then you got this digital download that let you play the sheet music (with their player). It displayed the sheet music on your computer screen and played a midi file — highlighting the notes being played.”
You can also can preview most songs for one page to get a sense of how it works.
Howard Shore’s score for ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey‘ is out today! If you pre-ordered via Amazon or iTunes, you should be getting your shipping or availability notices right now. If you have not placed your order…what are you waiting for?!? The soundtrack is available both digitally and as a 2 CD set. The Special Edition of the soundtrack features six exclusive bonus tracks, seven extended score cues, and deluxe liner notes. Click on one of the links here to place your order today. After the break you can view the official release from Nov 1st outlining the tracks and detailse. [itunes: Special Edition or Standard] [Amazon.com: Special Edition or Standard]
It’s not that long ago that Howard Shore’s OST for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was fully revealed for the first time as a listenable web-stream. Problem was, you couldn’t pick single tracks to listen to, and if you paused it, you had to start all over. Now, Rolling Stone offers the standard edition to listen to in its entirety with the ability to select tracks independently and the ability to pause as well.
Or if you want to trial the Special Edition, Watchtower Records has short previews from every track available on its website.
In the Rolling Stone article, Neil Finn says that “Song of the Lonely Mountain” builds on a musical theme written for the movie by New Zealand film composers Plan 9 and David Long, which a group of dwarves sing in an early scene. To work on the song, Finn put himself in the dwarves’ shoes.
“I’d get a little melody and I’d think, ‘Would a dwarf sing that?’ And you go, ‘No, it’s too floral. It’s not earthy enough,’” he says. “Even though there’s aspects of brotherhood and kinship in the song, I had a line about love and Peter and Fran [Walsh, co-writer and co-producer] sort of looked at me and said, ‘No, not love. There’s something not quite right about that.’ It’s not a love song.”
Classicfm.com was able to snag a great audio interview with Howard Shore recently. Shore, a big Tolkien fan, tells classicfm that he constantly refers to the books as he’s writing the score. He also discusses what it’s like to collaborate once again with Peter Jackson, The London Philharmonic, and the all-consuming job of writing, orchestrating, conducting, tweaking and finalizing the score for “The Hobbit: and Unexpected Journey.” Read more and listen here…
These guys are pretty popular – we’ve received MANY emails from people out there, telling us about their new music video. So here it is, for those who have not yet seen it! Whether you’ve been celebrating Thanksgiving today and you’re now too full to move, or you’ve been working hard all day and need to relax, this music video is sure to please. The Piano Guys (Al van der Beek, Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson) use piano, cello, percussion and vocal textures to recreate well known tunes – and this video is a compilation of favourite motifs from Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings scores. Check it out:
HotHouse Music (the music supervisors and film composer agents at Abbey Road Studios in London) report on Twitter that — after three months of recording and mixing — The Hobbit score is finally complete.
Choice quote: “It’s going to be epic. #TheHobbit #Needaholiday”.
It’s all getting serious now. Isn’t the film supposed to be signed, sealed and delivered in a day or so, too? Thanks to Ringer Tolktolk on the forums for the heads up!
As part of their weekly Sunday countdown of top classical music and movie scores, the U.K. station,Classic fm, will be playing exerpts from Howard Shore’s score to “The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey.” The countdown show is playing as I type this with the #1 slot set to begin around 6:30 p.m. GMT (that’s 11:30 a.m. EST (New York) and 7:30 a.m NADT (Auckland). Follow this link to listen live on your computer: classicfm.com. Read More…
Classic FM’s Movie Music Chart is the world’s largest survey of film music tastes. Every year they ask people to vote for their favourite film scores – and Howard Shore’s The Lord Of The Rings score was at the top in 2012 . They are asking all LOTR/Hobbit fans if we would like to get behind his music and ensure his great scores remain at the top.
Sir Peter Jackson’s second instalment of The Hobbit movie has become music to the ears of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
Over on Tracksounds.com, Doug Adams (author of Music of Lord of the Rings) discusses Howard Shore’s score for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Stream the Episode 54 of The Soundcast directly from the site, or download the podcast and listen later. In the episode, Adams discusses the effect of the format on film experience, how the score caused people some headscratching, and why this whole thing is just a huge “game of themes.” It does take the panel a fair chunk of time to actually get down to talking about the OST. If like me, you find that frustrating, you might want to skip the first 10 minutes or so.
