Howli writes: I wanted to inform you about the New York Premiere of Howard Shore’s The Lord of the Rings Symphony, Movements I and II. On Sunday, November 13th at 2p.m. at Carnegie Hall The Collegiate Chorale, led by music director Robert Bass, will perform excerpts from Richard Wagner’s operas The Flying Dutchman, Die Walkϋre, and Götterdämmerung; and the New York Premiere of Howard Shore’s The Lord of the Rings Symphony, Movements I and II in a program entitled The Rings: Myth and Music. The program will
The operas of Wagner illustrate the profound influence of myth and legend among history’s greatest opera composers. His “Ring” cycle and Flying Dutchman are mainstays of opera houses around the world and are notable in part for their ghosts, phantoms, supernatural creatures, giants and gnomes. Few composers unfold supernatural forces as effectively as Wagner, matching music to story. For this performance, soprano Christine Goerke will perform Senta’s Ballad from The Flying Dutchman and the thrilling Ride of the Valkyries.
By any standard Howard Shore is among today’s most successful composers with numerous industry awards to his credit including multiple Academy Awards, Golden Globes and Grammys. His Lord of the Rings Symphony like the works of Wagner and others is derived from mythological sources, in this instance the books by J.R.R. Tolkien, dramatically unfolding the fable of the lowly Hobbits as they struggle against the forces of evil.
By contrasting Wagner and Shore, The Rings: Myth and Music will explore how two composers – divergent in time and medium – were inspired by mythology and legend.
