NZSO recording DOS. Orchestral recording for The Desolation of Smaug soundtrack in the Wellington Town Hall has concluded. It also seems as though the choral(?) work occurring in London for the soundtrack is almost complete. It’s all very hush-hush though.
Additional Orchestrator and Conductor Conrad Pope reported on his Facebook:
With the superb first trumpet of the NZSO, Jon Dante celebrating the end of a series of some 29(?) sessions with the NZSO. Making music with the NZSO was wonderful and I look forward to working with them again — not only are they a superb concert orchestra, they are a remarkable “film orchestra” — they read difficult music accurately right out of “the chute”. But now, after 3 pictures, recording sessions in Wellington and London, since June — it’s time to sleep in, rest up and fly home and await the next assignment.
Author Doug Adams, who famously documented the story of the Lord of the Rings soundtracks in The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films has been conducting an Ask Me Anything over on his blog.
He writes:
I still can’t answer many Hobbit questions, but for the time being, feel free to post them here and I’ll do the best I can!
Doug Adams writes: In May of this year, I was contacted by Howard Shore’s office with a rather unique request: Can you write a concert? Wait, let me back up.
Before I came into the picture this inchoate concert was the brainchild of James Cassidy, conductor of the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra. Cassidy had envisioned a concert that would encompass both of the great musical Rings, one Wagner’s, one Tolkien’s/Shore’s. He had brought his idea to Shore, who was intrigued. This, of course, had been a topic of conversation for a number of years. Jonathan Dean had given some Wagner/Shore talks back in the early 2000s, and added some thoughts for the Music of LOTR book. Alex Ross had written a piece for the New Yorker. One of New York’s very first choral performances of Shore’s Rings music featured a sort of back-to-back with Wagner. But these fascinating comparative glimpses were just this — cursory glimpses into a rich vein of subject matter. More..
Doug Adams, author of the recently released book “The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films”, has written up an article over at his site on why New Zealand matters for The Hobbit. Doug has worked closely with Howard Shore for the better part of a decade and he has had great insight into the production for the music of the Lord of the Rings movies. So besides enumerating the enormous difficulties the production would have faced were it to move off-shore, Doug writes this article through a “music-specific lens” and details the impact the move would have had on the music for The Hobbit movies.
Here’s a snippet from the article:
That impact would have been felt most painfully during the post-production. Post, as you all know, is where the lion’s share of the music is created. Yes, Shore has already begun his creative process, but nothing other that pre-recorded songs an diagetic music can be recorded and mixed until the film is shot, edited, and locked. Performers and rooms need to be booked for specific schedules … as do technicians, editors, producers, and so on and so forth. It’s a small army, and it needs time and care.
My greatest fear — viewed through a music-specific lens, that is — was that the production would be rearranged in such a manner that there would be very little time for the music to be created appropriately.
Happily, with New Zealand now set and a February kick-off locked, it looks like none of these concerns will materialize. With a December 2012 release for part one, Shore and company should, presumably, be able to earnestly start into the post-production in late summer of 2012 … essentially the same schedule that was in place for the LOTR pictures. And those came out pretty well, I think! 🙂
Read the entire article over at Doug’s site. Many thanks to message board member Magpie for pointing us to this article.
(July, 28, 2010—New York, NY) Carpentier and Alfred Music Publishing are pleased to announce the release of The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films, a comprehensive account of Howard Shore’s score for the trilogy, by Doug Adams. The book will be available in the European Union on September 28 and in the U.S. and worldwide on October 5, 2010.
The culmination of almost a decade of writing and research, The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films is an unprecedented look at Howard Shore’s Academy Award®-winning score, with extensive music examples, original manuscript scores, a rarities CD, and glimpses into the creative process from the composer, himself. Continue reading “Doug Adams’ “The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films” This Fall”
Are you ready to geek out? On October 9th and 10th, more than 300 musicians will gather onstage at Radio City Musical to perform composer Howard Shore’s award-winning score to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring live to Peter Jackson’s film. The ensemble is as epic as the movie, and includes Switzerland’s 21st Century Symphony Orchestra, the internationally-acclaimed The Collegiate Chorale, the Grammy Award-winning Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and renowned soprano Kaitlyn Lusk, all under the direction of celebrated Maestro Ludwig Wicki. More..
Author Doug Adams, who famously documented the story of the Lord of the Rings soundtracks in The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films has been conducting an Ask Me Anything over on his blog.