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Irish Rican Talks About The Upcoming LORD OF THE RINGS Concert, And THE HOBBIT, With Howard Shore!!
Merrick here...
There's a live performance of Howard Shore's score to THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGS this weekend at Radio City Music Hall (tickets & details HERE).
Our dude Irish Rican recently helped send an AICN reader to this presentation (details HERE and HERE); he also hooked up other readers up with some nice LotR-related swag. Rican also got a chance to chat with Howard Shore about this upcoming live performance, as well as where he is with THE HOBBIT at the moment.
Before anyone asks: no, this doesn't mean Rican's gonna slide into ScoreKeeper's place, or anything like that. This situation's unique, and Rican talking scores is merely a product of location/timing/opportunity.
Here's Rican!
Irish Rican here!
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings Score Spectacular is being performed this coming weekend at Radio City Music Hall and the score's composer Howard Shore will be on hand to watch conductor Ludwig Wicki couple the film to a live orchestra performance.
Howard took a few minutes out to talk about the experiences with the scoring and the events of the upcoming weekend.
IRISH RICAN: Howard, how do you look at your experiences scoring all of the Lord of the Rings films?
HOWARD SHORE: They were a gift. They were great books and Peter (Jackson)'s great films.
IR: How did this whole performance come about?
HS: It came about from the release of the Lord of the Rings Complete Recordings. I thought I never really heard the score in that form and I wanted to hear it performed by an orchestra in concert. That led to the concert, the screening, and the two going together. Since we've had the concerts in Switzerland, Germany, Poland, and England I've heard the piece performed and the experience is, to me, amazing for the audience. You go right into the film and the music has never sounded better.
I conducted a piece titled 'The Symphony' which is a two hour concert that is pieces from all three films.
IR: You've never done this projection type of scoring performance before?
HS: No. This projection project has only been led by Ludwig Wicki. I met him several years ago in Switzerland, he had done a retrospective concert of mine. When the idea came to this concert to a projection of the film I thought of Ludwig. He has a fantastic orchestra - the orchestra playing at Radio City Music Hall is his orchestra. They are all hand-picked, they know this music very well. Ludwig, besides being a great musician, is great with the technology to do the synchronization with the film. Really he's the only one in the world who could do this concert.
IR: Do you think this type of performance brings out people who may never have had interest in seeing a live orchestra?
HS: I do think so. I've been playing 'The Symphony' since 2003, the premiere was in Wellington, New Zealand, during the premiere of Return of the King. In the last six years there has been about 150 performances of it all over the world by a few different conductors. I've done many myself in Europe, the Far East, Canada, America. The feeling is it is bringing a new audience to the concert hall - those who are interested in the film coming to hear the music performed live. We get a lot of younger people coming and hearing these instruments all played together live for the first time of their lives.
IR: There's a huge Lord of the Rings event going on in conjunction with the Score Extravaganza. What else are you looking forward to over the two days?
HS: It's going to be a great gathering of those interested in Lord of the Rings and Professor Tolkien's work. His writings, his original documents, and sketches are at Fordham University for the weekend, the concerts are Friday & Saturday, and there's just some great stuff going on that I'm looking forward.
IR: How about The Hobbit films? Are you already thinking about how you are scoring it or what you may do different from the previous work?
HS: There's lots of discussion going on. I've been in a ton of meetings. There's been a long period of reading, research, and just getting ready for the several years that I'll be back in Middle Earth - a place that I love. It's a great world to go into and I just want to finish all the projects that I'm doing so I can just enter back into that world.
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boring as Balrog shit
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Well done Orcus, gave me a laugh. I'll be at Radio City on Friday.
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I'll be there Friday, as well. I'm very intersted to see what they do with the film integration. will we be able to hear the dialogue? Or will it be like watching a DVD with the commentary track running?
Also, which version of the film do we get? Theatrical, or extended? -
I don't think that we really get to watch the whole film. I think we just get a few scenes with music/dialogue.
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Had it not been cost prohibitive to fly to NYC for the weekend, I would have been there with bells on. Please tour with LOTR projection project, using symphony orchestras from various host cities to provide LOTR fans the same (or nearly the same) experience that the NYC people will get this weekend.
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with all the mentions of LOTR concerts and BSG concerts and such, i'm surprised no one on this site has bothered to mention Star Wars in Concert, which is touring the country next month -- starwarsinconcert.com
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It's great to hear from Howard Shore. His "Lord of the Rings" score is a classic, and a prominent reason why Jackson's films resonated so well with audiences.
As for young'uns getting to see live orchestral music for the first time, I'm all for it. Before I knew anything, I once went to see Shostakovich's 7th Symphony performed in St. Petersburg's Marinsky Theater, and I've never forgotten it. The power of music played by a live orchestra is something extraordinary. I mean, the music's great in films too, but there's a heart-pounding immediacy to hearing it live, to hearing the actual instruments being played together. I've collected a few versions of Shostakovich's 7th by now, and though I love them, one more than others, I haven't forgotten what it was like to sit and hear Shostakovich's tribute to the courage of everyday Russian people as the city was surrounded and decimated by Hitler's forces during World War II. Shostakovich was there, experiencing it, and his music reflects his own brutal, yet hopeful experience.
Such is the power of music.
Howard Shore was there in New Zealand as the filming of Jackson's story unfolded. I watched some of the extras on the DVDs, and it was great watching Peter and Howard talk about the music and what it needed to reflect in the films.
Whether in war or art, music can always be memorable for years or even generations to come.
Have fun at Radio City, baby! -
I did some research (which I probably should have done before I posted the first time) and found that: we get the entire Theatrical version of the film (178 minutes) that gets a special sound mix, with Dialogue bumped up , and "light" sound f/x. Also, there will be an intermission, right after the Council of Elrond scene. What's more, on Friday night: Howard Shore and Billy Boyd will give a talk before hand. In London, Shore stuck around to sign CD's, afterward...
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There's also a performance in Grand Rapids, MI that I'm actually gonna be singing in, it's on Oct. 17 (friday night) and we're doing the theatrical cut. Can't wait!
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Obviously John Williams can't tour that schedule, so I will give them a pass there. But $80 per ticket for the cheapest seats? WTF? I have seen the REAL John Williams conduct the Boston Pops for $25 and these were balcony seats over the orchestra. I also saw Williams conduct the NY Philharmonic for about $40 at Lincoln Center. Lucas' shameful cash-grab with this tour is disgusting. Fuck that guy, seriosly.
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The Concert Tour was two years ago.
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is obviously caught in a time-flash on the island. I think you're the one who's behind the times, sir
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...of all places. It's October 15th. I hope to be there, since I had to cancel my New York trip (trying to figure out how to unload my NY ticket as I type this). Also, there's an official book/CD "The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films" being released soon, from author (and Shore confidante) Doug Adams. Blog here: http://tinyurl.com/375x59
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I went to the Chicago performance two years ago. Howard Shore conducted it. It was pretty awesome. He even had a Q and A thing after the performance! I also went to the performance in Minneapolis, MN, but that one was lame.
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what do you mean by "bumped up" and "light" sfx?
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...I was fortunate enough to hear a live orchestral performance of the score so this ought to be really exciting. I hope a certain Hobbit-lass in NYC is attending. I can't wait to hear what Howard does for The Hobbit. Eglerio!
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Howard Shore is scoring The Hobbit! Wonderfulness!
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I've grown blase about the LOTR films over the past few years, but I'll still listen to the full score once in a while. Lovely stuff, especially near the end. SHORE IS GOOD.
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no thanks. LOTR blew ass.
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I bet it was amazing just not to peter.
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THAT WOULD ATTEND ONE OF THESE 'SCORE' CONCERTS. CAN ANYONE ELABORATE ON THIS?
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like a traffic cop standing in the middle of the expressway. fucking spastic oinker.
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The LOTR scores are right up there with the classics of John Williams, John Barry and Max Steiner.
Like others, I'm delighted that Shore is returning to compose the score for The Hobbit. -
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