The Music of the LOTR Films/Rarities Archives: Late 2009

[Primula Baggins]

How very mysterious!

<looks at photos again>

<drools in a most unladylike manner>

[Voronwë the Faithful]

How very mysterious!

Or is it?

In either case, I'm very happy for you, Cem.

[cemthinae]

[TheTennisBallKid]

Regarding "Arwen's Song" from ROTK:EE:

Doug Adams:

Hi everyone,

I can shed a little light here.

Arwen’s Song was originally written (by Howard Shore) around the time of The Two Towers. It was recorded well, well before the film was nearing a final edit. Nevertheless, back at this point Arwen’s departure from Rivendell, and subsequent vision, was a TTT scene, not an ROTK scene. (Remember, they had originally planned to stick Arwen into Helm’s Deep to ratchet up the excitement—a plan they wisely decided against.)

So the scene and the song were saved for ROTK. It was then decided that it didn’t work to have Arwen singing about her own situation… a little too meta and self-reflexive. So the piece was pulled, and replaced with the Fleming piece, which was written with the ROTK score proper.

Jump ahead now… the Sissel piece was written for the transition of post-battle Pelenor into the Houses of Healing scene in the ROTK Extended Edition. (Shore met Sissel in performances of the LOTR Symphony.) After this piece was written and recorded, it was decided that Arwen’s Song—which was STILL unused at this point—should be placed under Houses of Healing, so the Sissel piece was removed. Since it was a complete composition, and the only work featuring Sissel, Shore rescued the composition by placing it under the ROTK fan scroll.

So therefore, you ended up with Arwen’s Song written for TTT moved to the ROTK: EE, and the Sissel song written for ROTK: EE moved to the end credits. Only the Fleming piece remained where it was intended, though that, too, was obviously replacing the first appliance of Arwen’s Song.

In the long run, the order of the composition was:

Arwen (Tyler)
Flemming
Sissel

All works were composed by Shore. So where will everything be placed on the ROTK: CR? We’ll see, we’ll see…

More answers later… I’ll try to work my way backwards, though I’m a little light on sleep, so I may not be too speedy.

Happy new year, by the way!

-Doug

.....

In this instance, I can understand the confusion surrounding what seem to be Howard's comments on the DVD commentary. But if you listen closely, you can hear that HS' comments have been edited, with a few sentences cut for timing. It almost makes it seem that Fleming's singing is being heard in the Houses of Healing (of course, I don't know that anyone is going to confuse Tyler's singing with Fleming's, but...) His statement regarding "Twilight and Shadow" actually refers to what replaced Arwen's Song after it was pulled from Arwen's departure scene.

You should also understand that Arwen's Song went through several lyrics... some of which went on to be used in other compositions instead, some of which went totally unused. So when you hear one composition "becoming" another, this is what HS is referring to.

Anyway, the scenarios above are what happened. I was fortunate enough to be around and got to watch the proceedings firsthand at this point, so I can actually posit myself as more than an intermediary.

As for music for the Paths of the Dead, there is already a choral lyric related to this story element -- a choral text that, in production, was named "The Way is Shut."

Magpie, thanks as always for your kind words and your gentle nature. This website is better for your presence.

Back after coffee!

-Doug

ttbk

[TheTennisBallKid]

Doug Adams:

Hi everyone,

Yep, I’m still here, and yep we’re still full steam ahead. I’m sorry my posting has been so infrequent right now, just happened to be getting slammed with work at the moment.

The first edit of the ROTK discs is now done, tweaks are ongoing, I’m digging through liners, working through the book material and prepping multimedia material. Coupled with some projects of my own, February promises to be a little crazy, but survivable I’m quite sure.

Last Mimzy has been recorded and is just about ready to go. Shore worked with Roger Waters on a song for this one, a brief clip of which you can hear here:
http://newlinerecords.com/pages/mimzy/r ... player.htm

I promise I’ll try and backtrack and get to some questions as soon as I can come up for air.

Oh and that first edit of ROTK….

…AMAZING!!

-Doug

(The Last Mimzy is Shore's latest score)

ttbk

[Inanna]

WOW WOW and more WOW, Cem



hardly mysterious, after all what are best friends' for?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Howard Shore and Roger Waters? Roger Waters and Howard Shore?

It sounds a lot more like Roger Waters then Howard Shore from the teaser clip, at least to me.

[Rowanberry]

What the V-man said - the clip reminded me of some newer Pink Floyd stuff more than anything by Shore.

[Inanna]

I just heard the snippet.... that is SO Roger Waters.... SO SO SO him.
(Oh I love that guy). It sounded to me like bits of "Wall" and "Amused to Death". I think he even said "Is there anybody in there...."

[TheTennisBallKid]

I'm not familar with Waters , but no, the clip doesn't shout "Howard Shore!" to me, either. I'm looking forward to the film though.


Doug Adams:

>>>One of these days, I am going to get a pod, plant it under your bed, and switch my mind into your body. It will look like you, walk like you, talk like you...but it will be ME!>>>

You’re gonna need a LOT of coffee, let me warn you now!

>>>That way, I could ask Mr Shore to have a look at the snare-drum part at the beginning of "The Breach of the Deeping Wall". For the life of me, I can't figure this one out.>>>

What is it about this snare part that you’re trying to figure out?

>>>Great news! I assume that this is for the book?>>>

You are correct, yep. We’re looking at a pretty amazingly extensive multimedia supplement right now. Plenty of technicalities to work out, but as of right now I think we’ve got something like you’ve never seen / heard before.

>>>OK, question #1 on everyone's mind: How loooong is the first edit? As in "the longer the better"!!>>>

As promised, four very full discs.

>>>Do keep us posted on progress, pleeeze! And maybe some behind the scenes glimpses every now and then? As regards both your and Maestro Shore's modes of proceeding... Give us a peek over your shoulders as things now begin reaching the End of All Things...>>>

Heh, I’ll do my best.

>>>I do wonder, however, what goes on exactly when Doug says "the first rough edit" is done. I mean, there aren't that many possibilities to arrange the music.>>>

Swashbuckler does a great job of explaining this below. I’ll only add that there are also a lot of decisions to make regarding unused material… if something wasn’t actually in the film and there are several different overdubs to choose from, which one is the most satisfying? And how does that fit in with the surroundings with regard to flow?

>>>Oh, and by the way, Doug, can we expect anything brand new for the destruction of Mordor? The OST version wasn't used, and the film version, as far as I can hear, has a huge amount of tracked music and edits in it.>>>

You will hear the complete, unaltered destruction of Mordor!

>>>Hey Doug, any news yet concerning the packaging/design/artwork of your book? I mean, obviously you can't give out any information, but there's definitely a lot of stuff decided upon. At least that's what you'd said back in December...so just a suggestion.
Maybe we can have a 4th box, just like the current CR sets, that contains a DVD and CD of the "rarities" music, and another DVD with the multimedia content. (This time its the CDs turn to be stuck on the annoying rubber nub) and the DVDs will be in the case. Of course, there'll be a small book with liners for the rarities music.

Maybe you could call the box set, "The Lord of the Rings - The Incomplete Recordings". The box could be white with the beautiful writing in gold.

And accompanying it will be your book that should look just like the liner books, except that its huge and deluxe hardcover.

AND accompanying EVERYTHING will be an antiquated brown box into which we can slip all 4 (yes 4) CR and IR(Incomplete Recordings) sets.>>>

There have been some very early talks about what form the book should take, just in terms of how to make everything physically approachable. But beyond that, the design hasn’t been too intricately discussed—yet! I do have someone in mind that I would love to have on the project, but we will have to see what can be worked out.

>>>And just another greedy suggestion. What about the music that was written but not scored? Maybe Mr.Shore will wake up one morning and say: "That's gonna go on the IR set".>>>

Do you mean written but not recorded, or written but not set to the film?

>>>And hey Doug, How u doin? Seems I didnt miss much, just a switch to another new thread.>>>

I’m good, thanks, as I hope is everyone else as well. I’m constantly bemoaning the busy schedule right now, but that’s probably more due to the bleak midwinter than to anything else!

More later,

-Doug

......................

>>>Question #2 on everyone's mind (#1 in my mind) is how soon will the ROTK CR one be out? I'm sure it's far enough away we can't say for sure, but based on where you are now compared to this point for TTT, about how far out was it from the release date? Something earlier than November would be wonderful.>>>

I can say in all honesty, no one knows yet. Shore has ideas, Warners / Reprise has ideas, we’re trying to find a good way to interlock additional released (i.e. the book)… so the truth is, decisions have not yet been finalized. It’ll be this year, that much is for certain.

>>>I'm going to hand in my diploma-thesis on Sept. 30th, so see to it the thing comes out the next day.>>>

On a Monday, huh?

>>>Four very full discs! [salivates]

Pretty amazingly extensive multimedia supplement! [salivates again]>>>

Just for clarity’s sake, the multimedia is intended for the book release, not the ROTK:CR release. Not that it much matters, I suppose. *coughbuythebookcough*

>>>I am sure you will come up with some really fascinating tidbits of how the actual process of editing the score is done and then how you and M. Shore interact to come up with such a remarkable final result of audio and text...>>>

Heh, well again I’ll do my best. If you really want reports like “and then we sat down with coffee and listened to it again…” I’ll be more than happy to provide them!

>>>By the way, my good ol' bro had ordered TTT:CR on Dec. 18th from BnN, 14 day delivery. I still haven't got it. Any ideas anyone?>>>

I would definitely contact B&N at this point. Did they send any indication that package had shipped? Can you track it?

>>>Doug, any hope for the Minas Tirith ROTK trailer version on the paths of the multimedia CD?>>>

This is not impossible.

>>>One example everybody knows by now is Gandalf's ride to Minas Tirith. We all know that Gandalf originally saved Faramir when he arrived at Minas Tirith, and the OST gives us that version. And if the ROTK CR is supposed to contain the music how it was recorded, it would have to feature the OST version. But that conflicts with the idea of making the CRs represent the storytelling of the movie.>>>

As I indicated, the choices of WHAT to use really only pertain to the music that wasn’t in the final film. Now there are a few (and very few) instances where Shore’s original intentions may have been altered in the final mix of a piece that WAS in the final film. TTT had a couple of these as well. Do you use hardanger or trumpet? Would both work? Which did HS originally compose? What does he prefer? What does the mixer prefer? The project supervisor? These are small choices, of course, but it’s a detailed process. The work itself doesn’t take so long, it’s the decisions behind it.

That said, honestly, the most time consuming element of the various drafts is the mix… remember, this is many, many, many hours of music all being completely remixed (and remixed in several resolutions). Take considerations of how much chorus, how much string sound, woodwinds, brass, percussion, soloists, ethnic instruments, etc. and spread them over four hours or so. So even without the choice of takes and potential alternates, you’ve got an absolutely mammoth undertaking.

-Doug

ttbk

[TheTennisBallKid]

Doug Adams:

Hi everyone,

Thanks to all who showed concern for the crazy weather certain parts of the country have been socked with. Shore is actually out of the country right now, and as far as I know, his NY staff is all safe and sound. Chicago hasn’t seen nearly the snow NY has, but we’ve been in a deep freeze. I’ve been riding the thermostat a bit, but no huge concerns.

>>>Suggestion: don't be afraid to put in numerous and frequent time stamps!>>>

Time stamps are a tricky affair, since you can’t automatically assume that the book readers actually own the CD boxed sets. Of course, they likely will in most instances, but still... Anyway, I think we’ve come up with a very good, interactive solution… you’ll see.

>>>And maybe you remember my hint that you might want to have bits for the more musically technical among us set off from the main text so those who don't want or need that can still get a through composition, as it were.>>>

I’m trying to avoid an abundance of off-set sections of text in the layout, only because I don’t want the book to read like stereo instructions. But the gist of this idea will still be addressed. Again, you’ll see in time.

>>>Now there we go... Why not take a particularly interesting (and intricate) exemplary passage and give us the nuts and bolts of how it went from multiple tracks of each instrument to a final mix and edit and then how you worked out your elucidations... Where does M. Shore do it, at home, at a studio, whose-all input is considered? If more than one pair of ears, are there any moments of gentlemenly sotto voce disagreement and how are they resolved... You know, the usual impertent interviewer type questions digging for drama and newsworthiness (read: conflict!! both interpersonal and within M. Shore's mind)...>>>

Jim Breuning (who you see credited with Material Preparation in the boxed set credits) oversees most of the nuts and bolts of the editing on the sets… and as each draft is completed, discs and spreadsheets are distributed to Howard, project supervisor Alan Frey, me… and probably a few others. Notes are made, Howard looks through everything, decides what, if anything, should actually be changed, and another draft is assembled by Jim. This process is repeated until a final draft is achieved. I think I may have described it before as the rock tumbler technique, and that’s really what it is. Each subsequent draft brings the piece closer to a final, polished work.

There aren’t disagreements per se, because we’re all pretty much shooting ideas to Shore. He’s the mastermind—considering and assembling all possible suggestions. This is his music and his vision, and it’s incredibly important that he stay at the helm. But he’s wonderfully open to suggestions and keeps the environment such that you never feel intrusive making them. It’s a wonderful creative / business model, really.

>>>So, you're saying that ROTK will still feature the complete, unedited recordings (and by that I mean the pure compositions), and currently you're about to mix them?>>>

ROTK will be assembled exactly as have FOTR and TTT. No deviation from the norm. I think we were all rather pleased with the way those came out, if I do say so.

>>>Also, for *my* snare drum question - I know, we German all look/sound/post alike... I've been trying to break down the pattern of what it's playing, especially during the first 30 seconds, but there are so many eighth and sixteenth rests in there that I'm screwed.>>>

I’ll write it out for you sometime, if I remember. Don’t be afraid to bother me!

>>>This is, I think, one of my true wishes...have the complete score in front of me while listening to the CRs...

>>>Now that would be heavenly. Unfathomably so.>>>

It is an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon, I assure you!

>>>It's a wish that will never, ever, come true...I can't imagine the full scores ever being made available in any way.>>>

It’s actually not impossible, believe it or not. I’m not dropping hints at this point, but it’s not an absolute impossibility.

>>>I'm not sure if this has been mentioned/asked, but is there the possibility of having Howard or you, Doug, introduce/explain tracks or connected sets of tracks on any bonus disc(s)? Since I imagine there will be many places where the music will not flow particularly well, I think it would be cool to hear Howard or you discuss a cue--what's different about it, why it wasn't used, etc before it plays. Or maybe this could be a DVD-audio option: listen with pre-track audio commentary by Doug or Howard.>>>

You are decidedly on the right track here!

>>>The biggest obstacles would be whether an orchestral score of the Complete Recordings even exists (it may just consists of a very large stack of left-over sketches from the original recording sessions which would have to be edited themselves). And also, even if such a finished score exists, the process of scanning it into digital form would be quite a costly labor.>>>

As pointed out above, this in particular, is not an obstacle at all. The scores are being engraved for archival purposes even now. Fellowship is already done, in fact.

>>>Hmmm...I'm not sure I understand. What I was referring to was, for example, Dwarvish Interlude, and probably more music like that. Now that you mention "written but not recorded" and "written but not set to the film", I'm not sure what category this belongs to. But I hope you understand what I'm talking about.>>>

Well if a piece was written—or sketched—but never recorded, it’s highly unlikely that it’ll be recorded at this point, simply because of the money involved. That said, there’s pretty much nothing that falls into this category. Everything that was written into a finished form was recorded. Dwarvish Interlude, for example, was never set to music, so there’s nothing to hear.

>>>* One of the things I went ga-ga over abou these two sets has been the Advanced Resolution tracks. There is no comparison when it comes to such moments as "The Wolves of Isengard" or the Helm's Deep sequence. I was wondering if there was ever any talk about releasing the original albums, which are, as acknowledged, a very different listening experiences from the CRs, in that format as well.>>>

I’ve honestly never heard any talk about this, and though I imagine it’s not out of the question, I bet it would be a ways off only because of the PR nightmare it could potentially create. The boxed sets have already been met with a few cries of “Double Dipping,” despite the fact that they’re *fairly* unique from the original albums. You want to avoid the Star Wars-esque backlash for as long as you can, I think.

>>>* Would it be too much to hope that the prospective "rarities" disc might be doubled in DVD-Audio as well?>>>

Not too much to hope for at all… Mostly depends on storage capacity at this point.

>>>* You've discussed multimedia content as a supplement to your (eagerly awaited) book. Now there is a lot of speculation about what this might mean... would this possibly be taking the place of said "rarities" disc, or would it be in addition to it?>>>

I’m gonna give you a dodgy answer on this one and just say, don’t worry, you’ll get everything. I’ll explain when I can, I promise.

I will say this, I’m quite amazed and the accuracy of some of the guesswork I’ve seen around here lately.

>>>* I was just wondering if the choral piece from the very start of the "The Great River" (track 15, original FOTR soundtrack) will appear again? It's a great piece that I hope hasn't been forgotten about.>>>

Well, it’s not forgotten about in the sense that it’s on the OST. I don’t think it’s likely the rarities disc will contain material that was presented on the OST, but not in the CRs only because you’ve already got that material—unless there’s a significant reason for doing so. I don’t want you to pay for the same thing twice.

>>>* What is the instrument that sounds at 1:51 of "Weathertop" (disc 2, track 1, CR)? It is almost like a synthesised sound but I know that that Mr. Adams said there were none used in the scores. It sounds like a sword slicing through the air.>>>

The answer provided above is right on – it’s a bowed cymbal, a Howard Shore favorite (check out his work in Seven sometime).

>>>I was also reading an interview on AICN recently with the producers of the EE DVD's. They said that they hoped to do another EE release in the coming years and that they had something like 20-30 hours of documentary material that they hadn't released previously. I was wondering how much of that included footage of the recording sessions and if this will make it's way into the multimedia content in some form?>>>

There’s a little session footage that’s never been seen, and it may be able to escape the archives sometime soon. Possibly…

>>>Edit: And Doug, would Peter Jackson be making an appearance on the multimedia disc? I mean, I remember I'd read somewhere that he and Shore had spoken about someday releasing the music as a whole. It'd be cool to hear him speak about Shore's accomplishment I think they've both now worked 7-8 years on the Lord of the Rings. Pretty commendable. And haven't you been around LOTR some 6 years or so??>>>

Jackon’s involvement would probably depend on the logistics of his schedule and the production’s schedule. So it’s a definite “maybe.”

I got the LOTR call May 16, 2001, so nearly 6 years now. And yes, I remember the exact day, what can I say?

>>>Anyway, regarding possibilities for the 'rarities' content - the DVD-Audio edition of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours has commentary tracks for each song, similar to a director's feature commentary. This could be a useful feature that would avoid discussion over the music, but might preserve the surround experience for those so equipped...>>>

Commentaries are definitely on the table at this point. Even saying that, I’m saying too much, so I’ll say no more… for now.

>>>I came across this - http://www.moviemusic.com/mb/Forum1/HTML/013360.html - Doug, when you refer to the 150 pages, is that the book you are currently working on, and if so, do you know how many more pages it will be, as that post was back in 2004............... I'm very excited ........>>>

Thanks! Yes, this is the same Music of LOTR book that’s in the pipeline right now. 150 is still a good ballpark, but it probably looks to be a bit longer at this point… it all depends on the layout, fonts, etc.

>>>Also a question to Mr Adams to pass on to Mr Shore for a response...... - I listened to Mrs Doubtfire, and when it came to Track 10 - "The Show's Over", straight away at the start of the track, memories came to me of Alan Metter's 1988 film "Moving" - do you know if this will ever get a release??????>>>

There are a number of Shore’s scores that have never seen the light of day, but it’s always possible that something could be put together at some point!

Gee, I feel like I’ve regressed. By the end of TTT I felt I was finally able to give everyone specifics, but now at the early stages of ROTK and the book, I’m back to vague nothings! Sorry guys… you know the drill, I guess. There’s only so much I can talk about at this stage, but I promise I’ll keep you as well-informed as I can!

Best,

-Doug

ttbk

[TheTennisBallKid]

Variety:

"The Fly," the first opera from film composer Howard Shore, will receive its world premiere on July 1, 2008, in Paris followed by a U.S. premiere in Los Angeles on Sept. 7, 2008.

David Cronenberg will direct in his operatic debut; work is based on the helmer's film of the same name, along with the original 1957 George Langelaan short story. Playwright David Henry Hwang penned the libretto.

Opera reunites three of the principals involved in the 1986 movie -- Cronenberg, Shore and costume designer Denise Cronenberg, David's sister.

"It's a magical reliving of a part of my life, this time playing a completely different role in the creation of a very different animal," Cronenberg said.

Placido Domingo, who holds the title of Broad general director of Los Angeles Opera, and Jean-Luc Choplin, general manager of Paris' Theatre du Chatelet, will make the announcement today in Paris.

Scheduling issues prevented "The Fly" from inclusion in L.A. Opera's 2007-08 season, for which it had been slated. It was commissioned in 2004.

"It has long been my dream to unite the worlds of film with those of opera, especially in Los Angeles," Domingo said in a statement prior to the news conference.

"The Fly" will be an "unprecedented addition to the operatic repertoire. Any commission of an opera is a gamble, as has been proven throughout music history," Domingo added. "There is no scientific formula for commissioning, only one's instinct when one listens to a composer's already existing works."

L.A. Opera has worked with a slew of film directors, among them William Friedkin, Julie Taymor, Maximilian Schell, Bruce Beresford, Herbert Ross, John Schlesinger, Marthe Keller, Garry Marshall and Franco Zeffirelli. Company has been involved in commissions that bring together film directors and composers, including Elliot Goldenthal and Taymor on "Grendel" and Zhang Yimou and Tan Dun on "The First Emperor," which is slated for 2010.

At an L.A. Opera press conference last month, Domingo mentioned that composer Daniel Catan had begun work on an opera version of "Il Postino."

As for "The Fly," the work "exemplifies the artistic policy of Theatre du Chatelet, a policy intent on discovering new art forms and reaching out to new arts enthusiasts, and yet resolutely part of the current world," Choplin said. "It is also a grand story of collaboration between Paris and Los Angeles, two leading cities for cinema."

I'd love to see this. Or, at least hear it....


ttbk

[TheTennisBallKid]

Roger Waters new song 'Hello (I Love You) for the movie The Last Mimzy is now online from the official movie site.

The song is Waters most Pink Floyd like song since leaving the legendary band and has numerous references to Pink Floyd moments such as the "is there anybody out there" line from The Wall and a line mentions "the dark side of the moon".

"It has been great collaborating with (director) Bob Shaye and Howard Shore on 'The Last Mimzy,' Waters said in a statement. "I think together we've come up with a song that captures the themes of the movie, the clash between humanity's best and worst instincts, and how a child's innocence can win the day."

The Last Mimzy is about two siblings who discover a box which gives them extraordinary abilities.

The song is featured in the end credits of the movie.

Waters wrote 'Hello (I Love You) with director Bob Kaye and composer Howard Shore. The movie's 6 year old star Rhiannon Leigh Wryn appears on the track singing with Rogers in the chorus.

The Last Mimzy will premiere in cinemas on March 23rd.

I can't find the song by navigating around on the official site...but here's the direct link:
http://www.mimzy.com/main/mp3/hello_mimzy.mp3

Also, Mimzy.com has about 30 seconds of music that sounds like it might be Shore....



ttbk

[cemthinae]

I'm not familar with Waters , but no, the clip doesn't shout "Howard Shore!" to me, either. I'm looking forward to the film though.

Definitely Waters.

Almost makes me wish I still owned a copy of Dark Side Of Teh Moon.

I'm looking forward to the film too. It looks like it's going to be a good combination of acting, story & score.

[TheTennisBallKid]

From TORn:

Doug Adams, well known musician and writer who worked closely with Howard Shore on the musical score for The Lord of the Rings, gave a brilliant talk on the musical themes of The Lord of the Rings, specifically the four themes associated with the ring and how they are woven together throughout the three films. He confirmed that the final boxed set CD, with the music from The Return of the King, will be issued in 2007 on a four-disc set. Doug is also completing the book, The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films, which will be the definitive and official guide to Howard Shore's 12-hour musical score. The book will be out around the end of the year and may be accompanied by multimedia material demonstrating the music. A CD version of The Lord of the Rings symphony is also under discussion.

Doug demonstrated the musical themes he discussed so audience members could hear and understand more about how the themes relate both to the action and mood of the specific scenes in the films where they appear and to other themes associated with that character or kingdom. On Saturday, in the second part of his talk, he will play some surprise elements most fans have not heard before. I’ll cover his talks in more detail in tomorrow’s report.


....................

The show opened on a bright note, courtesy of Doug Adams who has been working with Howard Shore on bringing the Complete Soundtrack Recordings to life, and will soon be publishing a book about the entire process. He's been using a keyboard to demonstrate key musical motifs and how they are related to each other and to the various characters and lands of Middle earth. For his Saturday panel he promises some real surprises regarding information about the Return of the King Complete Soundtrack boxset. BTW, he did announce that this boxset will be 4 CDs so they can fit everything on there they want to release.

There were a few other announcements, but I'll leave that for other reviewers and official announcements (like, for instance, a release of a live symphony performance)

....................


-Doug Adams continues his discussion of the themes of Howard Shore’s music for The Lord of the Rings. Look for the 4CD set, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - The Complete Recordings, around November, followed soon after by Doug’s book, The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films.

ETA:
Doug Adams

Hi everyone,

Jetlag reigns supreme right now, so I’m going to do some quick and dirty rumor control.

Re: November: Hearsay, rumors and speculation, I’m afraid. The question posed this weekend was will ROTK be out in November, answer was “Possibly, but nothing is set. Could be any time this year as of now.” Easy to see how that was misconstrued, but just to be clear, no release date or timeframe is yet set.

Re: Symphony CD: Nothing to elaborate on. It is a possibility, just as it’s always been. Would happen after ROTK and the book most likely, so there’s been no significant motion yet.

Re: 12 Hours: Including unused music, alternates, first drafts, etc. you get a figure close to this number. Just a ballpark. Nothing hidden, no secrets.

I’m grinding my gears on about 2 hours of sleep right now, but I’ll be back when time permits. Would love to speak in Europe someday, and if anyone ever organizes it, you can bet I’ll be there!

More later, friends.

-Doug

ttbk

[cemthinae]

Lots of good stuff happening at the end of this year.

Well, maybe...

[Primula Baggins]

[Primula Baggins]

I, uh . . .

When it comes down to it, I can't post that link in your thread, ttbk, but here is a link to the link. Because, if you haven't seen this, I'm afraid you must.

http://www.thehalloffire.net/forum/view ... 9269#69269

My apologies.

This was sent to me by my 17-year-old son, so I blame the youth of America.

[TheTennisBallKid]

( )



ttbk

[TheTennisBallKid]

A report from Sabsi about a Howard Shore concert a couple weeks ago:

As you probably know, there were two concerts in Switzerland, called 'Music of Howard Shore'. Both featured the 21st Century Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ludwig Wicki.

The first concert scheduled was in Lucerne on March 16, 2007 at 7:30pm - and I was there!!

First, there was a Q & A with Howard Shore.
The most important things: He plays 6 different instruments (trumpet, saxophone, piano, clarinet, flute and cello), wants to release his version of the King Kong-Soundtrack and would like to return to Middle earth and collaborate with PJ again for The Hobbit!

Then he signed autographs (here is a picture of him) - I even got the chance to take a picture with him and to ask him, what he thinks about it, that his music was used on "The Simpsons" and how that happened. He answered: 'They asked me, an I said yes [of course, what else - what was I thinking ]. I think it's an honor to be in the Simpsons, isn't it?'

Then the concert began. It featured his music from 'The Fly', 'Dead Ringers', 'Naked Lunch', 'M. Butterfly', 'Mrs. Doubtfire', 'Prelude to A Kiss', 'Nobody's Fool', 'Big', 'Silence of the Lambs', 'Se7en' and 'The Aviator'.

After ‘The Aviator’, there was much applause and Ludwig Wicki called him on the stage - which caused even more applause...

Ludwig Wicki left the stage and Howard Shore CONDUCTED the 'Symphonic Suite of The Fellowship of the Ring' HIMSELF!
I do not deny that my heart has greatly desired this..
I mean, the LotR-Soundtrack, conducted by Howard Shore himself! How cool is that?

The 'Symphonic Suite of FotR' featured the Fellowship-Theme (the one you can hear after Gandalf's 'to the Bridge of Khazâd-Dûm') and 'The Breaking of the Fellowship'. The boy, who was singing 'In Dreams' was very nervous (who wouldn't?) and a bit out of tune, but Howard smiled at him, making him more comfortable, and even sang along!

When he finished, the hall exploded. Everybody was on his/her feet and he was moved to tears (so was I - I was sitting in the 5th row, so I could see him pretty good - here is a picture of him on the stage).
He had to come back on the stage again for several times because the applause wouldn't stop.

If you ever get the chance to meet him: take it!

He is so sweet, down-to-earth and patient (he signed everything he was asked to and even when my friend needed a hundred years to take that picture - she pressed the power-button instead of the shutter and my camera takes a VERY long time to get ready again - he just stood next to me, talked to me and smiled into the camera)! *sigh*

An interview that I'll just link to, where, again, Kong is mentioned...

Doug Adams:

Hi everyone,

I’ve got a handful of emails from the good populace of this board that I promise I’ll return this weekend. Draft two of the ROTK liners go in next week, though draft three will likely be close on its heels. As for the discs themselves, unused music is currently being tracked down and reinserted into the appropriate spots. Most of this is done, actually, but there still are a few pieces to be dealt with.

As for Michael’s comment re: the yet-to-materialized book, the plan has always been to get the book out after the boxed sets, so as not to abuse the pocketbooks of the core audience members. As the single all-encompassing boxed set became three film-specific boxed sets, the timeline expanded. I suppose under a different model, you wouldn’t yet know that the book was even coming, but there’s an openness and trust long associated with this production, and we’ve followed that lead as much as possible because it creates a pretty pleasant atmosphere. I hope that being privy to the process doesn’t simply engender impatience, though I can absolutely understand the tendency. I do promise we’re all hard at work--much to the lament of our social lives!

-Doug

PS – So HS is talking about Kong, eh? There’s some staggeringly beautiful and heartfelt writing in there.

For Kong to be released there are certain rights issues that would need to be addressed; namely, the music probably belongs to the studio, not to Shore himself.....

I don't think he'd be starting to talk about it now if there wasn't a strong possibility that it will happen...




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