ScoreKeeper: The release of the complete recordings for THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy is unprecedented. It’s easily one of the more notable commercial releases in the history of film music. At what point did you find out these CDs were going to happen and how did the idea of releasing these recordings originate?
Howard Shore: Hmmm. I think it may have been during TWO TOWERS in the studio…Peter and I talked about putting out all of the music that had been recorded during TWO TOWERS.
SK: There are so many compositional ideas in THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Was there ever anything that you fell in love with that never made it into the score?
HS: (pauses while thinking)…No. Writing was a very linear process. I was writing while the films were being made. We were kind of working hand in hand with both.
SK: Is there anything else you’d love to do with THE LORD OF THE RINGS music that hasn’t already been done?
HS: Possibly a live projection project where we’d play the score live to the film.
SK: Wow! Is that currently in the works?
HS: It’s an idea. I’m thinking about it. It’s been done with other films. I did it on NAKED LUNCH (1991) with Ornette Coleman. We played it in Belfast, Ireland, and at the Barbican in London. In Belfast it was just the Ulster Orchestra and in London it was the BBC concert orchestra and Ornette’s trio. We did it live to a projection of NAKED LUNCH with separate tracks for dialogue and effects. It’s an interesting concert-sort-of-film-going experience. It’s like an enhanced movie experience.
SK: So would you try to do each complete film say like Wagner’s Ring Cycle and perform them each on a different night?
HS: (laughing) I haven’t really got that far. It’s just an idea. The (Lord of the Rings Symphony) is two hours and ten minutes. It’s a six movement piece. The complete piece is close to eleven hours. So really if you wanted to play it live, that would be a way to do it. It would really be a way to play the complete recording.
SK: When I came up with the question, I couldn’t think of anything left for you to do but there you go. That would be awesome!
HS: I think that’s the only thing (laughing).
SK: This project has taken up almost a decade of your life and you’ll probably continue to be actively involved with it in some capacity for the rest of your career. Do you think you’ll ever get tired of keeping up with it? Would you ever just want to be completely done?
HS: No! You know, Christopher Lee reads the book every year. It’s such a fascinating story. The qualities that Tolkien wrote into the story are some of the greatest human qualities: friendship, honor, courage, sacrifice. Just amazing qualities!
I think as human beings, you never really tire of those relationships because they’re just written so well. They’re described so well. That’s really the beauty in how he instills these great human qualities into that work. I think what makes it interesting is exploring those qualities and expressing them. I think the people who are interested in Tolkien’s work and in our work in making the film kind of goes together. We feel as strongly about it as well.
SK: I believe the music for THE LORD OF THE RINGS represents one of the, if not the, greatest achievements in the history of film music. No single composer faced so many seemingly impossible obstacles in one project and in the end so overwhelmingly overcame those obstacles. Is there anything about your work in this film that people may not know that you feel is important to share?
HS: I always had a real strong connection with Frodo and his journey. He was a hobbit who was given a large task to do. I felt very similar in the beginning. You felt the weight of the ring and you felt that you were set on this great journey.
Our story parallels the story of THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Our fellowship was formed as well between the collaborators who made the film. We all went on the same journey. We all supported each other and helped each other and creatively encouraged each other to do their best work. I think the fact that our work parallels the story is part of the process. I think that is part of the journey really.
It’s only now, afterwards, in the same way the Hobbits returned to the Shire at the end, and looked, and the world had changed a little bit and they were slightly different. I think we’re feeling that as well. We’re looking back at our work and reflecting on it. The release of “The Complete Recordings” is really part of that process. It’s really a reflection on the work and what we’ve done. We’re kind of going through the same process like they did. I think that connection to the story is also part of our lives.
SK: What scene, in the entire LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, are you most proud of?
HS: I don’t know…I think the Shire scene was very natural writing for me. That scene and the fellowship scene came very early on and they’re really true expressions of how I felt about THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. And then, things really just grooved from there. The work that I did, which was almost four years of writing and orchestrating and conducting, are all based on the beginnings of FELLOWSHIP and then leading into TWO TOWERS. I was on the journey as well.
Now putting out all the recordings, I look back and I see and remember so clearly the steps along the way and the struggle to do the work and trying to do the most human expression of Tolkien’s story.
SK: When are the complete recordings for THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (2003) expected?
HS: I’m working on it now. I’m going through the four discs. I’m starting to go through the editing process – first of all, we’re just making sure that everything is accounted for – and then the editing into the CDs and giving the CDs their shape and trying to work out the best form for the tracks.
Then there’s all the technical requirements as well; the different formats we release in. We release them as enhanced stereo and different surround-sound formats. They’re all part of the process of making the box sets.
Then there’s also Doug’s (Adams) liner notes which are incredibly important. Being and working with Doug is incredible and he’s doing a brilliant job. The notes are just a fantastic…part of the process and he’s been able to review the scores in a way and write about them.
SK: I definitely agree. The liner notes enhance the sets so well.
HS: They kind of go together. He explains it in a way that’s knowledgeable but in a friendly way so that if you weren’t able to read the score you could still understand how the music related to each other and how the cultures related to each other and the objects and the characters. I think he’s done a great job.
SK: How long did it take to produce each individual box set?
HS: It took about ten months, I think, for FELLOWSHIP. TWO TOWERS as well. It takes awhile (laughing). It’s a lot of music, it’s a lot of art, it’s a lot of pages of score. I think we’re getting better though. Maybe with RETURN OF THE KING, we can get it done a little faster than that but I’d say on the average it’s kind of going at about that rate.
SK: Let’s say hypothetically that Peter Jackson decides to take on THE HOBBIT somewhere in the future. Would you like to revisit middle-earth with him?
HS: I’d love that. It would be wonderful. It would be so great to return to middle-earth and be writing music in that world again.
SK: Have you fantasized in your own mind the themes for THE HOBBIT?
HS: Yes. (laughing)
SK: (laughing)…I’ve got one final wrap-up question. I’m curious. Where do you keep your Oscars?
HS: There in my office in the studio.
SK: Well Howard, thank you so much for taking time out to talk with me. I think I can speak on behalf of LORD OF THE RINGS fans everywhere in thanking you for releasing these complete recordings box sets and I anxiously await THE RETURN OF KING.
HS: Thank you.
I’d like to thank Beth Krakower for her assistance with this interview and again to Howard for taking the time out to talk about these magnificent releases. I keep pounding home the notion that it’s such a great time to be a fan of film music. The idea that we’ll soon be able to own every note of music Howard wrote for one of the greatest cinematic events in history is almost too much for my inner-geek to handle.
What the hell, I’ll give it a shot.
We wants it…my precious!
ScoreKeeper!!!
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