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danwhiite
Registered User
Jul 23 2015, 1:21pm
Post #1 of 6
(731 views)
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Howard Shore's music
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Hi everybody,
My name’s Dan, I’m a music PhD in England and I’m currently doing some research into fan cultures surrounding the LOTR and Hobbit franchises, and focussing on the Peter Jackson trilogies and particularly Howard Shore’s soundtracks. I wanted to get some conversation started about the following:
-Which is your favourite soundtrack and why? How often do you listen to it, and is that mostly at home, in the car or elsewhere?
-Do you prefer the Hobbit or LOTR soundtracks? Can you hear that they come from the same musical universe, even though they may sound different?
-Have you ever been to a live concert of Shore’s music, or have you ever heard any other music inspired by Tolkien’s work? How does that fit into the world and history of Middle-earth?
The research I’m doing is for an article to be published in 2016, and I might put together a questionnaire if this takes off! Do let me know if you’d rather not have your name/handle quoted in the paper.
Thanks everyone!
Dan White
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Eruvandi
Tol Eressea
Jul 23 2015, 6:18pm
Post #3 of 6
(664 views)
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First of all, welcome to TORn! I think it's great that we get researchers here sometimes, asking questions. It's always very interesting to see the different responses!
I love Howard Shore's soundtracks for LOTR and The Hobbit, so I'd be more than happy to answer you questions. But I just want to note really quick before I start that I didn't become a LOTR fan until the summer of 2013, so all of my answers about the soundtracks for the movies are only applicable to the past two years. I didn't know or care that these particular soundtracks existed before then.
-Which is your favourite soundtrack and why? How often do you listen to it, and is that mostly at home, in the car or elsewhere? It's hard to choose because there's so much wonderful music on all of them, but I'd have to say my favorite soundtrack is the Return of the King (ROTK): The Complete Recordings. This is partly because, in my humble opinion, it has some of the most beautiful, epic music of the entire saga, and partly because it's the only LOTR Complete Recordings soundtrack available digitally and I simply don't have the money to get the physical copies of the Complete Recordings from the other LOTR movies. Last time I checked, the cheapest price I could find for those was Used at $149!  I really do wish they would release them digitally though, because I'd buy them before you could say "My preciousss!" This is assuming that they were at a more reasonable price, of course...
I would say that I listen to the ROTK Complete Recordings Soundtrack (and the other soundtracks, for that matter) frequently, which means that I probably listen to all or part of it once a month at the very least.
I graduated college this past spring, and back when I was still taking courses (I was taking online courses, not on campus) and having to do a lot of studying, reading, and working on assignments late into the night, this soundtrack (and the others too) was one of my best friends. I'm the type of person who struggles to stay focused for long periods of time on things that I consider boring and/or tedious, because my mind wants to wander all over the place and procrastinate. In order to help get myself to stay on task and get my assignments done on time, I did some experimenting and discovered that instrumental music really helped me to keep my mind focused without distracting me with lyrics, like other types of music. It also relaxed me so I didn't get quite as stressed as I might have otherwise. So, I started listening to movie soundtracks during my study times and The ROTK Complete Recordings ended up being one of the soundtracks I listened to the most. Partly because I just love the music so much, and partly because it's one of the longest soundtracks I own, which made it perfect for really long study sessions.
Now that I've graduated, I still listen to it on a regular basis, both in and outside my home. I've listened to it on long car trips when I want something pretty and relaxing, I've listened to it when I've had to wait on my parents for a long time at their doctor appointments and occasional medical procedures, and I've listened to it when I want to read a book, but I'm having to sit somewhere where there's a lot of distracting background noise that I want to drown out with something that will let me focus on the words I'm reading instead of the noise. I am also an aspiring fiction writer and sometimes I listen to it while I work on my book(s) because, again, instrumental music helps me focus. And so you know, I happen to be listening it right this very moment as I write this post, just because you made me think of it.
-Do you prefer the Hobbit or LOTR soundtracks? Can you hear that they come from the same musical universe, even though they may sound different? I can honestly say that I don't prefer either of the soundtracks more than the other. They are different, yes. In my personal opinion, the LOTR music tends to have a more sweeping and epic feel to it because the story of LOTR was more sweeping and epic, but the music from The Hobbit is just as lovely as the music from LOTR and I'd say that I listen to and love the soundtracks from both pretty equally.
Yes, I can hear that they come from the same musical universe, even though they sound different. First of all, I think it helps that they were both done by the same composer. I've noticed on the occasions that I've had the chance to hear some of Shore's other music that his work seems to have a certain distinct "flavor" to it that is unique to him. And secondly, if you know what to listen for, you can hear many of the musical themes from LOTR show up in the music from The Hobbit. Some examples I can think of would be the Rivendel theme, the theme for the One Ring, the Shire theme, etc, etc. All of this helps tie the soundtracks from the two trilogies together into one musical universe.
-Have you ever been to a live concert of Shore’s music?
No. I don't have much money for traveling or concerts, and as far as I know, there's never been a live concert of Shore's music at a time and place that I would have been able or interested in going. Maybe someday, though.
or have you ever heard any other music inspired by Tolkien’s work? How does that fit into the world and history of Middle-earth? There are only a few things that come to my mind as far as music inspired by Tolkien that isn't specifically from the movies. First of all, back in 2013, The Piano Guys on YouTube wrote an original composition that they called "Arwen's Vigil" (link). You can read their explanation for why they gave it this title here. I've been known to listen to that song on repeat for HOURS because it's so beautiful. 
The other music is by the lady who goes by "Eurielle" on YouTube. She has two songs based on The Hobbit. One is called "Song of Durin" and the other is "Lament for Thorin". According to Eurielle, the lyrics for "Song of Durin" are by Tolkien himself and she put them to her own music. As far as "Lament for Thorin" goes, it looks like, from what she said in the video description, that that one might be completely her own original composition. As I'm sure you can tell by the title, "Lament for Thorin" fits with the world and history of Middle-Earth because it was written to be something that might have been sung at Thorin's funeral after his death in the Battle of Five Armies.
As I did searches for the songs by Eurielle, I noticed that some other Tolkien inspired songs by other artists came up. I hadn't been aware of these before just now, but here are some links: Songs by someone named Karlien (looks like she has a lot of Tolkien songs, so I'll link to the three I just listened to and you can take it from there): "Smaug's song" "Lament for Boromir" "Galadriel's song" Someone called "Miracle of Sound" has an original song based on The Hobbit called "Call of Home" And there's also a 1hr 20min long video called "The Songs and Lays of Middle Earth: A Compilation of Tolkien Poems" which apparently have been set to music by somebody somewhere.
So, that's all I can think to tell you. Hope it helps with your research! Btw, I'm totally fine with you quoting my handle in the paper if you want. It really doesn't matter to me.
If you don't mind my asking, what paper is it that you're doing this for, exactly? And is there any chance that you'll be able to share the article with us once it's published? I think it would be interesting to see the final results of your work.
Lord I give you everything, Anything you want from me
Take my past and my future I lay it at your feet
Yeah, I'm after your heart, you've stolen mine
I give you my all 'cause you gave up your life
I'm not who I was simply because, Oh, you set me free
And you change me from what I used to be
Opened my eyes, now I can see
You're making this life so beautiful
So beautiful
~"Beautiful" by Dan Bremnes
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Elizabeth
Half-elven
Jul 24 2015, 7:15am
Post #4 of 6
(634 views)
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LotR was magnificent. TH less so.
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I am a very serious fan of the scores for LotR. I bought the CDs before the films came out, loved the music even more having seen the films.
I attended a live concert of the "LotR Symphony" (not a symphony, but a concert presentation of themes from all 3 movies) at the Hollywood Bowl in LA (a massive sellout) and traveled from LA to NY for live concerts at Radio City Music Hall for both FotR and TTT. To my serious disappointment, that series did not complete with RotK, but this past April (2015) there was a complete trilogy with live orchestra and chorus at Lincoln Center in NY, and I flew with my granddaughter (age 12, a new Tolkien fan!) from Hawaii, where we now live, to New York for them, meeting my son and his step-daughter from TX and several friends. It was magnificent! It was also a total sellout, for multiple performances.
Complete scores for LotR have been released on CD, which I have, and I'm sure you're aware of the excellent book by Doug Adams, who collaborated with Shore, on the LotR scores. I have it and love it.
The scores for The Hobbit were a great disappointment to me. Similar style, but not at all memorable. When I left each of the LotR films for the first time (and I later saw them multiple times) the music was in my head for days. There is not one memorable theme for The Hobbit. It's basic movie music. I am aware that there are people on this site that can cite and praise themes from The Hobbit, but I am afraid I am not among them.
I hope this is helpful to you! You are welcome to contact me by PM through this site if you wish.
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Greenwood Hobbit
Valinor
Jul 29 2015, 10:54pm
Post #5 of 6
(501 views)
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Good luck with your research -
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I was lucky enough to see Howard Shore conduct the LOTR symphony twice, at the Royal Festival Hall in London; hearing that music played live was a long succession of goose-bump moments for me. The swell and subtlety of the sounds in a space with such fine acoustics really brought the music to life and gave it depth and richness. It only fell short in a couple of small ways; the boy's high-voiced lament when Gandalf fell into shadow was true, but weak, and Aragorn's almost hypnotic chant on being crowned did not sound as convincing, delivered by a more professionally trained voice. That's just me nit-picking really; overall it was en experience I feel privileged to have enjoyed.
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danwhiite
Registered User
Sep 24 2015, 10:08am
Post #6 of 6
(316 views)
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Hi everybody!
Firstly thanks for your replies, it’s been really helpful. I’ve put together a short questionnaire about LOTR music, and I wonder if you might be able to fill it out? It should only take 5 minutes or so, and would be really helpful! To find it follow this link: http://goo.gl/forms/vNb86jixaA
Thanks so much!
Dan
(This post was edited by danwhiite on Sep 24 2015, 10:09am)
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