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Howard Shore's music

danwhiite
Registered User

Jul 23 2015, 1:22pm

Post #1 of 7 (1959 views)
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Howard Shore's music Can't Post

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


OldestDaughter
Rohan


Jul 23 2015, 3:15pm

Post #2 of 7 (1921 views)
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Hi Dan! [In reply to] Can't Post

Well, here is my views on Howard Shore's Middle-earth music!
My three favorite soundtracks are the Two Towers, The Desolation of Smaug and the Fellowship of the Ring. I like the Two Towers because not only is that my favorite out of the six films, but I love the different themes of the different cultures. (Especially the Rohan Theme and the newer Rivendell themes.) I like the Desolation of Smaug the best for the Hobbit films because I love the Woodland Elves themes and I love hearing Tauriel's theme in all it's glory in this film.(it was hardly in the BOFA!) And for the Fellowship of the Ring, I like the Nazgul themes, Galadriel's theme and the escape from Moria sequence theme!
I listen to the soundtracks often, especially certain songs, and I usually listen to them on my Ipod.
I love both trilogies of music, but I have to say I love the LOTR's better. ( I still love the Hobbit though!) and I can tell that they are the same universe, especially when they hinted the Fellowship theme into the BOFA and Arwen's theme when Tauriel saves Kili.
And no, I've never been to a live concert of Shore's music and I've heard only video game score for more of Tolkien's works! (I like those soundtracks too!)


tiamy
Rivendell


Jul 23 2015, 4:21pm

Post #3 of 7 (1904 views)
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Here you go... [In reply to] Can't Post

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?
FOTR is still my favorite. It's my favorite of all the movies as well so I guess it comes hand in hand. I love FOTR soundtrack because I believe it is the most diverse of all - giving us a hint of every other themes in the series and not to mention that it's an exciting, evocative and emotional piece of music. I guess listening to it always remind me of how it felt the first time I saw the movie in the theater. That feeling of excitement and awe and wonder never leaves you and I was frequently reminded of those feelings whenever I listen to the scores. I listen to the Middle Earth scores almost everyday when I'm commuting. And I just take a break whenever I feel listening to other film scores out there. But a few days, I find myself going back to the Middle Earth scores for some reason.

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 would still prefer LOTR but The Hobbit is a close second. I do feel they belong on the same universe (except for that Ed Sheeran song, IMHO).

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?
I've been to FOTR and TTT live concerts in Singapore (and I really went there from the Philippines just to see it). I wrote about the experience here --> https://www.facebook.com/...s/10152465926206894/

When I'm on Spotify, I do listen to other performances of the Middle Earth scores from different orchestras just to hear the same piece of music with some new twists.


Harold.of.Whoa
Rivendell


Jul 25 2015, 5:12am

Post #4 of 7 (1756 views)
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Hi, Dan, and welcome! [In reply to] Can't Post

-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?

Tough question, but I have to go with RotK OST (jewel case as it's called, NOT the Complete Recordings) because I love the way the musical story is brought to conclusion - themes mature to their ultimate form, secrets are revealed, musical investments from earlier are paid off with interest. By RotK, it is abundantly clear that there is a musical story, not just some music in a supporting role of a film story, and I love that. Even so, I am torn because TTT is perhaps a better stand-alone OST, and FotR has some of the best individual tracks.

I used to listen daily in all of the above locations; now I am more of an occasional listener. I would also note that I rarely listen to one movie all the way through, preferring instead my own playlists with tracks from each LotR movie interspersed.

-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?

The truth is I don't care for The Hobbit movies, so I really don't have the motivation to appreciate them musically. Still, I can hear the musical connection quite clearly, although in a couple of notable examples I was actually upset about the way the connections were employed in AUJ.

-Have you ever been to a live concert of Shore’s music...

Yes, FotR in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Unequivocally my favorite experience of any type of live performance. I wish it were feasible for me to attend one every year.

I once posted a somewhat lengthy essay about one aspect of the musical story I made reference to earlier. If nothing else, it might lead you to focus your article on how Howard Shore's music makes fans go off the deep end. Here's a link:
http://newboards.theonering.net/...i?post=438424#438424

Cheers and enjoy your project as much as I enjoyed mine!


FrogmortonJustice65
Lorien


Jul 27 2015, 4:44am

Post #5 of 7 (1708 views)
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happy to help! [In reply to] Can't Post

-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?

This is tough. It would come down to Fellowship of the Ring or Return of the King. I think I'd say Return of the King. It has some truly triumphant moments and allows the listener to hear the final evolution of many motifs that appeared throughout the series. Alot of the Fellowship/Shire material which first appeared in FOTR reaches new heights and is especially emotionally impactful in ROTK. I listen to it mostly at home. I can't drive and listen to LOTR...it doesn't feel right. I think Tolkien once said the internal combustion engine would be the downfall of humanity, haha!

-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?

LOTR, but the Hobbit soundtracks are quite good as well. For me there's no equivalent to the Fellowship motif in the Hobbit films. You can definitely tell they are from the same musical universe because when writing the Hobbit scores Howard Shore took great care to weave a musical tapestry that is consistent with and hints at what is to come in LOTR.

-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?

I saw a screening of ROTK that was accompanied by an orchestra playing the score in Grand Rapids, Michigan several years ago. It was fantastic -- and a great way to celebrate Shore's music and Tolkien fandom writ large. I hope I have the opportunity to see more.

 photo cbccab4e-f61e-4be5-aaa1-20e302430c7c.jpg


Begather
Registered User

Jul 28 2015, 9:53am

Post #6 of 7 (1675 views)
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Just a suggestion [In reply to] Can't Post

Don't you think that with only this forum you could not fetch the total analysis for your work? You need a broader place to discuss this?

[solicitation link removed]


(This post was edited by dernwyn on Nov 9 2015, 4:42pm)


danwhiite
Registered User

Sep 24 2015, 10:10am

Post #7 of 7 (1292 views)
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Questionnaire [In reply to] Can't Post

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

 
 

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