HOWARD SHORE – A CELEBRATION OF HIS RICHLY CREATIVE ARTISTRY
DG’S NEW ANTHOLOGY TAKES LISTENERS INTO THE COLOURFUL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE OF HOWARD SHORE
MUSIC FROM THE LORD OF THE RINGS, THE HOBBIT, NAKED LUNCH, CRASH AND MORE WAS RECORDED LIVE
IN PARIS DURING RADIO FRANCE’S THREE-CONCERT HOWARD SHORE WEEKEND IN MAY 2023
THE ALBUM IS OUT ON 21 MARCH 2025, TO COINCIDE WITH THE INAUGURAL LONDON SOUNDTRACK FESTIVAL
LISTEN TO “A LONG-EXPECTED PARTY” FROM THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING HERE
AND WATCH THE PERFORMANCE VIDEO HERE
“THERE IS FREEDOM IN CREATING, WHETHER IT IS IN MUSIC OR PAINTING OR ANOTHER ART FORM. JOY OR PAIN, HORROR OR BEAUTY – MUSIC ALLOWS ME TO EXPRESS IT ALL.”
Howard Shore
15 NOVEMBER 2024 (TORONTO, ON) — Recorded live over one very special weekend in 2023, Howard Shore: Anthology – The Paris Concerts presents highlights from key scores by the multi-award-winning Canadian composer. This new Deutsche Grammophon double album features such diverse soundtracks as The Fly, Naked Lunch, Ed Wood, Crash, Eastern Promises and, of course, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France is conducted by Ludwig Wicki and Bastien Stil, while Mike Schäperclaus conducts Le Balcon in the chamber works. The album will be released in all formats on 21 March 2025 – the day before Howard Shore is presented with the inaugural London Soundtrack Festival Inspiration Award as part of a gala concert at the Royal Festival Hall.
A first single from the album, “A Long-Expected Party” from The Fellowship of the Ring, is released on 15 November, with a video from the Paris concert. This is followed by “The Noble Wood (I Roderyn)” from The Hobbit on 7 February, “The Fly Main Title” on 28 February and “A Black Shadow” from The Fellowship of the Ring on 21 March. STAGE+ subscribers can explore the Paris concerts here.
Howard Shore: Anthology – The Paris Concerts will be issued digitally, as a 2-CD set and on vinyl. A 2‑LP set comprises the pieces from The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Esther Kahn, and the Concertino from Eastern Promises as well as the solo piano concert work Catania. A deluxe vinyl version includes the complete album repertoire on 3 picture discs whose images reflect the films. The LPs are packaged in a special gatefold sleeve which features lyrics in Tolkien’s Sindarin language as well as English.
Howard Shore was working as Saturday Night Live’s first musical director when, in 1979, he was asked to write the film score for his friend David Cronenberg’s The Brood. Since then his music has graced over a hundred films (including 16 more directed by Cronenberg) and won him a string of awards, including 3 Oscars, 3 Golden Globes and 4 Grammys. He has also written for opera, ballet and the concert hall.
The rich variety of his output is reflected on this album – a generous anthology of works heard during Radio France’s 2023 “Week-End Howard Shore”. The programmes showcased music of different styles and eras, from the non-cinematic solo piano piece Catania, performed by Jean-Paul Gasparian, to the epic, orchestral-choral grandeur of Shore’s award-winning The Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack, featuring the Maîtrise (children’s choir) and Chœur de Radio France.
Suites from some of his earlier film scores help demonstrate his multifaceted talents. There are the dark, sinister tones of The Fly; the cool sax lines created for Naked Lunch (with Stéphane Guillaume ably taking the solo part made famous by Ornette Coleman); the mysterious ambience of Ed Wood, where Lydia Kavina plays the theremin, as she did for the original, 30 years ago; and the eerie metallic sounds of harps and electric guitars heard in Crash.
Different worlds are conjured again in the gently hypnotic extract from Esther Kahn and in the Eastern European-influenced Concertino from Eastern Promises, for solo violin and chamber ensemble. Raphaëlle Moreau is the soloist, her melancholy line enhanced in particular by the colours of clarinet and cimbalom. And, as we might expect, the album opens in Middle-earth, with a beautiful moment from The Hobbit, starring the orchestra’s principal oboist Olivier Doise.
Speaking at the end of the Radio France weekend, Howard Shore summed up his feelings: “I was overwhelmed by the dedication of the performers who studied and played this music so well, and I’m thrilled by the collaboration with Radio France and Deutsche Grammophon.”
Upcoming Howard Shore Live to projection concerts:
20 & 21 December 2024 – Grand Théâtre de Québec, Québec City (The Fellowship of the Ring)
20, 21 & 22 December 2024 – Rotterdam Ahoy (The Two Towers)
10, 11 & 12 January 2025 – Place des Arts, Montreal (The Fellowship of the Ring)
18 January 2025 – The Arena at TD Place, Ottawa (The Fellowship of the Ring)
24, 25 & 26 January 2025 – Meridian Hall, Toronto (The Return of the King)
27, 28 February, 1, 2 & 3 March 2025 – Radio City Music Hall, New York (The Return of the King)
4 April 2025 – Olympiahalle, Munich (The Two Towers)
8, 9 & 10 May 2025 – Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco (The Two Towers)
London Soundtrack Festival
22 March 2025 – BFI IMAX – Screenings & Intros with David Cronenberg & Howard Shore: Crash · Dead Ringers
– Royal Festival Hall – David Cronenberg & Howard Shore in conversation · LSF Gala Concert
23 March 2025 – BFI IMAX, Screening & Intro with Howard Shore: The Lord of the Rings trilogy