Howard Shore
Jul. 31st, 2004 11:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
auntiemeeshHoward Shore was in Pittsburgh this weekend, to conduct the Lord of the Rings symphony. My roommate and I went this evening and it was very lovely. There was a Q&A session beforehand, during which some good questions were asked.
One woman asked what the hardest part of composing the score was, and he answered, "the deadlines." Everyone laughed.
Another question was how he came up with the music. He said that he did a lot of research, spending five or six months learning as much as he could about Tolkien's writings, his life, things that influenced him, etc. Then he put it all away in a box and asked himself what his response to LotR was. He said that when you compose, it's all about your response to something, so the score for LotR has a lot of his personal response to the movies/books in it.
Someone asked what his favorite part of the score is and he said that for him the parts of the movie with Sam and Frodo were most important, so any of the music that has to do with Sam and Frodo are his favorite bits.
The last question that was put to him was if he got to spend much time with the cast or on location, and if that helped inspire him. He related an anecdote of one day spent on location. It seems he drove somewhere in a landrover, to wherever the crew was shooting that day. They were on a wind-swept mountain and shortly after he got there, Peter decided it was time to break for lunch, so they set out tables and everyone sat down. Howard was impressed that 'the two hobbits, Sam and Frodo' whom he didn't know very well at the time, sat down with him to eat. Then, to make it even better, another Land Rover pulls up and out pops Sir Edmund Hillary, who also joined them all for lunch. His face lit up as he told this story, and it was clearly one of the highlights of the experience for him.
The man who was moderating the Q&A (I never really caught his name)was a very twitchy fellow. I think he must not be very used to such situations because he didnt' know what to do with himself while Howard was answering the questions. He was never still. His head was turning, he fiddled with his watch, put his hands between his knees. It was entertaining to watch the poor man, lol.
The symphony itself was very good. I enjoyed the experience greatly. The vocal soloist, Sissel, was excellent. She has an amazingly clear and beautiful voice. She sang 'Gollum's Song' perfectly, managing to make me feel much sorrow for the poor, pitiful wretch.
Afterwards we went to Gullifty's for dinner, so it was quite the night out. We had a moderately bad waitress. She forgot K's salad and then, although she was standing right next to our table and I waved her over when she was looking right at me, she turned and walked away. K finally got her salad but was pissed. Then the waitress disappeared when it was time to give us the bill. I think they are trained to do this. Stop by the table several times while you have food in your mouth, asking if everything is satisfactory. Then, when your mouth is empty, as is your plate, and you would like the bill, they disappear into some other dimension. By the time we got our bill, K was mad enough that she didn't leave a tip at all for her meal. I left a decent tip for my bill, but not enough to cover both. Hmm, oh well. I don't like pissing off waitresses at restaurants that I go to more than once or twice a year. It's not good policy, but it can't be helped now.
I'm very tired, but I've been feeling the lure of Recaptured so I think I might go read a few more chapters before bed.
One woman asked what the hardest part of composing the score was, and he answered, "the deadlines." Everyone laughed.
Another question was how he came up with the music. He said that he did a lot of research, spending five or six months learning as much as he could about Tolkien's writings, his life, things that influenced him, etc. Then he put it all away in a box and asked himself what his response to LotR was. He said that when you compose, it's all about your response to something, so the score for LotR has a lot of his personal response to the movies/books in it.
Someone asked what his favorite part of the score is and he said that for him the parts of the movie with Sam and Frodo were most important, so any of the music that has to do with Sam and Frodo are his favorite bits.
The last question that was put to him was if he got to spend much time with the cast or on location, and if that helped inspire him. He related an anecdote of one day spent on location. It seems he drove somewhere in a landrover, to wherever the crew was shooting that day. They were on a wind-swept mountain and shortly after he got there, Peter decided it was time to break for lunch, so they set out tables and everyone sat down. Howard was impressed that 'the two hobbits, Sam and Frodo' whom he didn't know very well at the time, sat down with him to eat. Then, to make it even better, another Land Rover pulls up and out pops Sir Edmund Hillary, who also joined them all for lunch. His face lit up as he told this story, and it was clearly one of the highlights of the experience for him.
The man who was moderating the Q&A (I never really caught his name)was a very twitchy fellow. I think he must not be very used to such situations because he didnt' know what to do with himself while Howard was answering the questions. He was never still. His head was turning, he fiddled with his watch, put his hands between his knees. It was entertaining to watch the poor man, lol.
The symphony itself was very good. I enjoyed the experience greatly. The vocal soloist, Sissel, was excellent. She has an amazingly clear and beautiful voice. She sang 'Gollum's Song' perfectly, managing to make me feel much sorrow for the poor, pitiful wretch.
Afterwards we went to Gullifty's for dinner, so it was quite the night out. We had a moderately bad waitress. She forgot K's salad and then, although she was standing right next to our table and I waved her over when she was looking right at me, she turned and walked away. K finally got her salad but was pissed. Then the waitress disappeared when it was time to give us the bill. I think they are trained to do this. Stop by the table several times while you have food in your mouth, asking if everything is satisfactory. Then, when your mouth is empty, as is your plate, and you would like the bill, they disappear into some other dimension. By the time we got our bill, K was mad enough that she didn't leave a tip at all for her meal. I left a decent tip for my bill, but not enough to cover both. Hmm, oh well. I don't like pissing off waitresses at restaurants that I go to more than once or twice a year. It's not good policy, but it can't be helped now.
I'm very tired, but I've been feeling the lure of Recaptured so I think I might go read a few more chapters before bed.
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Date: 2004-08-01 04:38 am (UTC)That's so cool! And meeting Sir Edmund Hillary!!! That would be amazing.
Thanks for this great report.
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Date: 2004-08-01 04:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-02 09:42 am (UTC)Pips
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Date: 2004-08-02 10:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-02 12:36 pm (UTC)