Doug Adams

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has just announced "an evening with John Williams conducting the CSO in his legendary scores" on their spring 2022 concert schedule. 

I imagine once he "pops out" to Chicago from LA, he'll fly directly to Italy from there to prepare for the Milan concert that's only 10 days after this one
 
I hope to make it to Chicago, but it doesn't seem likely.  We'll see!

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has just announced "an evening with John Williams conducting the CSO in his legendary scores" on their spring 2022 concert schedule. 

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has just announced "an evening with John Williams conducting the CSO in his legendary scores" on their spring 2022 concert schedule. 

Looks like Omni is about to release Poltergeist in full orchestral score, they just changed their FB photo. 

http://www.howardshore.com/a-palace-upon-the-ruins-selected-works/

Sometimes these things don’t involve fault or blame. The term “creative differences” has sort of become a parody of itself, but it’s not always inaccurate. Sometimes creative parties begin on one path, then divert to others. It happens ... I mean, that’s kind of the ephemeral nature of creativity. And there are times when those creative diversions make it impossible to continue things as planned. And something has to give.
 
I know that’s lamentably anticlimactic. It’s easier to process these things where there’s some cataclysmic event to pin everything on. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself when I was 24 hours away from hopping a flight to New Zealand to attend the recording sessions, and everything fell apart. (I didn’t have any trip insurance.) 

You’d be out a million quid. 

The principal themes — which were sort of cantilenas set for 12 cellos and soprano — were, in my opinion, some of the best lyrical work Shore has ever done. 

The first third of the film was scored and recorded. The final third of the score was composed but unrecorded (save for mock-ups). The effects-driven middle third of the film  -- most of the island stuff -- was unfinished and (largely) unscored.
 
There were also discussions about an end credits song that would have featured a rather well-known band collaborating with Shore. But that never got past he discussion stage. 
 
Jackson signs off on theme demos before scoring sessions begin, but due to his editing and effects schedules, individual cues aren't generally locked until they're on the stage. Hence the score proper is not really as pre-approved as one might think. Even the final third of the score, while mocked up, was largely based on script and animatics.
 
 

His career only gets more legendary.

Doug Adams would love to show you his analysis of the Hobbit themes! 

Doug Adams would love to show you his analysis of the Hobbit themes! 

Doug Adams would love to show you his analysis of the Hobbit themes! 

Doug Adams would love to show you his analysis of the Hobbit themes! 

Doug Adams would love to show you his analysis of the Hobbit themes! 

Doug Adams would love to show you his analysis of the Hobbit themes! 

Doug Adams would love to show you his analysis of the Hobbit themes! 

Doug Adams would love to show you his analysis of the Hobbit themes! 

Doug Adams would love to show you his analysis of the Hobbit themes! 

A few years ago I built my own slipcases for both trilogies, and until some REALLY ultimate edition comes out, these will continue to do nicely on the shelf. I'll just have to swap-out the movie discs for the UHD-ones (I got the barebones sets).
 




 
A little bit of a "making of", if you're interested how these were built: https://imgur.com/a/brfa4
 

Or hire me! 

Or hire me! 

Or hire me! 

Or hire me! 

Or hire me! 

Wait, someone was supposed to pay me for that!? Rats!
 
Contracts -- at least in my situation -- are not necessarily given expiration dates. Not that I think it would matter in this case. The rights are so specific that you can't really even shop these things around. Between the movie and likeness rights, the Tolkien Estate, and the music publishing, the book needs to be done a very specific way.
 
Right now, I'm trying to see what comes with the Amazon show. My deep hope is that a) it sort of clears up some rights restrictions and b) it rekindles a bit of interest. We shall see. It doesn't help that the Amazon production itself is a bit of an enigma. (Note to Amazon: if you hire me as a music consultant, I will erase that last sentence.)
 
Impossible Silence -- I don't want to get into it, but someone I was close with had a mental breakdown while we were in production. (This was not someone involved with Impossible Silence or film music at all.) Tragically, that person did not survive the ordeal. I turned my attention away from the book during that time, and it's been very difficult to regain momentum. We actually started the ball rolling again in 2019/2020, but the pandemic stopped everything once again. Compared to the suffering others experienced in both these circumstances, the derailing of a niche film music book is, of course, nothing at all. I only mention it to address the question. 
 
Again, I still haven't given up hope. In this instance, putting a little time between writing and publishing actually makes the rights a bit easier. The few things that would had to have been cleared will all be public domain soon. So that's good.
 
And hey, Spielberg is making a movie now that he's been trying to get going since before the days of E.T., so sometimes these things just take a long, long time!