Jay 37,309 Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Thanks for your post, Incanus!It always seemed like the symphony was somewhat hastily put together for some reason, and it seems that over the years no work has been done to change it in any way to make it more satisfying. Oh well - we always have the OSTs and CRs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fommes 153 Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 What's the deal with this CD by the way - is it available anywhere in Europe at all at a decent price? I checked the three main European Amazons yesterday, and the result was kind of sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crocodile 7,988 Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Kaitlyn Lusk, the soprano soloist, performs on the discs with admirable skill as she did when I heard the Symphony live a few years back.She really does a fantastic job, considering that she's singing the parts of 7 other performers from the films and yet she manages to convey the mood of all these pieces. When I saw TTT live performace two years ago I was really impressed with her.Karol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incanus 5,713 Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Kaitlyn Lusk, the soprano soloist, performs on the discs with admirable skill as she did when I heard the Symphony live a few years back.She really does a fantastic job, considering that she's singing the parts of 7 other performers from the films and yet she manages to convey the mood of all these pieces. When I saw TTT live performace two years ago I was really impressed with her.KarolI actually had a little mix up when I said I had heard Kaitlyn perform the symphony. I meant the FotR Live this spring. Too many shows on the road for LotR these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ymenard 54 Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 The "symphony" itself is also an important way for Mr. Shore to bookend his work on the movies and give a legacy for the future. I mean it's now on paper, it's a proper symphony.You can conduct it correctly without thinking about time, using the orchestration of the official manuscript, not by using the scores anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marian Schedenig 8,175 Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 The "symphony" itself is also an important way for Mr. Shore to bookend his work on the movies and give a legacy for the future. I mean it's now on paper, it's a proper symphony.The only thing it has in common with a proper symphony is the name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wojo 2,453 Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 More symphonic than the Bittersweet Symphony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkgyver 1,645 Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 I would have wished for a bit more "adapting" done to the pieces as well, but I wonder if this has to do with some legal issues, that the music can't be altered in any way or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan 689 Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 I have to admit I found the performance on the Symphony release rather jarring when I first heard it. It seemed to lack a lot of the "oomph" of the original recordings. That's quite a poor criticism really baring in mind that this is a live recording as opposed to a controlled scoring stage recording, but I felt that the orchestration didn't help matters. The Isengard 5 beat pattern sounds pretty anemic. I also thought the tempi felt a little rushed. Almost like the orchestra was just playing to get through it rather than actually putting something in to the music. I think that sums up my feelings about the recording as a whole actually. It just lacks something. Like a perfectly competent orchestra playing some music well enough, but not getting in to it.On subsequent listens, I've warmed to it a bit more. I'm just so used to how the music sounds on the OST and CR and I think that my familiarity with it made me hesitant to accept this different interpretation by another orchestra. I should also point out that the only time I've seen the music performed live was by The London Philharmonic, with the London Voices conducted by Howard Shore himself so I've literally only every heard the scores performed by the same orchestra, choir and conductor until now.It's nice to have but I doubt it'll get very many listens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incanus 5,713 Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 For those interested in honor of Howard Shore's 66th birthday the Classic FM presents the entire Lord of the Rings Symphony on this Thursday 18th of October at 8 pm:Incy's linkyThis is the live performance recorded by conductor Ludwig Wicki and the 21st Century Orchestra and Chorus, that was released last year by Howe Records. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodBoal 7,538 Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Is that the thing that includes the subpar version of most of the tracks from the OSTs? Not interested! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,309 Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 haha, I think I love 'Inky's Linky" just as much as I love "Incanalysis" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faleel 5,340 Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Incanalysis I tried to make it famous, but some other guy stole my thunder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SafeUnderHill 205 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 It's by the 21th Century Orchestra from Switserland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodBoal 7,538 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 What are people's thoughts on The Lord of the Rings Symphony? I'm tempted to get it but I'm not sure if its worthwhile. Am I right in thinking its not by the London Phil? If so then maybe listening to it will convince me a different orchestra will go unnoticed in DOS.Trust me, you can feel it's not by the same orchestra.As far as I'm concerned, the LOTR symphony isn't really worthwile. It's just the music that appears on the soundtracks. It really hasn't much to offer. I wish Shore had created theme suites and things like that to make a real symphony, instead of just taking some tracks from the OST and putting them together to form the movements. Pity, really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 It's an interesting suite of the trilogy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus 5,399 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Anti-climatic in places, though. Some of Shore's structural decisions are quite maddening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Yes!"Let's delete the climax from Bridge of Khazad Dum!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faleel 5,340 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 As far as I'm concerned, the LOTR symphony isn't really worthwile. It's just the music that appears on the soundtracks.That is a rather narrow view of it.Some pieces in FOTR have differences:#1 Three Is Company has singing instead of humming.#2 Journey in the Dark has an extra word in the beginning (I think) and a wierd instrument in the background, and a brass note added at the end#3 The Great River has an extended ending.also some cues in ROTK have similar structure to the OST versions, but restore some of the music from the cue, for example the Gondor theme statement at the end of Osgilitath invaded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodBoal 7,538 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 That's still not enough to make it worthwile, in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 What about just having a different orchestra perform it?That's why I like the City Of Prague recording. It also emphasises the choir in a few spots so you can actually hear the text. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus 5,399 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 How is their choir nowadays? It used to be HORRIFIC, back in the Duel of the Fates days. I heard their Conan rerecording and there was improvement, but still... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Their choir?I assume you are referring to the Crouch End Festival Chorus, from London, England? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon Hill 4,233 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 What are people's thoughts on The Lord of the Rings Symphony? I'm tempted to get it but I'm not sure if its worthwhile. Am I right in thinking its not by the London Phil? If so then maybe listening to it will convince me a different orchestra will go unnoticed in DOS.If you need proof that the NZSO will fit in, just listen to the Moria sequence. One of the most compelling parts of all the Middle-Earth scores, I think.I'm not wrong, right? Did the LPO re-record that section for the final cut of the film? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkgyver 1,645 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 No, they didn't. The theatrical version was by the NZSO, and for the extended version they blended recordings of the NZSO and LPO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,309 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Nope, the original NZSO recordings are used for the film, OST, and CR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus 5,399 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Their choir? I assume you are referring to the Crouch End Festival Chorus, from London, England? That's the one. If memory serves, under Nic Raine they were outrageously bad on Duel of the Fates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SafeUnderHill 205 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilal 569 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 I think those changes do reflect Shore's preferences, much like how John Williams likes to leave certain bars or sections of cues out of his OST CD's. That doesn't mean he did originally write it that way, though. Perhaps he thought a shorter version would be more suitable for a concert setting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faleel 5,340 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 A Conspiracy Unmasked SafeUnderHill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Their choir?I assume you are referring to the Crouch End Festival Chorus, from London, England?That's the one. If memory serves, under Nic Raine they were outrageously bad on Duel of the Fates.Nonsense! Nic Raine conducted the orchestra, not the choir! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KK 3,307 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Anti-climatic in places, though. Some of Shore's structural decisions are quite maddening.May I start a conspiracy that these are Shore going with his original main intentions? What if PJ and co actually asked for the climatic parts you and Stefancos mention since they like it that way, so Shore came up with kick ass music. Shore wasn't known for powering thematic and climatic music before LOTR was he (I seem to remember reading people saying they were expecting atmospheric music that didn't overbear the picture before the LOTR films and they said they wanted that!)? This could explain The Hobbits changes OST somehow and all the mistymountain statements.Well Shore mainly wrote for horror films which required his brooding music before he got LotR. But he's definitely wrote LotR-style music before Jackson came along. Take a listen to great stuff like "The Fly" or "Looking for Richard".As BloodBoal said, the LotR Symphony isn't really worth your while. I wish Shore had taken the time to actually play around with his themes again in a more unique format for the concert setting, much like Williams did with Memoirs of a Geisha. Also the performance on the album isn't all that good. And I'm not a big fan of many of the tempo shifts, makes it sound more anti-climactic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus 5,399 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 I can't agree with the proposed conspiracy theory. Shore knew full well going into LotR that it would be a very conventional work and he would therefore be expected to support the movie and its action scenes in a very conventional, crowd pleasing way (and no; tonal juxtaposition doesn't mean unconventional). From a mainstream film making perspective it makes absolutely no sense to withhold audience payoff, especially when music is instrumental in the delivery and execution of said emotional responses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 People seem very intend these days to find some huge conspiracy of PJ against Howard Shore. It's quite ridiculous actually. I wonder when this started, was it after he rejected King Kong?Using the omitted Fellowship climax from the the symphony version of Khazad Dum to somehow "prove" Shore had less "obvious" aspirations for FOTR sounds like people are just looking for things to be wrong.Like with his OST, Shore had to cut down his 3 hour score for FOTR to about something much shorter, and have that make musical sense somehow. Apparently this was done as a bit of a rush job, I'm not even sure if Shore was the one who did that or that is was John Mauceri of the Hollywood Bowl (I seem to recall he was involved).Basically the symphony is a reduced version of the OST's (though he did stick in some, at the time, unreleased music for the TTT and ROTK movements.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faleel 5,340 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 And some EE music (Leaving Rivendell etc.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SafeUnderHill 205 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodBoal 7,538 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smeltington 1,436 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 The wraiths came across as very incompetent in FotR, but they looked and sounded great. I'm sure glad they weren't CGI! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SafeUnderHill 205 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodBoal 7,538 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SafeUnderHill 205 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodBoal 7,538 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SafeUnderHill 205 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KK 3,307 Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 I'm sure glad the Ringwraiths weren't CGI. I thought they were one of the best designs in the LotR trilogy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 I'm sure glad the Ringwraiths were CGI. I thought they were one of the best designs in the LotR trilogy. Go back to sleep KK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,309 Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Am I a bad Shore/LOTR fan because I've still never listened to this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Seriously? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wojo 2,453 Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 6 minutes ago, Jay said: Am I a bad Shore/LOTR fan because I've still never listened to this? Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo 3,709 Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 It's definitely worth a few listens like! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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