This is about Lord of the Rings and Shores next job of writing and composing music for the upcoming Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.
LOS ANGELES -- Lord of the Rings fans around the world are eagerly awaiting next winter's release of The Return of the King, the final instalment of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic trilogy. Meanwhile, one person intimately involved with the project has had an advance peek at a rough cut of the film and he is already suggesting that director Peter Jackson has created a masterpiece.
"I can tell you that having seen The Return of the King, it is a great film," says Canadian composer Howard Shore. "It is amazing."
Shore has the mammoth task of creating a musical score for all three sections and this places him in a privileged position because if he is to do his job properly, he must see each movie well in advance.
"You're ultimately dealing with a nine- to 10-hour film," Shore explains. Furthermore, music is an ongoing part of the creative fabric. "You're creating a large musical work, a 10-hour piece, using all the Tolkien languages."
Shore, who began his musical career with the legendary Canadian rock group Lighthouse, won an Academy Award last winter for the score he composed for The Fellowship of the Ring, the first movie in the trilogy.
He's been spending hours watching Return of the King and in the early stages he doesn't even think about putting notes on paper. "It's the beginning process because you just want to absorb it and feel something about it. Then comes the more technical process. How does the music relate to the film? What are the tempos? What are the colours?"
Once the composing is done, the performance and recording aspect takes over in London with Shore conducting the 100-piece London Philharmonic Orchestra and a 100-voice massed choir.