Shore has also composed a few concert works including one opera, The Fly, based on the plot of Cronenberg's 1986 film premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on July 2, 2008, a short piece Fanfare for the Wanamaker Organ and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and a short overture for the Swiss 21st Century Symphony Orchestra. In addition to his three Academy Awards, Shore has also won three Golden Globe Awards and four Grammy Awards.
Howard Shore was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the son of Bernice (née Ash) and Mac Shore. Shore is Jewish. He started studying music at the age of 8 or 9. He learned a multitude of instruments and began playing in bands at the ages of 13 and 14. When Shore was 13, he met and became good friends with a young Lorne Michaels in summer camp, and this friendship would later be influential in his career. By 17, he decided he wanted to pursue music in his adult life too. He studied music at Berklee College of Music in Boston after graduating from Forest Hill Collegiate Institute.
From 1969 to 1972, Shore was a member of the jazz fusion band Lighthouse. In 1970, he became the music director for Lorne Michaels and Hart Pomerantz's short-lived TV program The Hart & Lorne Terrific Hour. Shore wrote the music for Canadian magician Doug Henning's magic musical Spellbound in 1974 and, from 1975 to 1980, he was the musical director for Lorne Michaels' influential late-night NBC comedy show Saturday Night Live, appearing in many musical sketches, including Howard Shore and His All-Nurse Band, and dressed as a beekeeper for a John Belushi/Dan Aykroyd performance of the Slim Harpo classic "I'm a King Bee". Shore also suggested the name for The Blues Brothers to Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi.
Since 2004, he has toured the world conducting local orchestras in the performance of his new symphonic arrangement of his highly acclaimed Lord of the Rings scores. The new work is entitled The Lord of the Rings: Symphony in Six Movements. There are two movements for each of the movies, and an intermission between the second and third (or first and second film titles) movements. The concert presentation of the symphony also includes projected still images of sketches by John Howe and Alan Lee relating the music being performed to scenes from the films. Recently, however, Shore has been busy with other projects, leaving other conductors including Markus Huber, Ludwig Wicki, Alexander Mickelthwaite, and John Mauceri to lead the orchestras.
April 24, 2008 marked the North American Live to Projection debut of Fellowship of the Ring, with the score performed live by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ludwig Wicki. Wicki also conducted the Filene Center Orchestra at the Wolf Trap Farm Park in Vienna, Virginia on May 21 and 22, 2008 in the U.S. premiere of the Fellowship of the Ring Live to Projection.
September 16, 2010 Shore conducted the RSO Vienna (Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra) which performed "In Dreams from The Fellowship of the Ring" at Hollywood in Vienna in Vienna, Austria. Shore was commissioned by Macy's to write a Fanfare for the Store's 150th anniversary featuring the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Wanamaker Organ, the world's largest playing pipe organ. The work was debuted in the Grand Court of Macy's Philadelphia Store on September 27, 2008 in a concert that drew reviews from most of the major East Coast newspapers.
Shore's opera The Fly had its world premiere performance at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on July 2, 2008 and its United States premiere at Los Angeles Opera on September 7, 2008. The production was directed by David Cronenberg and conducted by Plácido Domingo. The Fly had a new production mounted by Theatre Trier in Germany in 2014 staged by Sebastian Welker and conducted by Joongbae Jee.
Shore was commissioned by the Beijing Music Festival to write Ruin and Memory, a piano concerto, for renowned pianist Lang Lang. The world premiere was on October 11, 2010 performed by Lang Lang, The China Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Long Yu. His second concerto, Mythic Gardens, premiered April 27, 2012 with Sophie Shao on cello solo, The American Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Leon Botstein.
Shore's song cycle A Palace Upon the Ruins premiered in 2014 at the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival and at the La Jolla SummerFest featuring mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano. A Palace Upon the Ruins is a song cycle of six songs with words by Elizabeth Cotnoir.
Sea to Sea was commissioned by New Brunswick Youth Orchestra in celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary of confederation and premiered on July 2, 2017 in Moncton, New Brunswick with soloist Measha Brueggergosman and Antonio Delgado conducting. Sea to Sea has lyrics by Elizabeth Cotnoir.
The song cycle L’Aube premiered October 19 & 20, 2017 in Toronto at Roy Thompson Hall conducted by Peter Oundjian and performed by soloist Susan Platts and commissioning orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. L’Aube consists of five songs with text by Elizabeth Cotnoir.
The Forest a guitar concerto composed for Miloš Karadaglić will premiere in Ottawa on May 1 & 2, 2019 with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Alexander Shelley conducting.
In addition to writing the original theme song for Saturday Night Live, as well as the closing theme, Shore also co-wrote the theme song for Late Night with Conan O'Brien with John Lurie. The theme was carried over to The Tonight Show when O'Brien succeeded Jay Leno as host.
Shore narrated a one-hour CBC Radio documentary/soundscape on music in thriller/suspense film genres also including references to radio dramas and other media. The episode was called "Unsettling Scores" and premiered on the program called Inside the Music.
Shore is married to Elizabeth Cotnoir, a writer, producer and documentary filmmaker. He has a daughter, Mae.[35] He is the uncle of film composer Ryan Shore.
As of 2004, Shore lives in Tuxedo Park, New York.
The Treason of Isengard
Howard Shore Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ombi kuzddurbagu gundum-ishi
Nugu gurunkilu bard gurutu
Ash Burz-Durbagu burzum-ishi
Daghburz-ishi makha gulshu darulu.
[Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul,
ash nazg thrakatuluk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul]
Daghburz-ishi makha gulshu darulu.
Gu kibum kelkum-ishi, burzum-ishi. Akha - gum-ishi ashi gurum.
Nubin sherkuk, rakhizinash, matizinashuk, matizin Umbruk.
'Three rings for-Elven-kings under-sky
Seven for-dwarf-lords in-halls
Nine for-mortals doomed to-die
One for-Dark-Lord in-darkness
in-Mordor where shadows lie.
[One Ring to-rule-them-all, One Ring to-find-them,
One Ring to-bring-them-all and in-the-Darkness bind-them]
in-Mordor where shadows lie.'
'There-is-no life in-the-cold, in-the-dark. Here - in-the-void only death.
I-smell your-blood. I-shall-devour-it, eat-it-all - eat-all the-world.'
The Treason of Isengard is a haunting song composed by Howard Shore for the movie adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. The song is sung in Black Speech, the language of the orcs, and its lyrics contain two distinct sections.
The first section of the lyrics is spoken by an orc and describes the forging of the One Ring by the Dark Lord Sauron. The orc speaks of the Nine Rings given to mortals, the Seven given to dwarf-lords, and the Three given to elf-lords. But the One Ring, the orc says, was forged for the Dark Lord in the heart of Mordor, where shadows lie. The orc concludes his speech by reciting the infamous inscription on the One Ring: "One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them."
The second section of the lyrics is also spoken by an orc and is more violent and aggressive than the first section. The orc speaks of the void of death and the consumption of all life, and declares his intention to devour the world.
Line by Line Meaning
Shre nazg golugranu kilmi-nudu
Nine rings were made for mortal men, set to doom them to death.
Ombi kuzddurbagu gundum-ishi
Seven more were made for dwarf lords, each with their own kingdom to rule.
Nugu gurunkilu bard gurutu
Three rings were given to the elven kings, in the sky.
Ash Burz-Durbagu burzum-ishi
But in secret, another ring was crafted for the dark lord: the One Ring, forged in darkness.
Daghburz-ishi makha gulshu darulu.
It was made in Mordor, where the shadows lie.
[Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul,
ash nazg thrakatuluk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul]
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
Gu kibum kelkum-ishi, burzum-ishi. Akha - gum-ishi ashi gurum.
There is no life in the cold, in the dark. Here, there is only death and the void. I smell your blood, and I will devour it - eat it all, eat all the world.
Nubin sherkuk, rakhizinash, matizinashuk, matizin Umbruk.
I have no friends, only servants, soldiers, and slaves - slaves to my will.
Contributed by Colton I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.