Howard Leslie Shore OC (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer who i… Read Full Bio ↴Howard Leslie Shore OC (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer who is notable for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies. He won three Academy Awards for his work on the first trilogy, with one being for the original song "Into the West", an award he shared with Eurythmics lead vocalist Annie Lennox and writer/producer Fran Walsh, who wrote the lyrics. He is also a consistent collaborator with director David Cronenberg, having scored all but one of his films since 1979.

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.

Treebeard
Howard Shore Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Naur vi eryn,
lanc i dalaf.
Mathach vi geven?
Nostach vi 'wilith?
Mab le i nagor,
Bad gurth vi ngalad firiel.
Dorthach vi mar han?
Dagrathach go hain?

'The woods are burning,
the ground lies bare.
Do you feel it in the earth?
Can you smell it in the air?
The war is upon you,
Death moves in the fading light.
Are you part of this world?
Will you join their fight?'

Word-for-word translation:

'Fire in forest,
naked [is] the ground.
Feel-you [it] in earth?
Smell-you [it] in air?
Takes you [or you are taken by] the war,
Goes death in light fading.

Dwell-you in land this?
Will-make-war-you with them?'

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Howard Shore's song Treebeard convey a sense of urgency and foreboding. The singer implores his listener to take notice of the world around them, both in terms of the physical destruction caused by war, and the looming threat of death. The use of rhetorical questions throughout the piece creates a sense of unease, as if the singer is trying to wake the listener from a spell of apathy or indifference.

The first two lines set the scene, describing a forest in flames and the barrenness of the ground below. This is followed by a series of questions directed at the listener, asking if they are aware of the destruction around them, both in terms of the physical environment and the toll of war. The repetition of the phrases "feel-you" and "smell-you" create a sensory experience for the listener, emphasizing the urgency of the situation and the need for action.

The final lines of the song ask the listener to consider their place in the world and whether they are willing to take up arms and join the fight. This creates a sense of moral responsibility, as if the listener is being asked to make a choice between standing by and watching the world burn, or taking action to save it.

Overall, the lyrics to Treebeard convey a strong sense of urgency and a call to action, urging the listener to take notice of the world around them and to play an active role in shaping its future.

Line by Line Meaning

Naur vi eryn
Fire has spread in the woods

lanc i dalaf
The ground looks exposed and vulnerable

Mathach vi geven?
Do you sense the danger creeping in?

Nostach vi 'wilith?
Do you smell the destruction in the air?

Mab le i nagor
The war has arrived at your doorstep

Bad gurth vi ngalad firiel
Death is lurking in the surroundings

Dorthach vi mar han?
Will you become a part of this world in turmoil?

Dagrathach go hain?
Will you fight against the forces of destruction?

Contributed by Dylan D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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