Howard Shore: Lord of the Rings

Howard Shore is a graduate of Berklee college of Music in Boston, where he was taught by the notable American choral composer, John Bavicchi.

After cutting his teeth as a saxophone player, Shore moved into arranging music for television and before long was the musical director of the legendary American television series Saturday Night Live. So it was that the man responsible for one of the best-loved film scores of recent times was also the man who came up with the name for the Blues Brothers, who first appeared on the programme.

Five insane cover versions of Lord of the Rings

As well as winning Oscars for both the first and third of the Rings trilogy, Shore reworked his music into the 2004 Lord of the Rings Symphony (see video below), a format that has proved incredibly popular around the world. 

In this travelling concert, the work has six movements, two from each of the three films, performed by a large symphony orchestra and a choir, set against on-screen images. 

The original film music appears on several recordings, performed by the excellent London Philharmonic Orchestra (set up by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932) as well as London Voices, with some material recorded by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Perfect music for the ‘rider of Rohan’ in your life, young or old.


Recommended Recording

London Philharmonic Orchestra; Howard Shore (conductor). Warner: 9362486332.