Modern · 1900–2000
Howard Shore
“The Sound of Middle-earth”
The Canadian composer who built an entire world in sound — the vast, interlocking music of The Lord of the Rings, one of the largest film scores ever written.
The Modern era (1900–2000): Rules are broken — new scales, wild rhythms and sounds nobody had ever imagined.
Amazing facts
- His score for The Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of the biggest ever written — around eleven hours of music, with choirs singing in invented Middle-earth languages.
- Like Wagner in opera, he gave dozens of characters and places their own musical themes that grow, mix and change across the three films.
- He won three Academy Awards for the Rings films.
- Before films, he was the very first music director of the TV show Saturday Night Live — and is said to have suggested the name 'The Blues Brothers'.
- The gentle, rustic tune he wrote for the hobbits' peaceful Shire sounds instantly cosy and home-like.
- He is Canadian, born in Toronto, and still composes for films and the concert hall today.
A few pieces to start with
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
2001
Film score
One of the largest film scores ever written — around eleven hours of interlocking themes, with choirs singing in invented languages.
Concerning Hobbits
2001
Film score
The warm, rustic tune of the hobbits' Shire — gentle folk fiddle and whistle that instantly sound like home.
The Hobbit trilogy
2012
Film score
A return to Middle-earth, weaving back in the themes of the Rings films alongside new music for a new adventure.
Life & times — what was happening in the world
1946Born in Toronto, Canada.
1969The first humans land on the Moon.
1975Becomes the first music director of Saturday Night Live.
1986Begins a long run of film scores, often for the director David Cronenberg.
1989The fall of the Berlin Wall.
2001The Fellowship of the Ring begins his epic Lord of the Rings score.
2001The Fellowship of the Ring reaches cinemas worldwide.
2004Wins his third Oscar, for The Return of the King.
2007The first iPhone launches the smartphone age.
2012Returns to Middle-earth to score The Hobbit films.