Film music stirs wide range of emotions

Nov 14, 2005

Author: Jim Kershner

Position: Staff writer

Source: The Spokesman-Review

For proof that computer-generated elf cities and thousands of Orcs are not required for moving an audience to tears, all I had to do was glance at the stranger sitting next to me at the Spokane Arena on Saturday night.

She repeatedly mopped tears from her face as the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony Chorale and the Spokane Area Children's Chorus moved into the climactic sixth movement of "The Lord of the Rings Symphony."

This emotional reaction was stirred strictly by the music, composed by Howard Shore for the film trilogy. I understood her reaction completely because I, too, found the music to be rich and emotionally powerful.

Shore's music, as rendered live with a power and fidelity impossible even on the best Dolby soundtrack, covered a breathtaking range of styles. Sometimes we heard jaunty Celtic themes; at other times, medieval Gregorian chants; at other times, massive operatic grandeur in the "Carmina Burana" vein.

The music did have a visual assist. The original drawings, paintings and storyboards of artists Alan Lee and John Howe were projected above the stage on a large screen, providing clues about which musical motifs matched which characters. For instance, when the Gollum themes were played, we saw drawings of Gollum.

These visuals also provided a rough guide to the progression of the story, complete with maps of Middle Earth. Since the vast majority of the audience no doubt was familiar with the movie and the story, a glimpse of a rider's helmet, for instance, was enough to tell us we had (musically) entered Rohan.

So it may not be accurate to say that our emotions were stirred "strictly" by the music. No doubt I'm not the only one who had the movies unspooling in my head throughout the evening.

This is not to belittle Shore's achievement, which is immense. I was struck throughout the night by how well these pieces work on their own as tone poems, evoking moods ranging from merriment to grandeur to gloom.

I had a new appreciation for the key role Shore's music played in setting the emotional tone of the film trilogy.

The Spokane Symphony, under the direction of guest conductor Alastair Willis, sounded bigger and more majestic than usual, partly because it was miked through a sound system.

I suppose this might have annoyed a purist or two, but it was necessary in order to hear, for instance, the pennywhistle and flute themes. I did not find it obtrusive at all.

Mainly, the massive quality of the sound came from the massed singers behind the orchestra, more than 100 of them from the chorale and the children's chorus. The films' score relies surprisingly heavily on vocals, from majestic choral themes to ethereal solos. These solos were provided by some young children's chorus singers as well as by guest artist Kaitlyn Lusk, who travels around the country singing this piece. Her voice has an Enya-like purity.

Among the instrumental soloists, the crowd favorite clearly was James Hunter, who played the familiar Shire and Hobbit themes with tremendous precision and feeling on various styles of flute. Hunter is not a symphony player he's a member of the Celtic Nots.

It was nice to see the Spokane Arena filled to the rafters for an event that did not involve ice skates or basketballs. It was filled with sound and imagination.