LotR concert and a couple of memes
Sep. 23rd, 2004 05:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenayHeh, well this new update thingy is freaky, but I'm sure I'll get used to it :-)
The concert last night was fabulous. I already knew that Howard Shore did amazing stuff with the soundtrack - his music added so much to the films. Hearing it without the film visuals/dialogue distracting me was amazing. I was actually quite surprised to realise that I could place it in the context of scenes and images. It seems that I took in a lot more than I'd realised during my viewings of the films. As my father said, the music is very evocative. 'Concerning hobbits' just sounds so hobbity and the clashy, dischordant orc music echoed Tolkien's themes of the destructiveness of industry perfectly.
The symphony is arranged into six movements, two for each book, and is obviously designed to tell the LotR story. They had a screen above the orchestra showing some of Alan Lee's and John Howe's illustrations, which reminded me of things if I couldn't quite place the music. I only needed the visual reminders a couple of times - the rest of the time they were just lovely images to watch when I wasn't watching the orchestra or singers. The first two movements (following Fellowship) took us up to the intermission. I know that I've seen someone complaining that they were too long and should have been shortened to allow the other movements to be longer. What I noticed was that a lot of the themes that recurr many times throughout the movies were set up in the first movie. The breakdown felt about right to me. The second half of the concert was longer than the first, appropriate for working through four movements rather than two, and I didn't feel that I'd missed out on anything.
Live music is always more powerful that recorded music. There were sections that sent shivers down my spine - 'Forth Eeorlingas' and 'The End of All Things' particularly - and others that brought a smile to my face. If you've got a copy of the Two Towers listen to the lyrics of 'Gollum's Song' played over the closing credits - it's a slightly creepy, haunting song that is surprisingly appropriate to Gollum's story. 'Gandalf's Lament' from the Lorien scenes is also beautiful and haunting.
I got a little teary the first (and second, and third, and forth...) time I watched Return of the King because I suddenly realised that it was all over. I'd been looking forward to these films for five years, I'd watched a new one three Christmases in a row and now there would be no more. I always get a little sad at the end of the books. 'Into the West', the Oscar-winning closing credits song, managed to have that effect on me last night. It was over and I'd never recapture that night, but it was also a beautiful memory that I could pull out in the future. It was a great concert.
At the end there was that complete silence for a few seconds that really great performances get and then there was the loudest clapping and cheering I've ever heard in the Royal Albert Hall. It was also one of the rare times that I've been at a concert with a standing ovation - over five minutes of it. I'm so glad the composer and orchestra get to know how much their music affects people.
One of the great things about the concert last night (apart from the wonderful music) was the range of people. There were little kids (who were amazingly well behaved) through to grandparents, seasoned classical music buffs and people who had never been to a classical music concert in their lives. I saw a few people in full evening dress, lots of people dressed smart or smart casual (I think that's where I fitted) and more than a few people in jeans and T-shirts. I love getting people into classical music concerts, even if it is sneaky because they disguised it as a film soundtrack :-)
From![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
alyburns:
Not really sure what to make of that one, but I'll have Sam any way I can get her :-)
And fromkibarika:
You are: Purple Crayon
What color crayon are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Hmmm, that is...surprisingly accurate. Obviously I need to start lying on these memes :=)
I really wanted to write today, but I was a good person and started designing GUIs for my research project instead. Guh.
The concert last night was fabulous. I already knew that Howard Shore did amazing stuff with the soundtrack - his music added so much to the films. Hearing it without the film visuals/dialogue distracting me was amazing. I was actually quite surprised to realise that I could place it in the context of scenes and images. It seems that I took in a lot more than I'd realised during my viewings of the films. As my father said, the music is very evocative. 'Concerning hobbits' just sounds so hobbity and the clashy, dischordant orc music echoed Tolkien's themes of the destructiveness of industry perfectly.
The symphony is arranged into six movements, two for each book, and is obviously designed to tell the LotR story. They had a screen above the orchestra showing some of Alan Lee's and John Howe's illustrations, which reminded me of things if I couldn't quite place the music. I only needed the visual reminders a couple of times - the rest of the time they were just lovely images to watch when I wasn't watching the orchestra or singers. The first two movements (following Fellowship) took us up to the intermission. I know that I've seen someone complaining that they were too long and should have been shortened to allow the other movements to be longer. What I noticed was that a lot of the themes that recurr many times throughout the movies were set up in the first movie. The breakdown felt about right to me. The second half of the concert was longer than the first, appropriate for working through four movements rather than two, and I didn't feel that I'd missed out on anything.
Live music is always more powerful that recorded music. There were sections that sent shivers down my spine - 'Forth Eeorlingas' and 'The End of All Things' particularly - and others that brought a smile to my face. If you've got a copy of the Two Towers listen to the lyrics of 'Gollum's Song' played over the closing credits - it's a slightly creepy, haunting song that is surprisingly appropriate to Gollum's story. 'Gandalf's Lament' from the Lorien scenes is also beautiful and haunting.
I got a little teary the first (and second, and third, and forth...) time I watched Return of the King because I suddenly realised that it was all over. I'd been looking forward to these films for five years, I'd watched a new one three Christmases in a row and now there would be no more. I always get a little sad at the end of the books. 'Into the West', the Oscar-winning closing credits song, managed to have that effect on me last night. It was over and I'd never recapture that night, but it was also a beautiful memory that I could pull out in the future. It was a great concert.
At the end there was that complete silence for a few seconds that really great performances get and then there was the loudest clapping and cheering I've ever heard in the Royal Albert Hall. It was also one of the rare times that I've been at a concert with a standing ovation - over five minutes of it. I'm so glad the composer and orchestra get to know how much their music affects people.
One of the great things about the concert last night (apart from the wonderful music) was the range of people. There were little kids (who were amazingly well behaved) through to grandparents, seasoned classical music buffs and people who had never been to a classical music concert in their lives. I saw a few people in full evening dress, lots of people dressed smart or smart casual (I think that's where I fitted) and more than a few people in jeans and T-shirts. I love getting people into classical music concerts, even if it is sneaky because they disguised it as a film soundtrack :-)
From
alyburns:Not really sure what to make of that one, but I'll have Sam any way I can get her :-)
And from
kibarika:You are: Purple Crayon
What color crayon are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Hmmm, that is...surprisingly accurate. Obviously I need to start lying on these memes :=)
I really wanted to write today, but I was a good person and started designing GUIs for my research project instead. Guh.
