From Academy Award winner Howard Shore’s score for the 2012 movie “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” this piece will delight students and audiences alike. The first of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” introduces audiences to the characters and themes of the fantastical world of Middle Earth, a setting already familiar from the beloved “Lord of the Rings” franchise. This arrangement features the Hobbit’s main theme, a folk-like tune that depicts the pastoral life of Bilbo Baggins and his fellow hobbits of the Shire, and hints at the adventures and conflicts to come. This easy and fun piece is available in both a concert band and string orchestra arrangement.
Audio Sample:
Audio provided by Alfred Music Publishing Co., Inc
Composer Biography:
Howard Shore is among today’s most respected, honored, and active composers and music conductors. His work with Peter Jackson on The Lord of the Rings trilogy stands as his most towering achievement to date, earning him three Academy Awards. He has also been honored with four Grammy and three Golden Globe awards. Shore was one of the original creators of Saturday Night Live. He served as the music director on the show from 1975 to 1980. At the same time, he began collaborating with David Cronenberg and has scored 14 of the director’s films, including 2012’s Cosmopolis, The Fly, Crash, and Naked Lunch. His original scores to A Dangerous Method, Eastern Promises and Dead Ringers were each honoured with a Genie Award and Cosmopolis was awarded for score and song “Long to Live” with Canadian Screen Awards. Shore continues to distinguish himself with a wide range of projects, from Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, The Departed, The Aviator and Gangs of New York to Ed Wood, The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia, and Mrs. Doubtfire.
Shore’s music has been performed in concerts throughout the world. In 2003, Shore conducted the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in the world premiere of The Lord of the Rings Symphony in Wellington. Since then, the Symphony and The Lord of the Rings – Live to Projection concerts have had over 285 performances by the world’s most prestigious orchestras.
In 2008, Howard Shore’s opera The Fly premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and at Los Angeles Opera. Other recent works include the piano concerto Ruin and Memory for Lang Lang premiered with the China Philharmonic Orchestra on October 11, 2010, the cello concerto Mythic Gardens for Sophie Shao premiered with the American Symphony Orchestra on April 27, 2012 and Fanfare for the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia. He is currently working on his second opera.
Shore received the Career Achievement for Music Composition Award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, New York Chapter’s Recording Academy Honors, ASCAP’s Henry Mancini Award, the Frederick Loewe Award and the Max Steiner Award from the city of Vienna. He holds honorary doctorates from Berklee College of Music and York University, he is an Officier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la France and the recipient of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award in Canada.
Howard Shore’s biography courtesy of http://www.howardshore.com/biography/
Arranger Biography:
Jack Bullock holds undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees in the field of Music Education. As a performer, he studied trumpet with Harry Glantz, James Ode and Craig McHenry, and performed with the Miami Philharmonic Orchestra and the Miami Opera Company. He also performed statewide with New York show and territory bands, and nationally with traveling dance bands. A prolific composer and arranger, Dr. Bullock has written more than 600 publications for a diverse group of ensembles, including concert band, orchestra, jazz ensemble and marching band. He is the co-author of the Belwin 21st Century Band Method, and was a contributing arranger for the recordings of Music Expressions, the innovative school music curriculum published by Alfred.
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If you are an educator, musician, composer or student with a suggestion for a “piece of the week” blog post, you can email your suggestion to Griffin at gwoodworth@makemusic.com. Please let me know the name of the piece, composer, publisher, and why this piece is special to you.