Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer, conductor, and orchestrator known for his film scores. He has created music for more than 80 films. His most famous works include the scores for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies. He regularly works with director David Cronenberg, having scored all but one of Cronenberg’s films since 1979. He has also collaborated with director Martin Scorsese on six of Scorsese’s films.
Shore has written music for concerts, including an opera called The Fly, based on the plot of Cronenberg’s 1986 film, which he also scored. The opera premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on July 2, 2008. He also composed a short piece titled Fanfare for the Wanamaker Organ and the Philadelphia Orchestra and a short overture for the Swiss 21st Century Symphony Orchestra. Shore has also worked on television, serving as the original musical director for the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live from 1975 to 1980.
He won three Academy Awards for his work on The Lord of the Rings. One of these awards was for the song “Into the West,” which he shared with Eurythmics lead vocalist Annie Lennox and writer/producer Fran Walsh, who wrote the lyrics. In addition to his three Oscars, Shore has also won three Golden Globe Awards, four Grammy Awards, three Genie Awards, and nine Canadian Screen Awards.
Early life and career
Howard Shore was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Jewish parents named Bernice (née Ash) and Mac Shore. He began studying music when he was about 8 or 9 years old. He learned to play many instruments and started performing in bands when he was 13 and 14 years old. At age 13, he met Lorne Michaels at a summer camp, and their friendship later helped shape Shore’s career. By age 17, he decided he wanted to make music his lifelong work. After finishing high school at Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, he studied music at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
From 1969 to 1972, Shore was part of the jazz fusion band Lighthouse. In 1970, he became the music director for Lorne Michaels and Hart Pomerantz’s short-lived television show The Hart & Lorne Terrific Hour. Shore composed the music for Canadian magician Doug Henning’s magic musical Spellbound in 1974. From 1975 to 1980, he served as the musical director for Michaels’ popular late-night NBC show Saturday Night Live. During this time, Shore participated in many musical performances on the show, such as “Howard Shore and His All-Nurse Band” and a scene where he dressed as a beekeeper for a performance of the song “I’m a King Bee” by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. Shore also helped Aykroyd and Belushi choose the name “The Blues Brothers” for their musical group.
Film scoring
Howard Shore's first film score was for the low-budget thriller I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses (1978), followed by David Cronenberg's first major film, The Brood (1979). He scored all of Cronenberg's films after that, except for The Dead Zone (1983), which was scored by Michael Kamen. The first film Shore scored that was not directed by Cronenberg was After Hours (1985), directed by Martin Scorsese. He then scored The Fly (1986), again directed by Cronenberg. Two years later, he composed the score to Big (1988), directed by Penny Marshall and starring Tom Hanks. He also scored two more of Cronenberg's films: Dead Ringers (1988) and Naked Lunch (1991).
In 1991, Shore composed the score for the highly acclaimed film The Silence of the Lambs, starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins and directed by Jonathan Demme. He received his first BAFTA nomination for the score. The film won the five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress), making it the third film to achieve this feat. Shore is the only living composer to have scored a "Top Five" Oscar-winning film.
In 1993, Shore composed the scores for M. Butterfly (another collaboration with Cronenberg), Philadelphia (his second collaboration with Jonathan Demme), and Mrs. Doubtfire, directed by Chris Columbus. The latter two films were very successful, with Philadelphia winning Tom Hanks his first Oscar.
Shore scored three films in 1994: The Client, Ed Wood, and Nobody's Fool. Ed Wood is notable for being one of the three films directed by Tim Burton that did not feature a score by Danny Elfman.
From 1995 to 2001, Shore scored numerous films, including two by David Fincher: Seven (1995) and The Game (1997), and The Truth About Cats and Dogs (1996), directed by Michael Lehmann. He also collaborated with Cronenberg on two films and worked on Tom Hanks' directorial debut, That Thing You Do!. He scored Kevin Smith’s Dogma (1999) and composed the score for the 2000 film The Cell.
Major success came in 2001 with his score for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the first film in the highly acclaimed The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Shore was surprised to score the trilogy, as he was known for dark, ominous films and had never scored an epic of this scale. His score was very successful, winning his first Oscar and a Grammy Award, and earning him nominations for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA.
In 2002, Shore composed the scores for Panic Room, Gangs of New York (replacing Elmer Bernstein), and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the second film in the trilogy. The latter two films were both nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Although Shore's score for The Two Towers was initially ineligible for submission due to a new rule, the rule was postponed, and the score remained eligible. Shore received a BAFTA nomination for Gangs of New York.
In 2003, Shore composed the score for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the final film in the trilogy. The film was the most successful in the trilogy and the most successful of the year. Shore won his second Oscar for Best Original Score and a third for Best Original Song for "Into the West," which he shared with Fran Walsh and Annie Lennox. He also won his first Golden Globe, his third and fourth Grammy Awards (the fourth for Best Song), and received a BAFTA nomination. The scores of The Lord of the Rings, performed primarily by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, became some of the most successful film scores ever written and are the biggest success in Shore's career. These scores have been repeatedly voted the best film score in history. As of April 2023, Shore is in litigation with Star-Entertainment Berlin over their unauthorized use of his music from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in poor-quality concerts. A concert in April 2023 at the Portsmouth Guildhall was so poorly received that all audience members received refunds, and the production company was banned from the venue permanently.
In 2004, Shore collaborated with Martin Scorsese again to score The Aviator, this time with the Brussels Philharmonic. He won a second Golden Globe for the score, becoming the third composer to win consecutive Golden Globes in the Original Score category. He also received his sixth Grammy nomination and his fifth BAFTA nomination.
In 2005, Shore collaborated with Cronenberg again to score A History of Violence, starring Viggo Mortensen (who played Aragorn in the Rings trilogy). The film was successful and received two Oscar nominations. In 2006, he collaborated with Scorsese for the fourth time to score The Departed. The film was highly successful, winning four Oscars, including a long-awaited win for Scorsese and the Oscar for Best Picture.
Although Shore was originally commissioned to compose the soundtrack for King Kong, he was later replaced by James Newton Howard due to "differing creative aspirations for the score" on both sides. This was a mutual agreement between Shore and Peter Jackson. Despite this, Shore has a cameo near the end of the film as the conductor of the orchestra in the theater, performing portions of Max Steiner's score to the original 1933 version of the film.
In 2007, Shore composed the music for Soul of the Ultimate Nation, an online multiplayer video game, featuring Lydia Kavina on the theremin. He also composed the scores for The Last Mimzy and Eastern Promises, the latter of which includes a section performed in concert as Shore's Concertino for Violin Solo and Chamber Orchestra. Eastern Promises was another collaboration with Cronenberg and earned Shore his fourth Golden Globe nomination. In 2008, he scored Doubt, starring Meryl Streep and directed by John Patrick Shanley. The film was successful, earning five Oscar nominations.
In 2010, Shore composed the score to Eclipse, the third installment in the Twilight film series, following Carter Burwell and Alexandre Desplat, who scored the first and second films, respectively. He then replaced John Corigliano to score Edge of Darkness, starring Mel Gibson.
In 2011, Shore worked on A Dangerous Method, continuing his long-term collaboration with director David Cronenberg. He
Conducting and performing
Since 2004, Howard Shore has traveled around the world to lead local orchestras in performing his new musical version of his famous Lord of the Rings scores. This new work is called The Lord of the Rings: Symphony in Six Movements. The symphony includes two musical sections for each of the three movies, with a break between the second and third sections (or between the first and second movie titles). During the concert, still images of sketches by John Howe and Alan Lee are shown on screens to connect the music to scenes from the films. Recently, Shore has been working on other projects, so other conductors, including Markus Huber, Ludwig Wicki, Alexander Mickelthwaite, and John Mauceri, have taken over leading the orchestras.
On April 24, 2008, the North American Live to Projection version of Fellowship of the Ring premiered. The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra performed the score live, with Ludwig Wicki conducting. Wicki also led the Filene Center Orchestra at the Wolf Trap Farm Park in Vienna, Virginia, on May 21 and 22, 2008, for the U.S. premiere of the Fellowship of the Ring Live to Projection.
On September 16, 2010, Shore conducted the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (RSO Vienna) in a performance of "In Dreams from The Fellowship of the Ring" at Hollywood in Vienna, Austria. Macy's asked Shore to write a Fanfare to celebrate its 150th anniversary. This piece featured the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Wanamaker Organ, the world's largest playing pipe organ. The Fanfare was first performed on September 27, 2008, at the Grand Court of Macy's Philadelphia Store. This event received coverage in major East Coast newspapers.
Shore's opera The Fly had its first performance on July 2, 2008, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. It later premiered in the United States on September 7, 2008, at the Los Angeles Opera. David Cronenberg directed the production, and Plácido Domingo conducted it. A new version of The Fly was performed in Germany in 2014 by Theatre Trier, with Sebastian Welker directing and Joongbae Jee conducting.
The Beijing Music Festival commissioned Shore to write Ruin and Memory, a piano concerto, for pianist Lang Lang. The world premiere took place on October 11, 2010, with Lang Lang, the China Philharmonic Orchestra, and Long Yu conducting. Shore's second concerto, Mythic Gardens, premiered on April 27, 2012. Sophie Shao performed the cello solo, with the American Symphony Orchestra and Leon Botstein conducting.
Shore's song cycle A Palace Upon the Ruins premiered in 2014 at the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival and the La Jolla SummerFest. Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano performed the piece. A Palace Upon the Ruins includes six songs with lyrics by Elizabeth Cotnoir.
Sea to Sea was commissioned by the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra to celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary of confederation. It premiered on July 2, 2017, in Moncton, New Brunswick, with soloist Measha Brueggergosman and Antonio Delgado conducting. The piece includes lyrics by Elizabeth Cotnoir.
The song cycle L'Aube premiered on October 19 and 20, 2017, in Toronto at Roy Thompson Hall. Susan Platts performed as the soloist, with Peter Oundjian conducting and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra as the commissioning orchestra. L'Aube includes five songs with text by Elizabeth Cotnoir.
Shore composed The Forest, a guitar concerto, for Miloš Karadaglić. It premiered in Ottawa on May 1 and 2, 2019, with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Alexander Shelley conducting.
Television
In addition to writing the original theme song for Saturday Night Live and the closing theme, Shore also helped write the theme song for Late Night with Conan O'Brien with John Lurie. This theme was used again when Conan O'Brien became the host of The Tonight Show after Jay Leno.
In September 2021, it was reported that Shore was being considered to compose the music for the upcoming The Lord of the Rings TV series on Amazon Prime Video, continuing his work from the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films. However, the series was eventually scored by Bear McCreary, while Shore wrote the main theme for the opening credits.
Radio
Shore narrated a one-hour CBC Radio documentary and soundscape about music used in thriller and suspense films. The episode was titled "Unsettling Scores" and was first broadcast on the program called Inside the Music.
Personal life
He is the uncle of film composer Ryan Shore. In 2004, Shore lived in Tuxedo Park, New York. Shore is married to Elizabeth Cotnoir, who is a writer, producer, and documentary filmmaker. He has one daughter.
Awards and honours
Howard Shore has received four Academy Award nominations, winning three. He won two for Best Original Score for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). He also won the Oscar for Best Original Song for "Into the West" from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. His fourth nomination was for his work on Hugo.
He has received six Golden Globe nominations, winning three awards: two for Best Original Score for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) and The Aviator (2004), and one for Best Original Song for "Into the West" from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. This made him the second composer (after Alan Menken) to win consecutive Golden Globe Awards for Best Original Score. He also won three consecutive Grammy Awards for Best Score for each of the Lord of the Rings films and received a second Grammy in 2003 for the song "Into the West" from Return of the King. He has received five BAFTA nominations but has not won any.
On June 11, 2007, Shore was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree from York University in Toronto for "his broad artistic vision." The award was shared with other honors at the university’s graduation ceremony, and the event featured the Lord of the Rings theme music throughout.
Shore has also received awards from the National Board of Review, Recording Academy Honors, The Broadcast Film Critics, Chicago Film Critics, Genie Award, World Soundtrack Award, New York’s Gotham Award, and The Saturn Award for Science Fiction.
He was the first recipient of the Film & TV Music Award for Best Score for a Science Fiction Feature Film for The Last Mimzy.
In May 2008, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music during its graduation ceremony at the Agganis Arena.
On September 16, 2010, he was honored with the Max Steiner Film Music Achievement Award by the City of Vienna at the annual film music gala concert Hollywood in Vienna.
In 2012, he received Canada’s Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.
In 2016, he was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada for his contributions to the film and music industry.