Howard Shore

 

[1946 -] Canadian composer Howard Shore had his name known in modern media after the award of the saga The Lord of the Rings. But even before the award Shore already had his name known as one of the most creative talents of the modern cinema for his partnership of many films with the sick cinema of David Cronenberg.

 

In his formative years Shore had a strong connection to jazz, having learned saxophone at a very young age. In early career, he composed for Canadian radio. Moved to New York, where he took the tv show Saturday Night Live musical direction in the period 1975-1980. His first film score was for Cronenberg´s The Brood (1979). Later the partnership would yield great soundtracks very different from the cliché thriller/horror, as the musics for Scanners (1980) and Videodrome (1982). With The Fly (1986) explored the expression of large orchestra. His unusual talent appointed him as a successor to Bernard Herrmann. This was also due to his fondness for thrillers like Silence of the Lambs (1991), Ed Wood (1994), Seven (1995) and The Cell (1999). The partnership with Cronenberg followed in Naked Lunch (1991), Crash (1996), eXistenZ (1999) and Spider (2002). After winning the Oscar for the great work in the trilogy The Lord of the Rings, Shore was recognized as one of the biggest names in modern cinema music. Subsequent credits included Edge of Darkness (2010), Hugo (2011), The Hobbit trilogy (2012-2014). The partnership with Cronenberg extended to Easter Promises (2007) and Cosmopolis (2012).