Looking for Richard

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Since the success of The Lord of the Rings, Howard Shore alias the respective composer behind the massive underscore of the trilogy has seen enormous publicity coming his way. People were more interested in getting his scores and other commercial outlets couldn't resist in putting little stickers on the back of new scores of Shore, containing just the words "of the composer of LOTR". But my question remained, at what specific point did Peter Jackson know that Howard Shore was going to be perfect for the score of his grand movies of Middle Earth. And you might have a feeling that I'm gonna tell you right now. And that is correct since Looking for Richard carries as a score all the basics that would later flourish with momentum in The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. The score is actually more a close cousin to Patrick Doyle's Henry V score since it carries a classical mood more then a pure film score and that orchestra and choir are abundant in stating the ideas of Shore into this package of film music. But what Looking for Richard also carries is the choir which at times returns to the grandeur of The Fellowship of the Ring, or with heavenly music like heard in the first track of The Two Towers. More the brass and constant dark mood is all over this score, showing the same as those two previous scores contributed to the motion pictures of Peter Jackson.

Still, in all this delirium, Looking for Richard is at the most times a background score with those few exceptions where true brilliance is reached. More, the first 5 of the 7 tracks have great ideas, but not directly themes that will be remembered after the continuing listen. From 'Richard, Duke of York' to the last track, this score is classical in its roots and will fit in with the picture flawlessly. This first track has already the choir in abundance and is overall a great opening track except carrying just no theme identifiable and furthermore a dark mood. This whole approach is barely changed and just moments are different in this. 'Queen Margaret' is a very interesting track since it uses lighter strings at the end a la The Lord of the Rings and a dark yet not heavy feel of brass in the begin. The two mammoth tracks 'Lady Anne Neville' and 'George, Duke of Clarence' are great suites onto themselves yet all in all they just don't carry a returning theme or even motif that you can pinpoints yourself to. And even if they are present, you don't seem to find them or remember them at the end. The first track is just Henry V in all its classical roots and use of choir, and could fit in with that score without a single person noticing it. And the second track has short blasts of either heavenly choral music or dark Latin signing. These two tracks don't seem to have music without the choir and are at a certain perspective forgettable tracks but just so wonderful thick pieces of music onto themselves.

The only exceptions are the last two tracks, which bring the same in the listening experience a la The Lord of the Rings. 'Ghosts' sets the tone first with an almost exact fanfare (after 25 seconds) of choral magnitude from the Bridge of Kzahad Dum track in the first score and carries interesting layers of brass and organ build up, making it both interesting and powerful at the same time. The last track which is 'Henry, Earl of Richmond' is loaded with the choir, between 2.30 and 3.30 the most explosive use of choir is heard and for once you also seem to remember something you heard from the previous tracks, meaning the choral heavenly music of track 4. These last two tracks make an otherwise great yet forgettable score seem so much more recommendable. And even without those last tracks it would still be a great score, yet not knowing what kind of theme you would remember after it. So, these last two tracks are so close to the feel of either The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, yet not consisting of the same tempo that made them riveting. This is a background listen but with the word of heavy music without actual themes to carry you through time. Its like Invincible and Henry V a very worthy and demanding listen yet at the other end just not consisting of themes you will remember after it. That is doesn't always stay that interesting like The Two Towers for instance is due to the classical roots it exhibits. But for the rest Looking for Richard is the slow version of The Lord of the Rings and brings heavy choral music into a neat background package, worthy of your attention specifically if you own Invincible and Henry V and love them.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Richard, Duke Of York (4.09)

2. Queen Margaret (3.13)

3. Lady Anne Neville (10.29)

4. George, Duke Of Clarence (11.42)

5. William, Lord Hastings (5.22)

6. Ghosts (4.05) Excellent Track

7. Henry, Earl Of Richmond (6.02) Excellent Track

Total Length: 45.02

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Site: Howard Shore ===