Symphony serves up ‘Lord of the Rings’ suite

A great deal of ink – and the electronic, blogging equivalent of ink – has been spilled in describing the visual feast of “The Lord of the Rings” film trilogy.

The Plains of Rohan. Helm’s Deep. All of those drooling Orcs.

Now, the film’s aural achievement, as created by composer Howard Shore, gets its place at center stage when the Spokane Symphony performs “The Lord of the Rings Symphonic Suite” on Saturday at the Spokane Arena’s Star Theatre.

This is a concert-length distillation of Shore’s Oscar-winning score for the “LOTR” movies. The huge popularity of the movies and J.R.R. Tolkien’s books has carried over to this event; it has been sold out since June. (Although you can still get on a waiting list for subscriber tickets turned in at the last moment.)

This concert won’t exactly have the movie’s cast of millions (counting the CGI armies), but it will have a cast of 200. In addition to the full Spokane Symphony, it will feature the Spokane Symphony Chorale and the Spokane Area Children’s Chorus.

The guest conductor is Alastair Willis, former associate conductor of the Seattle Symphony; Shore himself will not be present. Vocal soloist Kaitlyn Lusk, who has been performing this piece with symphonies around the country for more than a year, will sing some of the best-known themes.

The suite also features a few instruments not normally encountered at symphonic concerts: Tibetan gongs, a ney (Middle Eastern) flute, a musette (a kind of accordion) and a cimbalom. That last one sounds like the name of a Tolkien elf, but is a kind of hammered dulcimer.

The symphony has hired six local folk musicians and extra percussionists to assist.

This concert will have a touch of visual spectacle as well. Large screens above the orchestra will feature the paintings and storyboards of artists Alan Lee and John Howe, depicting scenes from the story.

The symphonic suite musically tells the story in roughly chronological order. It includes six movements, two from each movie in the trilogy.

It has been getting strong reviews from around the country.

“Shore’s symphonic journey certainly echoes J.R.R. Tolkien’s dark and wonderful story, with its mysterious swirling mists, majestic sweeps and whimsical touches,” wrote Jane Vranich, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette critic.

“Nothing can match the impact of Shore’s most powerful passages, drawing upon full brass and percussion … It almost seemed like Sensurround – certainly even the best home stereo couldn’t match this.”

Shore told the Baltimore Sun last year that he borrowed some structural ideas from Richard Wagner in another famous “Ring” trilogy – the Ring Cycle. Shore created “leitmotifs” – instantly identifiable themes – to go with certain characters and places.

“What Wagner did was provide a clarity to the storytelling that takes people through the Ring,” Shore told the Sun. “I wanted to tell the ‘Lord of the Rings’ story with motifs, too. The story begins in Shire and, 10 or 11 hours later, returns to where you began. Only with the use of motifs can you feel that.”

No, you won’t hear all 11 hours. Shore has edited the 11-hour soundtrack down to one unified, concert-length suite.