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ARR to compose for musical version of Lord of the Rings

Topic started by Anon (@ 202.41.76.192) on Tue Oct 21 09:39:32 EDT 2003.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Bollywood composer A R Rahman is to write the score for the West End
version of 'The Lord of the Rings'.
Rahman, who also wrote the music for Andrew Lloyd Webber's
hit 'Bombay Dreams', has been commissioned to produce a raft of
original songs.
He will collaborate with Finnish folk group Varttina for the show,
which is due to open in spring 2005.
With a budget of £8m, the adaptation of J R R Tolkien's famous
trilogy is set to be the most expensive production ever staged in the
West End.
Rahman is a superstar in his native India and has sold more than
100m albums, composing the soundtracks to more than 50 Bollywood
films.
Producer Kevin Wallace said: "We are recreating Middle Earth and we
needed the music that goes with it to be unique.
"A R Rahman writes brilliant melodies with an exotic quality and we
know he will write something which audiences will adore."
Rahman will write some of the songs himself, Varttina will write
others, and they'll also co-write some numbers.
The premiere of the West End production is being timed to coincide
with the 50th anniversary of the publication of the complete Tolkien
trilogy: 'The Fellowship Of The Ring', 'The Two Towers' and 'The
Return Of The King'.



http://www.varttina.com/news/

Oct 21: LORD OF THE RINGS MUSICAL
In October 2003 Värttinä began collaborating with popular composer
A.R. Rahman on writing the score for the stage adaptation of J.R.R.
Tolkien's THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Work will continue through 2004 with
the musical's World Premiere taking place in London in Spring 2005.
Directed by Matthew Warchus and produced by Kevin Wallace and Saul
Zaentz, at £8 million, THE LORD OF THE RINGS will be the most
expensive musical ever produced in London.

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: outsider (@ 216.99.245.73) on: Fri Oct 24 05:37:50 EDT 2003
  
  And naansense, if you think indian music should be better, start writing music yourself. Who needs to hear complaining? D.I.Y.
  
  
  
• From: rajasaranam (@ 210.210.33.165) on: Fri Oct 24 08:09:59 EDT 2003
  
  wowwwww,
  
  when i entered the site mentioned here, i heard music which was excellent. if this was composed by ARR then really i salute him that he has composed a mesmerising score. previously when i heard his WOHE i was not impressed much as it sounded more like CTHD. but the score in the background of the site is amazing.... no words to explain.
  
  
• From: purv (@ 198.38.6.253) on: Fri Oct 24 09:38:54 EDT 2003
  
  Well said, outsider! My sentiments exactly!
  
  
• From: MusicIsLife (@ 170.146.91.6) on: Fri Oct 24 12:06:27 EDT 2003
  
  RS,
  My thoughts are also same.. it is very doubtful that is his score..(knowing the style), but surely salute for the mesmerizing score if it is ARR for real
  
  
• From: ash (@ 12.5.197.3) on: Fri Oct 24 16:56:43 EDT 2003
  
  It does'nt matter whether Ilayaraja got this kind of oppurtunity or not, all that matters is "A guy from India and that too from Tamilnadu has made it this far". Let it be his marketing talent or Musical talent, we should salute this man AR Rahman for reaching out this far.
  I am proud of this guy, and it exactly the way I felt about Shekar Kapoor, Mira Nair and Arundhathi Roy
  
  
• From: bug (@ 207.44.154.35) on: Fri Oct 24 20:29:52 EDT 2003
  
  whether he gets 'inspiration' or not for his music; he surely did bring fame to Indians especially tamilians. kudos to him.
  
  there is no reason to compare him with IR. Ofcourse IR could have done it, but his lack of being people/business savy caused a setback.
  
  however, i doubt whether IR could have provided a more western (say rap sort of ) music cos lately his attempts in film music to attract younger generations provided a very mediocre to less hearable music. For example, I don't think 'boys' could have derived a better music with IR for its trendy theme.
  
  anyway, my take is: ARR has done a nice job. Let's congratulate him. While not discourage or compare him with IR.
  
  bug
  
  
• From: waste of time (@ 68.77.8.29) on: Fri Oct 24 20:46:10 EDT 2003
  
  outsider: i don't mind doing it, but atleat in India it is not about what you know than about who you know. rahman knows shekhar kapur know webber knows england big shots knows hollywood - it is all member get member for mediocre projects. Just tell me content what has Rahman done worthwhile than even Harris Jayaraj? this guy is overhyped... what is the memorable tune this guy has got for us? i am not against rahman, but music is at its lowest ebb and India is riding high on that in one of the most boring musical forms - theater musicals.
  
  
• From: Anbe sivam (@ 24.184.29.127) on: Sat Oct 25 23:33:49 EDT 2003
  
  bug,
  
  I agree with you. IR can't given score like boys as his opinion about pop and rock is different. He thinks classical music has long lasting effect(which is true though. That's why all spiritual and religious songs are on classical base).
  
  I heared the music in the Lord of the Rings site. It is really cool. If it was composed by ARR, he should given credit for that. He brings fame to Indian, which has to be accepted.
  
  
• From: kavin (@ 195.92.198.75) on: Sun Oct 26 03:40:38 EST 2003
  
  It is indeed a prestigious offer for AR Rahman to work in this musical. Indians can be proud of this and also one should give credit to the people of india and the indian governement for the support they offered ARR right from the days of Roja.
  
  The creative team for this musical is impressive. The music team consists of,
  
  Christopher Nightingale as the MUSICAL SUPERVISOR, has supervised Bombay Dreams besides additional programming. He has done a whole load of other musicals and probably instrumental in roping in ARR for this project through his association with Bombay Dreams.
  
  Stephen Keeling is a composer, also with good credit history.
  
  Bernd Stromberger, a composer from Vienna is credited for Mozartmania (Magical Flute). He worked on the musical, The Hobbit in 1998. He started work on the Lord of The Rings musical in 2000.
  
  Varttina, composer from the Karelia region in Finland with raving reviews in the western media. Tolkiens works borrowed from the Finnish folk elements to create the Middle Earth.
  
  Mind boggling array of musical talents it seems on paper. One is not sure where ARR fits in this team and what his role is going to be or how much of the music can be credited to him. We should know this in the coming days. I am waiting for him to talk about the project and what he plans to do. Nevertheless, it will be an enriching experience for ARR and we can hope to see some of these influences when he does the occasional music projects in india, be it in tamil or hindi.
  
  I sincerely hope that he will bring back the whole concept of teamwork in music creation which can revive the state of indian music and give new direction to contemporary indian music.
  
  
• From: pure naansense (@ 68.77.8.29) on: Sun Oct 26 13:48:44 EST 2003
  
  is this like 5 music directors for 5 different songs? or Rahman working as sound engineer for the 4 others?
  
  
• From: outsider (@ 67.31.88.8) on: Sun Oct 26 17:05:38 EST 2003
  
  naansense, theater music is only boring if it's done badly. Frankly, I could care less about Andrew Lloyd Weber, but Stephan Sondheim is a genius of musical theater. India has a long tradition of movie musicals, so ARR would be a natural choice to compose musical theater.
  
  The pop music genre which you apparently admire can also be extremely boring, shallow dance music, noisy, egotistal hyped artists, compact little tunes which are repeated endlessly and copied stylistically by the entire world (including India) and the biz is also is filled with 'who you know' types. The end results of the popular music scene is often plain rubbish, and is nothing to be copied or admirred for.
  
  
• From: MusicIsLife (@ 170.146.91.6) on: Wed Oct 29 15:53:58 EST 2003
  
  Another FYI
  
  
  http://www.cinesouth.com/masala/hotnews/29102003-1.shtml
  
  
• From: naansense (@ 68.77.8.29) on: Wed Oct 29 17:07:01 EST 2003
  
  "outsider": IR himself said, all forms of music is just noise, there is no judgement possible nor is it right. beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. i find all forms of music exhilirating as long as composers don't act intellectual or pretentions of superiority (phillip glass, chopin, ghazals, or do cut and paste (rahman). IR has that pop music approach and he wants the audience to find in every second something new, that is the difference. Pop is soothing, flowing and unabashedly simple, no pretentions at being the best, but they achieve that incredible class and reaches all audiences whoever gives them an open hearing. i can't say that about the so called romance bsht i hear from ghazals. yes, i am prejudiced here just like you happen to be about Pop. One stellar thing about Western Pop is that it is facile format such that all is required is an exciting tune and rhythm and the West just doesn't depend on one band or composer for songs. Unlike our Rahman trying to build loops and unimaginative percussion with no tune, no nothing..... Rahman is neither in India nor in the West, finally great creativity converges to a point of sanity, not diverge into incongruence which Rahman easily accomplishes.
  
  Theater music is very dramatic tunes and sometimes they succeed very well, many times they make a fool of the audience. Rahman' songs actually don't have that characteristic either to be dramatic or to fool. he fools himself.
  
  
  HAIL THE NEW RAHMAN BASHER ;---)
  
  
• From: naan sense (@ 68.77.8.29) on: Wed Oct 29 17:07:55 EST 2003
  
  IR himself said, all forms of music is just noise
  
  sorry i think IR said "sound"
  
  
• From: V (@ 24.59.74.246) on: Wed Oct 29 21:45:01 EST 2003
  
  Hey guys,
  
  It seems more than Bombay dreams and WOHE, this project has given more publicity for ARR.
  
  Regardless of what eople say, I think he should go for more crossover projects.
  
  He is no longer a tamil film music composer. He was wriggled himself out of that insular occupation. He is now more of a crossover composer composing for novel international projects.
  
  Surely another feather in his cap!
  
  We need to celebrate!
  
  
• From: chandler (@ 68.35.124.234) on: Wed Oct 29 23:28:51 EST 2003
  
  naan sense,
  
  your name is very apt to what u said
  
  
  
• From: MUSIC LOVER (@ 62.215.3.46) on: Tue Nov 4 04:50:56 EST 2003
  
  POOR ARR IS GOING TO GET CAUGHT ON COPYRIGHT ISSUES,WE ALL KNOW HE COPIES LEFT RIGHT CENTRE FROM WESTERN COMPOSITIONS,HE IS GOING TO DO THE SAME FAILING TO UNDERSTAND ALL WESTENERS MAY HAVE TO LISTEN TO IT,PARTHU ARR PAZHAKA DHOSATHILA TUNE THIRUDINA UNNAI ARR PAKKU MADHIRI POTTU THUPPIDUVANGA
  
  
• From: MUSIC LOVER (@ 62.215.3.46) on: Tue Nov 4 04:53:08 EST 2003
  
  POOR ARR IS GOING TO GET CAUGHT ON COPYRIGHT ISSUES,WE ALL KNOW HE COPIES LEFT RIGHT CENTRE FROM WESTERN COMPOSITIONS,HE IS GOING TO DO THE SAME FAILING TO UNDERSTAND ALL WESTENERS MAY HAVE TO LISTEN TO IT,PARTHU ARR PAZHAKA DHOSATHILA TUNE THIRUDINA UNNAI ARR PAKKU MADHIRI POTTU THUPPIDUVANGA
  
  
• From: paran (@ 203.123.16.78) on: Tue Nov 4 05:05:19 EST 2003
  
  ha ha ha ..
  read this u ^$^%$^%
  http://members.atozasia.com/anithya/Tehzeeb.txt
  
  
• From: C~P (@ 61.1.200.85) on: Tue Nov 4 07:04:26 EST 2003
  
  Paran,
  avarukku enna bayangara thikku vaaya? ... orey vishayathai 'saththam poattu' rendu vaatti olararaar...who else...! ;-)
  wudnt u introduce a MusicLover paakku if he comes to ur place?? :-)
  
  
• From: paran (@ ) on: Tue Nov 18 03:03:20 EST 2003
  
  for those Musical lovers...just found this site..
  
  it says STAR WARS the Musical...but doesn't look like a official web site though..
  http://www.infauxmedia.com/swmusical/STAR_WARS-The_Musical.htm
  
  
• From: hihi (@ ) on: Sat May 22 12:10:00 EDT 2004
  
  Music Lover is an Idot..Doesn't know anything abt Music
  
  

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