Howe Records is pleased to announce the release of the Soul of the Ultimate Nation (SUN) Collectors Edition Vol. 2 available in stores and digitally on July 10, 2012.
The epic online fantasy game Soul of the Ultimate Nation (SUN) has been enjoyed by fans around the world, but the soundtrack had only been released in parts of Asia. Now for the first time, as the second in a Collector's Edition series of the Composer's work, Howard Shore's original score for SUN is available to a worldwide audience.
During the time that Shore was writing the score for SUN he was at the Kremlin in Moscow conducting performances of The Lord of the Rings Symphony with the National Philharmonic of Russia and Victor Popov's Academy of Choral Arts. Further concert engagements took him to Tokyo with these ensembles.
"While in Japan, I decided I wanted to write the piece specifically for this orchestra and chorus," said Shore. "I wanted the chorus to sing in ancient Korean as a way to express the world of SUN. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring together the western and eastern concepts at play. The pieces were composed as tone poems to express the different characters, cultures and the world of this wonderfully detailed game."
Howard Shore is among today's most respected, honored, and active composers and conductors. His work with Peter Jackson on The Lord of the Rings trilogy stands as his most towering achievement to date, earning him three Oscars and four Grammy awards. Since 2003 Shore's music from the beloved trilogy has been constantly performed in concert halls around the world.
Shore's on-going collaboration with filmmaker David Cronenberg has spawned scores for 14 films, including The Fly, Dead Ringers, Crash, Naked Lunch, Eastern Promises, A Dangerous Method and Cosmopolis. Shore continues to distinguish himself with a wide range of projects, from Martin Scorsese's The Departed, The Aviator, and Gangs of New York, to Ed Wood, The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia, and Mrs. Doubtfire. He is currently working on his second opera, and is returning to Middle-earth with J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.
Howe Records recently released Howard Shore's Academy Award nominated score for Hugo, and a live recording of The Lord of the Rings Symphony, which spent many weeks on Billboard's classical album charts. On July 10th, Howe Records will also release the soundtrack for David Cronenberg's upcoming drama Cosmopolis.