Through the music I hope to give it an arc that gives it a greater sense of a journey through the set rather than a bunch of songs.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
When I hear the piano played in a compositional way, like in a songwriter's way in a compositional way, there's a certain arc to that that I love.
It's easy to make an album full of great songs. But I want people to go for the ride. The songs have to make sense together.
When you go to a great concert, you feel this arc, almost like the music of a well-chosen set takes you on this trip through emotions and through various forms of intellectual engagement.
I have all these revelations as I'm writing. Each song is like a chapter of my diary.
It is very gratifying to see the music from 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy find a new life on the concert stage as it is performed by different orchestras and choruses throughout the world.
When I write, I don't have any expectation of what kind of song it will become or who it might reach.
The realisation that, depending on where we changed from one note to the next in a melodic line, the music could subtly influence the entire meaning of a scene in so many ways was like a door opening to this amazing new world for me.
Everything starts and ends with the song, and working with writers and really learning their process and craft was an invaluable experience.
By the end of the writing process, which is about 80 songs per album, I look at the material and think, what's going to make a difference in someone's life.
Each song is a lifetime, it begins and ends, and there's a journey taken within the songs.