Music of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy

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The music for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy was composed, orchestrated and conducted by Howard Shore. The scoring requirements of the three films are complex: therefore each strongly features a technique called leitmotif, which is a musical phrase associated with a character, object, location, etc. The music for the three films was influenced by the music of classical composer Richard Wagner,^[1] much of whose work was associated with mythology and fantasy.

The scores for The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King won Academy Awards in 2002 and 2004. The latter film also won an Oscar statuette for Best Song.

According to some estimates, Howard Shore composed some 80 leitmotifs for the trilogy.

Contents 1 Principal leitmotifs 1.1 First appearance in The Fellowship of the Ring 1.2 First appearance in The Two Towers 1.3 First appearance in The Return of the King 2 Songs 3 Deleted Tracks 4 Soundtracks 4.1 The Fellowship of the Ring 4.2 The Two Towers 4.3 The Return of the King 5 Complete Recordings 5.1 The Fellowship of the Ring 5.2 The Two Towers 5.3 The Return of the King 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Principal leitmotifs

[edit] First appearance in The Fellowship of the Ring

• The One Ring theme: a minor-key string melody plays over the Lord of the Rings title card for all three films. Shore hints in the production commentary for the film that it is a theme pertaining, in fact, to Gondor.
• "Concerning Hobbits": the theme for the Shire. On the soundtrack, it starts with a solo flute, followed by a solo violin and then the complete orchestra repeating the same phrase. The track then quietens down and the solo flute plays a second melody, again followed by the orchestra. The track ends with the violin and then the flute repeating the first theme.
• "The Black Rider": a dark piece which features almost all flats.
• Middle-earth motif
• Isengard: ususally accompanied by a 5/4 rhythm in the percussion.
• Lothlórien: a soft, ethereal chorus accompanied by cellos. A more hard-edged, brass-driven version of the theme appears in the second film during the battle of Helm's Deep.
• Nazgûl motif
• Mordor theme: played on the rhaita.
• Fellowship theme: a heroic, sweeping piece using principally brass and orchestra. It is heard in various versions during the first film, but after "The Bridge of Khazad-dûm," the last time that the entire Fellowship is together, the melody deteriorates into slow and soft variations.

[edit] First appearance in The Two Towers

• Gollum's motif: featuring the cimbalom.
• Éowyn's theme: using open fifth intervals (lacking the third of the chord — this means that the chords cannot be defined as major or minor).
• Rohan motif: featuring the hardanger fiddle.
• "Evenstar": a slow, serene piece.
• Shadowfax: A sweeping, full-orchestra crescendo with heavy strings.
• Nature's Reclamation (commonly referred to by fans as the Nature theme), played during the "The Last March of the Ents" part of the movie, probably used as a way of interpreting the Ents' march as Nature's way of fighting back.^{[citation needed]} The theme was first heard while Gandalf was trapped in Isengard when a moth serving as a messenger for the Eagles arrived at the pinnacle of Orthanc; the moth and the Eagles represent nature here as well. A more heroic and robust brass version is heard in the third film when the Rohirrim leave Edoras for Dunharrow and also during Theoden's "Ride now!" speech before the Rohirrim charge at Pelennor Fields; it is possible this is meant to show the union between Men and Nature via the horses of Rohan.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] First appearance in The Return of the King

• Minas Tirith/Realm of Gondor Theme: this was hinted at during the Council of Elrond in the first film, and also existed in the Extended Two Towers DVD.
• Flute solo by Sir James Galway.
• Mithrandir/Grey Havens theme: featured in "Into the West" by Annie Lennox.

[edit] Songs

• "May It Be" (The Fellowship of the Ring) performed by Enya: nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song in 2002.
• "Gollum's Song" (The Two Towers) performed by Emiliana Torrini
• "Into the West" (The Return of the King) performed by Annie Lennox: won the Academy Award for Best Song in 2004.

[edit] Deleted Tracks

There exist several pieces of music written by Howard Shore that never made it into the final cut of the film trilogy or any existing soundtrack. Among these are various pieces written for battles throughout the film and a choir theme written for Bilbo Baggins. There was also a special musical arrangement written for the trailer for The Return of the King, which primarily consisted of principle leitmotifs along with movie trailer-like music.

[edit] Soundtracks

[edit] The Fellowship of the Ring

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Studio album by Howard Shore
Released	November 20, 2001
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	71:24
Label	Reprise Records
Producer(s)	Howard Shore, Suzana Peric

First release by Reprise Records. It and all subsequent Lord of the Rings soundtracks were issued on that label as it is also the one on which Enya records.

1. "The Prophecy" – 3:54
2. "Concerning Hobbits" – 2:55
3. "The Shadow of the Past" – 3:33
4. "The Treason of Isengard" – 4:01
5. "The Black Rider" – 2:48
6. "At the Sign of the Prancing Pony" – 3:14
7. "A Knife in the Dark" – 3:34
8. "Flight to the Ford" – 4:15
9. "Many Meetings" – 3:05
10. "The Council of Elrond" featuring "Aníron (Theme for Aragorn and Arwen)" composed and performed by Enya – 3:49
11. "The Ring Goes South" – 2:03
12. "A Journey in the Dark" – 4:20
13. "The Bridge of Khazad Dûm" – 5:57
14. "Lothlórien" – 4:34
15. "The Great River" – 2:43
16. "Amon Hen" – 5:02
17. "The Breaking of the Fellowship" – 7:21
18. "May It Be" composed and performed by Enya – 4:16

[edit] The Two Towers

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Studio album by Howard Shore
Released	December 10, 2002
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	72:46 77:09 (Limited Edition)
Label	Reprise Records
Producer(s)	Howard Shore

1. "Foundations of Stone" – 3:51
2. "The Taming of Sméagol" – 2:48
3. "The Riders of Rohan" – 4:05
4. "The Passage of the Marshes" – 2:46
5. "The Uruk-hai" – 2:58
6. "The King of the Golden Hall" – 3:49
7. "The Black Gate Is Closed" – 3:17
8. "Evenstar" (featuring Isabel Bayrakdarian) – 3:15
9. "The White Rider" – 2:28
10. "Treebeard" – 2:43
11. "The Leave Taking" – 3:41
12. "Helm's Deep" – 3:53
13. "The Forbidden Pool" – 5:27
14. "Breath of Life" (featuring Sheila Chandra) – 5:07
15. "The Hornburg" – 4:36
16. "Forth Eorlingas" (featuring Ben Del Maestro) – 3:15
17. "Isengard Unleashed" (featuring Elizabeth Fraser & Ben Del Maestro) – 5:01
18. "Samwise the Brave" – 3:46
19. "Gollum's Song" (performed by Emiliana Torrini) – 5:51
20. "Farewell to Lórien" (featuring Hilary Summers) – 4:37¹

¹ Only included on the Limited Edition release of the album.

[edit] The Return of the King

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Studio album by Howard Shore
Released	November 25, 2003
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	72:05
Label	Reprise Records
Producer(s)	Howard Shore

1. "A Storm Is Coming" – 2:52
2. "Hope and Memory" – 1:45
3. "Minas Tirith" – 3:37
4. "The White Tree" – 3:25
5. "The Steward of Gondor" – 3:53
6. "Minas Morgul" – 1:58
7. "The Ride of the Rohirrim" – 2:08
8. "Twilight and Shadow" – 3:30
9. "Cirith Ungol" – 1:44
10. "Andúril" – 2:35
11. "Shelob's Lair" – 4:07
12. "Ash and Smoke" – 3:25
13. "The Fields of the Pelennor" – 3:26
14. "Hope Fails" – 2:20
15. "The Black Gate Opens" – 4:01
16. "The End of All Things" – 5:12
17. "The Return of the King" – 10:14
18. "The Grey Havens" – 5:59
19. "Into the West" (performed by Annie Lennox) – 5:49

[edit] Complete Recordings

[edit] The Fellowship of the Ring

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: The Complete Recordings
Studio album by Howard Shore, Enya
Released	December 13, 2005
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	3:00:35
Label	Reprise Records

Second release by Reprise Records. This release also includes a DVD-Audio disc containing the entire score in 5.1 and 2.0 surround sound (at 48 kHz, 24-bit).

Disc One

1. "Prologue: One Ring to Rule Them All" – 7:16
2. "The Shire" – 2:29
3. "Bag End" – 4:35
4. "Very Old Friends" – 3:12
5. "Flaming Red Hair" – 2:39
6. "Farewell Dear Bilbo" – 1:45
7. "Keep It Secret, Keep It Safe" – 8:45
8. "A Conspiracy Unmasked" – 6:09
9. "Three Is Company" – 1:58
10. "The Passing of the Elves" – 2:39
11. "Saruman the White" – 4:09
12. "A Shortcut to Mushrooms" – 4:07
13. "Strider" – 2:34
14. "The Nazgûl" – 6:04

Disc Two

1. "Weathertop" – 2:14
2. "The Caverns of Isengard" – 4:54
3. "Give Up the Halfling" – 4:49
4. "Orthanc" – 1:06
5. "Rivendell" – 3:26
6. "The Sword That Was Broken" – 3:34
7. "The Council of Elrond Assembles" – 4:01
8. "The Great Eye" – 5:30
9. "Gilraen's Memorial" – 5:01
10. "The Pass of Caradhras" – 5:04
11. "The Doors of Durin" – 6:03
12. "Moria" – 2:27
13. "Gollum" – 2:26
14. "Balin's Tomb" – 8:30

Disc Three

1. "Khazad-dûm" – 8:00 sample (help·info)
2. "Caras Galadhon" – 9:20
3. "The Mirror of Galadriel" – 6:21
4. "The Fighting Uruk-hai" – 11:32
5. "Parth Galen" – 9:13
6. "The Departure of Boromir" – 5:29
7. "The Road Goes Ever On... (Part 1)" – 5:58
8. "May It Be" – 3:26
9. "The Road Goes Ever On... (Part 2)" – 3:41

[edit] The Two Towers

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: The Complete Recordings
Studio album by Howard Shore
Released	November 7, 2006
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	3:08:12
Label	Reprise Records

As with the Complete Recording release of the first score, The Two Towers is spread across three audio CDs and one DVD and was released on 7th November 2006.

Disc One

1. "Glamdring" – 3:50
2. "Elven Rope" – 2:19
3. "Lost In Emyn Muil" – 4:14
4. "My Precious" – 2:56
5. "Uglúk's Warriors" – 1:41
6. "The Three Hunters" – 6:12
7. "The Banishment Of Éomer" – 3:54
8. "Night Camp" – 2:50
9. "The Plains Of Rohan" – 4:14
10. "Fangorn" – 5:13
11. "The Dead Marshes" – 5:07
12. "Wraiths On Wings" – 2:07
13. "Gandalf The White" – 6:47
14. "The Dreams Of Trees" – 1:54
15. "The Heir Of Númenor" – 6:50
16. "Ent-draught" – 2:53

Disc Two

1. "Edoras – 4:34
2. "The Court Of Meduseld" – 3:10
3. "Théoden King" – 6:12
4. "The King's Decision" – 2:07
5. "Exodus From Edoras" – 5:42
6. "The Forests Of Ithilien" – 6:37
7. "One Of The Dunedain" – 7:13
8. "The Wolves Of Isengard" – 4:22
9. "Refuge At Helms Deep" – 3:59
10. "The Voice Of Saruman" – 1:11
11. "Arwen's Fate" – 3:58
12. "The Story Foretold" – 3:38
13. "Sons Of The Steward" – 6:02
14. "Rock And Pool" – 2:54
15. "Faramir's Good Council" – 2:20

Disc Three

1. "Aragorn's Return" – 2:11
2. "War Is Upon Us" – 3:35
3. "Where Is The Horse And The Rider?" – 6:15
4. "The Host Of The Eldar" – 2:50
5. "The Battle Of The Hornburg" – 2:52
6. "The Breach Of The Deeping Wall" – 3:03
7. "The Entmoot Decides" – 2:06
8. "Retreat" – 4:40
9. "Master Peregrin's Plan" – 2:31
10. "The Last March Of The Ents" – 2:31
11. "The Nazgûl Attack" – 2:45
12. "Theoden Rides Forth" – 5:47
13. "The Tales That Really Matter" – 12:01
14. "Long Ways To Go Yet" – 8:05

[edit] The Return of the King

While not officially announced, Howard Shore stated in a November 2006 interview that work on the Complete Recordings for the third film has begun and has a release date of 2007. This Complete Recordings set is expected to span four audio CDs rather than usual three due to the amount of unreleased music.^[2]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official soundtracks site
• Complete score analysis
• SMME (Shore's Musical Middle-Earth): Discussion group for Shore's soundtrack
• Official website of Howard Shore
• List of CD releases for Lord of the Rings on Soundtrackguide.net