Music of The Lord of the Rings film series

Howard Shore, composer of The Lord of the Rings series film score.

The music of The Lord of the Rings film series was composed, orchestrated, conducted and produced by Howard Shore. Shore wrote many hours of music for The Lord of the Rings, 10 hours of which have been released in the Complete Recordings CD/DVD boxed sets. Additional music, including alternative and unused compositions, was released with the book The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films in 2010.

Shore composed the music in an emotional, operatic way, threading through the scores over 90 identified leitmotifs, which are categorized by the Middle-earth cultures to which they relate.[1] Shore began his work on the music for The Fellowship of the Ring in late 2000 and recorded the first pieces of music (the Moria sequence) in spring of 2001. Additional music for the extended DVD version was recorded in March 2002. A similar pattern was followed for The Two Towers and The Return of the King, with the final sessions taking place in Watford on March 20, 2004.

The music was performed primarily by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Voices, with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra contributing some of the early Moria music. A wide variety of instrumental and vocal soloists, including members of the films' cast, contributed to the scores as well.

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, as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and Best Original Song. Shore's music for The Lord of the Rings has become the most successful composition of his career and one of the most popular motion picture scores in history.

Principal leitmotifs

First appearance in The Fellowship of the Ring

This theme is usually associated with the One Ring and its history.
This theme represents Mordor, its orcs and the evilness of the Ring.
The theme of the Shire and the Hobbits (Hymn Setting).
The ominous, pulsating theme of Isengard.
The Fellowship theme, heard prominently in the track The Ring Goes South. Usually regarded to be the main theme of Lord of The Rings. It may have been borrowed from the end of the first movement of Sibelius 3rd Symphony.

First appearance in The Two Towers

First appearance in The Return of the King

Instrumentation

Howard Shore made use of a large orchestra using the following instruments:

Use of Tolkien languages

The film score for The Lord of the Rings incorporates extensive vocal music blended with the orchestral arrangements. The great majority of the lyrics used are in the invented languages of Middle-earth, representing the various cultures and races in Tolkien's writings. These languages include Quenya and Sindarin associated with Elves, Adûnaic and Rohirric for Men, and Khuzdul of the Dwarves. Some of these languages had been developed extensively by Tolkien, while others were extrapolated by linguist David Salo based on the limited examples of vocabulary and linguistic style available. (Old English was used as an analog for Rohirric.) The lyrical texts were derived from several sources, including songs and poems written by Tolkien, as well as original and adapted material from screenwriters Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and others, all translated by Salo.[2] The vocal music serves primarily to give texture and cultural aesthetic to the score; there is never any translation of the lyrics in the on-screen presentation, and in many cases only fragments of the source texts are used.

Songs

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. There was also a special musical arrangement written for the trailer for The Return of the King, which primarily consisted of principal leitmotifs along with movie trailer-like music. Additionally, there was a song entitled "Use Well the Days" sung by Annie Lennox, which can be found on a supplementary DVD included with The Return of the King soundtrack in some packages released in 2003.[3]

Soloists

For the three films Shore worked with many vocal and instrumental soloists.

Vocal

Cast performers

Instrumental

Original soundtracks

Recordings of the score were originally issued on single-disc albums, that closely followed the theatrical release dates of the films. All soundtrack albums of the trilogy have been released through Reprise Records, Enya's label at that time of the first soundtrack's release. While the cover art for The Fellowship of the Ring uses an original compilation of film characters, the covers for The Two Towers and The Return of the King reflect the respective film posters.

List of original soundtracks, with selected chart positions and certifications
Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
US
[4]
US
Soundtracks

[4]
AUS
[5]
AUT
[6]
FIN
[7]
GER
[8]
NLD
[9]
NZL
[10]
SWI
[11]
UK
[12]
The Fellowship of the Ring 29 2 8 2 2 3 7 21 8 10
The Two Towers 43 2 31 11 3 8 20 14 28
The Return of the King 36 2 33 5 5 10 19 9 8 34
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

The Complete Recordings

Starting in 2005, a year after the extended release of The Return of the King, Reprise Records began to release one multi-disc set for each part of the trilogy. These annually published collections, titled The Complete Recordings, contain the entire score for the extended versions of the films on CD, along with an additional DVD-Audio disc that offers 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround mixes of the soundtrack. Each album also comes with extensive liner notes by music journalist Doug Adams which reviews all of the tracks and provides information about the process of composing and recording the score, as well as a detailed list of all musical instruments, people and organizations involved. These Annotated Scores have been made freely available by New Line on the promotional website for the soundtracks (see below). The cover artwork uses common elements for the three albums like the film series' logo and an inscription in Tolkien's tengwar letters. The background of each album cover differs though in that it shows an aspect from the map of Middle-earth drawn by Christopher Tolkien that fits the title of the release and the location of the plot: The Fellowship of the Ring depicts the The Shire, Rhudaur and Eregion in dark red, the cover for The Two Towers shows Rohan and Fangorn in dark blue while The Return of the King shows a map of Gondor in dark green.

The Fellowship of the Ring

The Lord of the Rings:
The Fellowship of the Ring:
The Complete Recordings
Soundtrack album by Howard Shore
Released December 13, 2005
Length 180:35
Label Reprise

The Complete Recordings for The Fellowship of the Ring span just over three hours of music on three CDs. The set was released on December 13, 2005.

Track listing
Disc one
No.TitleLength
1."Prologue: One Ring to Rule Them All"  7:16
2."The Shire"  2:29
3."Bag End" (feat. "The Road Goes Ever On", performed by Ian McKellen)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" (feat. "The Road Goes Ever On", performed by Ian Holm; feat. Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan)8:54
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" (feat. "The Song of Beren and Lúthien", performed by Viggo Mortensen)6:04
Total length:58:30
Disc two
No.TitleLength
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" (feat. "Aníron (Theme for Aragorn and Arwen)", composed & performed by Enya)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
Total length:59:05
Disc three
No.TitleLength
1."Khazad-dûm"  8:00
2."Caras Galadhon" (feat. "Lament for Gandalf", performed by Elizabeth Fraser)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" (composed & performed by Enya)3:26
9."The Road Goes Ever On... (Part 2)" (feat. "In Dreams", performed by Edward Ross)3:41
Total length:63:01

The Two Towers

The Lord of the Rings:
The Two Towers:
The Complete Recordings
Soundtrack album by Howard Shore
Released November 7, 2006
Length 188:13
Label Reprise

The Complete Recordings for The Two Towers span over three hours of music on three CDs. The set was released on November 7, 2006.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[19]
ScoreNotesA[20]
Track listing
Disc one
No.TitleLength
1."Glamdring"  3:50
2."Elven Rope"  2:19
3."Lost in Emyn Muil"  4:15
4."My Precious"  2:56
5."Uglúk's Warriors"  1:41
6."The Three Hunters"  6:12
7."The Banishment of Éomer"  3:55
8."Night Camp"  2:50
9."The Plains of Rohan"  4:15
10."Fangorn"  5:13
11."The Dead Marshes"  5:08
12.""Wraiths on Wings""  2:08
13."Gandalf the White"  6:48
14."The Dreams of Trees"  1:55
15."The Heir of Númenor"  6:51
16."Ent-Draught"  2:54
Total length:63:02
Disc two
No.TitleLength
1."Edoras"  4:34
2."The Court of Meduseld"  3:11
3."Théoden King" (feat. "The Funeral of Théodred", performed by Miranda Otto)6:12
4."The King's Decision"  2:08
5."Exodus from Edoras"  5:43
6."The Forests of Ithilien"  6:38
7."One of the Dúnedain" (feat. "Evenstar", performed by Isabel Bayrakdarian)7:13
8."The Wolves of Isengard"  4:22
9."Refuge at Helm's Deep"  4:00
10."The Voice of Saruman"  1:12
11."Arwen's Fate" (feat. "The Grace of the Valar", performed by Sheila Chandra)3:59
12."The Story Foretold"  3:39
13."Sons of the Steward"  6:03
14."Rock and Pool"  2:55
15."Faramir's Good Council"  2:21
Total length:63:59
Disc three
No.TitleLength
1."Aragorn's Return"  2:12
2."War Is Upon Us"  3:36
3.""Where Is the Horse and the Rider?""  6:16
4."The Host of the Eldar"  2:51
5."The Battle of the Hornburg"  2:53
6."The Breach of the Deeping Wall"  3:03
7."The Entmoot Decides"  2:06
8."Retreat" (feat. "Haldir's Lament", performed by Elizabeth Fraser)4:41
9."Master Peregrin's Plan"  2:32
10."The Last March of the Ents" (feat. Ben Del Maestro)2:31
11."The Nazgûl Attack"  2:45
12."Théoden Rides Forth" (feat. Ben Del Maestro)5:48
13."The Tales That Really Matter"  12:01
14.""Long Ways to Go Yet"" (feat. "Gollum's Song", performed by Emilíana Torrini)8:06
Total length:61:12

The Return of the King

The Lord of the Rings:
The Return of the King:
The Complete Recordings
Soundtrack album by Howard Shore
Released November 20, 2007
Length 229:17
Label Reprise

The Complete Recordings for The Return of the King span almost three hours and fifty minutes on four CDs. The accompanying DVD-audio disc is double-sided to accommodate all of the material. The set was released on November 20, 2007 and is currently the only of the three to be available for digital download.[21]

Track listing
Disc one
No.TitleLength
1."Roots and Beginnings"  6:31
2."Journey to the Crossroads"  2:17
3."The Road to Isengard"  2:18
4."The Foot of Orthanc"  4:45
5."Return to Edoras"  1:51
6."The Chalice Passed"  1:51
7."The Green Dragon" (feat. Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan)0:35
8."Gollum's Villainy"  2:10
9."Éowyn's Dream"  1:24
10."The Palantír"  3:10
11."Flight from Edoras"  2:19
12."The Grace of Undómiel" (feat. Renée Fleming)6:21
13."The Eyes of the White Tower"  4:33
14."A Coronal of Silver and Gold"  8:27
15."The Lighting of the Beacons"  9:03
Total length:57:32
Disc two
No.TitleLength
1."Osgiliath Invaded" (feat. Ben Del Maestro)8:48
2."The Stairs of Cirith Ungol"  2:41
3."Allegiance to Denethor"  3:20
4."The Sacrifice of Faramir" (feat. "The Edge of Night", performed by Billy Boyd)4:09
5."The Parting of Sam and Frodo"  4:04
6."Marshalling at Dunharrow"  4:57
7."Andúril - Flame of the West"  3:28
8."The Passing of the Grey Company"  4:12
9."Dwimorberg - The Haunted Mountain"  2:26
10."Master Meriadoc, Swordthain"  1:40
11."The Paths of the Dead"  6:22
12."The Siege of Gondor"  9:01
13."Shelob's Lair"  8:53
14."Merry's Simple Courage"  2:09
Total length:66:03
Disc three
No.TitleLength
1."Grond - The Hammer of the Underworld"  1:33
2."Shelob the Great"  5:13
3."The Tomb of the Stewards"  3:58
4."The Battle of the Pelennor Fields"  4:10
5."The Pyre of Denethor"  2:59
6."The Mûmakil"  0:57
7."Dernhelm in Battle"  2:06
8."A Far Green Country"  1:28
9."Shieldmaiden of Rohan"  5:07
10."The Passing of Théoden"  2:16
11."The Houses of Healing" (feat. Liv Tyler)2:58
12."The Tower of Cirith Ungol"  4:41
13."The Last Debate" (feat. "Asëa Aranion", performed by Sissel)4:21
14."The Land of Shadow"  6:29
15."The Mouth of Sauron" (feat. Sir James Galway)8:16
16.""For Frodo"" (feat. Ben Del Maestro)3:17
Total length:59:44
Disc four
No.TitleLength
1."Mount Doom" (feat. Renée Fleming)4:09
2."The Crack of Doom"  4:02
3."The Eagles" (feat. Renée Fleming)2:24
4."The Fellowship Reunited" (feat. Sir James Galway, Viggo Mortensen, and Renée Fleming)12:18
5."The Journey to the Grey Havens" (feat. Sir James Galway)7:35
6."Elanor" (feat. Sir James Galway)1:28
7."Days of the Ring" (feat. "Into the West", performed by Annie Lennox)11:10
8."Bilbo's Song"  2:58
Total length:45:58

The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films

The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films (ISBN 978-0-7390-7157-1) is a book which was written by Doug Adams and released on October 5, 2010. The book contains a detailed look at the themes and leitmotifs in the films' music.[22] It also contains snippets of sheet music and illustrations. The book was released with a companion CD, The Rarities Archives. The CD has 21 tracks of previously unreleased music created for the films, as well as an audio interview with Howard Shore.

The Rarities Archives

The Lord of the Rings: The Rarities Archives
Soundtrack album by Howard Shore
Released European Union on September 28 and in the U.S. and worldwide on October 5, 2010
Length 1:19:25
Label Howe Records
Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Prologue: One Ring to Rule Them All (Alternate)"  5:56
2."The Shire/The Hobbits (Mock-up)"  2:00
3."Out From Bree (Theatrical Version & Alternate)"  4:04
4."Flight to the Ford (Alternate)"  4:04
5."Moria (Mock-up)"  1:44
6."The Fighting Uruk-hai (Alternate)"  1:47
7."The Argonath (Alternate)"  2:18
8."Gwenwin in în ("Arwen's Song" Alternate/Mock-up)"  2:02
9."Arwen's Song (Complete)"  2:11
10."Emyn Muil (Alternate)"  3:23
11."The Rohan Fanfare (Mock-up)"  3:09
12."The Eaves of Fangorn (Alternate)"  5:25
13."The Ent Theme (Mock-up)"  2:00
14."The Return of the King Trailer"  2:34
15."The Gondor Theme (Mock-up)"  2:18
16."The Muster of Rohan (Alternate)"  6:43
17."The Siege of Gondor (Alternate)"  3:13
18."Shieldmaiden of Rohan (Theatrical Version)"  2:00
19."Sammath Naur (Alternate)"  8:51
20."Frodo's Song ("Into the West" Alternate/Mock-up)"  2:23
21."Elanor (Alternate)"  1:30
22."In Conversation (Audio Interview Part 1)"  5:05
23."In Conversation (Audio Interview Part 2)"  4:27

Awards

The scores and soundtrack albums of the film trilogy have won several awards:

The Fellowship of the Ring
Preceded by
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Academy Award for Best Original Score
2001
Succeeded by
Frida
Preceded by
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album
2001
Succeeded by
The Lord of the Rings:
The Two Towers
Preceded by
Amélie
World Soundtrack Award for Best Original Soundtrack
2002
Succeeded by
Frida
The Two Towers
Preceded by
The Lord of the Rings:
The Fellowship of the Ring
Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album
2002
Succeeded by
The Lord of the Rings:
The Return of the King
The Return of the King
Preceded by
Frida
Academy Award for Best Original Score
2003
Succeeded by
Finding Neverland
Preceded by
"Lose Yourself" by Eminem from 8 Mile
Academy Award for Best Original Song
2003
with "Into the West" by Annie Lennox
Succeeded by
"Al Otro Lado del Río" from The Motorcycle Diaries
Preceded by
Frida
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score
2003
Succeeded by
The Aviator
Preceded by
The Lord of the Rings:
The Two Towers
Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album
2003
Succeeded by
Ray

Symphony

The Lord of the Rings Symphony
Soundtrack album by Howard Shore
Released September 13, 2011
Recorded Lucerne, Switzerland
Length 1:55:15
Label Howe Records

Following the theatrical release of all three films, Howard Shore reworked the film scores of the trilogy into The Lord of the Rings Symphony, a more structured six-movement work for orchestra and choir. This has been performed in various concert halls around the world, accompanied by a light and visual art show by Alan Lee and John Howe. A DVD titled Howard Shore: Creating the Lord of the Rings Symphony—a composer's journey through Middle Earth has been released. The 50-minute-long DVD features extensive excerpts of the concert given by Shore and the Montreal Orchestra and Grand Choir at the "Montreal en Lumiere" Festival, interspersed with spoken commentary by Shore, who recounts his approach in composing the music for the three films and then reworking it into the LOTR symphony.

On September 13, 2011, Shore released "The Lord of the Rings Symphony" on CD and MP3 format. The double-album was recorded in Lucerne, Switzerland and performed by the 21st Century Symphony Orchestra & Chorus under the direction of Ludwig Wicki.

Track listing
  1. "Movement 1" - 11:25
  2. "Movement 2" - 34:04
  3. "Movement 3" - 18:15
  4. "Movement 4" - 10:28
  5. "Movement 5" - 15:26
  6. "Movement 6" - 26:13

Live to Projection

Live to Projection was a series where The Lord of the Rings films (which only had dialogue and sound effects) were projected while the music is performed live in sync with the films. It was conducted by Ludwig Wicki and Erik Eino Ochsner[23] and was performed around the world, including Switzerland, Australia and the United States.[24]

See also

References

  1. Adams, Doug. The Music of The Lord of the Rings Films. Carpentier, 2010, p. 11.
  2. Adams, pp 2-4.
  3. "The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King". amazon.de (in German). Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  4. 1 2 Peak Billboard chart positions:
  5. "Discography Howard Shore". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  6. "Discographie Howard Shore". austriancharts.at (in German). Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 12 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  7. "Discography Howard Shore". finnishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  8. "Discographie – Howard Shore". charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  9. "Discografie Howard Shore". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  10. "Discography Howard Shore". charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  11. "Discography Howard Shore". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  12. "Howard Shore" (select "Albums" tab). Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  13. 1 2 3 "American certifications – Lord of the Rings". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  14. "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 2003". Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
  15. 1 2 3 "Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original (To access, enter the search parameter "The Lord of the Rings" and select "Search by Title") on 16 July 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  16. "Soundtrack" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
  17. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Soundtrack; 'The Lord of the Rings')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
  18. 1 2 "Canadian certifications – Lord of the Rings". Music Canada. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  19. Ruhlmann, William. "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers -- The Complete Recordings - Howard Shore". Allmusic. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  20. "The Two Towers by Howard Shore". ScoreNotes. Archived from the original on 23 November 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  21. "The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King - The Complete Recordings". amazon.com. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  22. Burlingame, Jon (October 7, 2010). "New book explores 'Lord of the Rings' music". Variety. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  23. "Erik Eino Ochsner to Conduct Lord of the Rings Performance". Wallstreet Online. 11 March 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  24. Morgan, David (October 6, 2010). "Middle Earth Returns to Radio City". CBS News. Retrieved 8 October 2010.

Further reading

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