Composer Howard Shore draws from the themes he created for previous films in Peter Jackson’s adaptations of The Lord of the Rings for The Return of the King, and this score caps the trilogy off superbly.
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Tag Archives: Howard Shore
Middle-earth music: The Two Towers
The score for The Two Towers, part two of Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, accomplishes a difficult task: augmenting the action of the “middle.”
There are some lovely swirls as Shore conjures forth themes for the stern but beautiful people of Rohan with help from a Norwegian hardanger.
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Middle-earth music: The Fellowship of the Ring
Beginning with a stirring choral piece sung in one of Tolkien’s Elvish languages, Howard Shore immerses the listener in Middle-earth. Rather than composing themes for each of the characters, as per John Williams leitmotifs, Shore adds atmosphere to a story already rich in history.
It’s just as well he eschews character-specific creations; at nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring, Tolkien’s cast was just getting started. The film’s score isn’t monolithic by any means.
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