[dancing spawn of ungoliant]

I quote here Music from the Movies magazine (#42), should you be interested in what Howard Shore has to say about this track.

"There are two parts to 'The Black Gate Opens', the battle at the gate and Sam with Frodo on Mount Doom. How did you combine these two parts on your CD track and what are the main thematic elements here?"

"'The Black Gate Opens' is the final act of The Fellowship to create a diversion that will allow Frodo and Sam to carry The Ring up to the top of Mount Doom. The CD track 'The Black Gate Opens' begins with Aragorn's speech and then ends with Sam and Frodo on Mount Doom. Sauron opens the gates and tens of thousands of Orcs march out to destroy them. That final moment at The Black Gate is a test of will. The piece starts with Aragorn trying to raise the courage of the troops because they know it's a suicide mission. They are completely overwhelmed, there's no way to survive what's coming and Aragorn tries to raise their moral and lead them on. He gives an inspiring speech, that's the first part of 'The Black Gate Opens'. The piece is a combination of The Fellowship at The Black Gate that's inner-cut with the events unfolding on Mount Doom with Frodo and Sam.

There's also a part of the score not on the CD where Aragorn is at The Black Gate getting his troops ready for battle. The battle doesn't ensue until Frodo has The Ring at the Crack of Doom. When he decides not to throw it in, the battle starts to take place down below in front of The Black Gate. Aragorn says, "For Frodo," and rushes into battle. This is the start of the final battle at The Black Gate. I'm using a development of 'The Fellowship Theme' here, a choral version of it, because it was The Fellowship who joined against Sauronas they charge into battle against the Orcs. There's a battle between Gollum and Sam, that's when the Eagles attack the Nazgûl and Gandalf sees the moth, you hear a bit of that 'Nature Moth Theme' from The Fellowship. It's sung by the boy soprano, Ben del Maestro. The correct name of it is 'The Nature Theme', but it's triggered by the sight of the moth. When Gandalf sees the Eagles appear and the battle starts shifting, the music is very thematic; it has to do with 'The Fellowship Theme', 'The Nature Theme'. Then it's the scenes with Frodo and Sam on Mount Doom that highlight the score to the second part of 'The Black Gate Opens'. The film is cutting back and forth, you have Frodo and Sam on the slopes of Mount Doom and you hear that piece as they remember The Shire and when they hope to return home. That's part of a piece I wrote for Sir James Galway. This is just before Sam picks Frodo up in his arms and you hear 'The Grey Havens Theme'. This music evokes the courage of these two little Hobbits, putting both of their lives at stake for the greater good of Middle-earth. The music has an uplifting quality to it; it builds around the strength of these characters.

Music in films is about perspective and there are many different types of perspectives in a scene. What you're seeing on the screen often doesn't need to be reinforced. This piece also takes on a certain perspective about the characters and it's enriching, it is subtext. The perspective is drawing you to the idea that this person is heroic even though he's undergoing the worst possible struggle of his life. As Sam carries Frodo up Mount Doom we hear a choir part sung in Sindarin. The track ends when Sam offers to carry The Ring for Frodo. Frodo would never let Sam carry The Ring; it was the same with Bilbo. Bilbo never wanted to relinquish The Ring, but Gandalf convinced him to leave it to his nephew Frodo. The Ring has great physical weight to it. Sam says to Frodo at one point where he's near collapsing, "I can't carry The Ring, but I can carry you", and he picks him up with all the last bit of strength that he has. It's a great act of courage and is the ending of the track 'The Black Gate Opens'."

"Peter said that you wrote a completely new theme for Frodo and Sam when they were on Mount Doom. Explain your approach to this theme?"

"I think he's referring the part played by Sir James. It's a new piece I wrote that underscores Sam and Frodo's struggle. It's a choral-based, written to work with Sir James' Tin Whistle. It's a brand new theme of courage. There are different pieces relating to Frodo, mostly Shire music, elements of The Shire, and it's the same with Sam, that's really where their music comes from. This scene is similar to that in its use of harmonies and even the use of the Tin Whistle is part of The Shire. The whistle is The Shire. If we used particular sounds for characters we wanted to carry them the storyline for clarity." ~Howard Shore

***

I like this track very much. The tin whistle is unbelievably beautiful and it will represent The Shire to me probably always. Funny that although this track is a combination of so many themes and it's jumping from the Black Gate to Mount Doom and back, it sounds so- well, whole. As Lathriel said, this is a wonderful composition whether you listen to it as a part of the film or just as a piece of music.

When I first read the title 'The Black Gate Opens' from the back cover of the RotK CD, I was expecting something similar to 'The Black Gate is Closed' in TTT, but after I watched the movie and listened to the soundtrack, I was pleasantly surprised. The battle at the Black Gate and Frodo and Sam struggling up Mount Doom are one of my favourite parts in the whole trilogy and I couldn't have wished a better score for it. Wonderful!