Track-by-Track: Soundtrack Discussion and Analysis

[Lathriel]

I don't like the Mordor or Isengard theme too much. However, I do really like the intro. And I also really like it that the Isengard theme has that industrial sound to it.
Well my mom is calling me so I'll post more later.

[The Tennis Ball Kid]

I'll attend to this ASAP, I've been busy, with among other things, listening to the new Star Wars CD over and over.




ttbk

[Encaitare]

At the very beginning of this track, we hear the hardinger again, followed by a very wistful rendition of the Rohan theme. String instruments are, in my opinion, very dangerous things. They can either sound like dying cats or create some of the most beautiful sounds that you'll ever hear. Fortunately, when the hardinger solos at 0:53, it's the latter situation. It's got a feel like a glorious place stripped of majesty, and the hardinger is it's last bit of dignity and strength shining through. The harp is a nice touch.

I like the way the theme does not resolve the way we might expect at 1:34 -- instead, it takes a much darker turn. Low strings and brass dominate for a time before giving way to something more exciting.

2:33 to the end is very sad; it's when Theoden grieves for Theodred. Gandalf is present at the time, and the trumpet, which has often seemed to represent Gandalf, plays a rendition of the Fellowship theme underneath the choir.

[Lathriel]

The very beginning of th track is known as Eowyn's theme. That is before it becomes the Rohan theme.
Of course this is one of my favourite tracks on this CD.
Partly because I think the music is exactly like the culture it is trying to portray. The Hardinger really gives the track that celtic feel. The fiddle fits with the horses and the plains which are such a large part of the Rohan people's culture.
And it is just breathtaking with the shot of Edoras and the Golden Hall of Meduseld.

[The Tennis Ball Kid]

But the moment at 00:28 is still the peak, certainly of the track, possibly of the film...

It's good (very good), but I wouldn't go quite that far. The peak of the film comes later...

I think it captures the sense that the Fellowship, though scattered, still holds true. I like the simpler orchestration here, it is but a remmant that pursues the orcs.


The fiddle solo as the flag tears away in the wind is glorious, the visuals and music working together perfectly.


I also like the way the Old English lyrics are used throughout TTT to underscore the Rohhirrm's plight.

While I'm here....

The Box-Setisc One:
#1: Prologue (7:10)**
#2: The Shire, Middle Earth(:58)
#3: Concerning Hobbits(1:31)
#4: The Road Goes Ever On....(:39)
#5: A Wizard is Never Late(4:05)**
#6: Very Old Friends(1:39)
#7: A Night To Remember(1:26)
#8 Party#1(:45)
#9 Party#2(:57)
#10: The Sackville-Bagginses!(1:43)
#11: Goodbye(1:00)
#12: It's In My Pocket(1:43)
#13: The End of My Book(1:09)
#14: Riddles in The Dark(1:18)
#15: "Neither Secret, or Safe..."(3:14)**
#16: "The Green Dragon" (:20)
#17: "Rosie" (:17)
#18: "It Is The One Ring" (1:48)
#19: "Bilbo Found It" (:23)
#20: "Sauron endured" (:44)
#21: "Remarkable Hobbits" (3:53)**
#22 "The Journey Begins" (1:47)**
#23: "Wood Elves" (:49)
#24: "To Isengard!" (:40)**
#25: "Reason Exchanged for Madness" (2:27)**
#26: "The Treason of Isengard" (:55)**
#27: "Shortcut To Mushrooms" (:49)**
#28: "Brandybucks and Tooks" (:14)
#29: "Get off the road!" (:13)*
#30: "The Black Rider" (2:36)**
#31: "At The Sign of The Prancing Pony" (:27)**
#32: "No Gandalf" (:21)
#33 "Strider" (:38)**
#34 "Frodo Baggins" (:23)
#35 "Nazgul In The Night" (1:12)**
#36 "Journey To Rivendell" (2:07)
#37: Second Breakfast (1:08)
#38: Desecration of Isengard (:39)
#39: A Knife In The Dark (1:40)**
#40: Even the Smallest Creature... (4:02)**
#41: Weed (:48)
#42: AATF (5:23)**
61.58 Of music, 28.26 released

Disc Two:
#1: "Short Cuts Make For Long Delays" (1:01)
#2: "Many Meetings" (3:18)**
#3: "Aniron" (2:02)*
#4: "Men? Bah!" (2:23)
#5: Broken Heirloom (1:06)
#6: Isildur's Bane (1:12)
#7: Gondor Needs The Ring, Not A King (2:08)
#8: The Fellowship is Formed (3:10)**
#9: "Gilraen" (:57)*
#10: "The Ring goes South" (3:46)**
#11: "Rabbi! From Dublin!"(4:20)
#12: "Moria" (3:56)
#13: "Open Sesame!" (:40)
#14: "The Watcher" (1:34)
#15: "Journey In The Dark" (2:15)**
#16: "Pity/The Darrowdelf" (5:26)**
#17: "Here They Come!" (1:05)
#18: "Not dead (yet!)" (4:15)**
#19: "The Bridge Of Khazad-Dum" (7:53)**
55.24 of music, 13.53 released

Disc Three:
#1: "Lothlorien" (7:25)**
#2: "Lament For Gandalf" (1:58)**
#3: "Silver Trumpets" (1:05)
#4: "The Mirror Of Galadriel (2:50)
#5: "Test Of Galadriel (2:28)**
#6: "The Fighting Uruk-hai" (1:57)
#7: "Gifts Of Galadriel" (5:21)**
#8: "The Great River/The Argonath" (5:09))**
#9: "Boromir Succumbs" (2:40)
#10: "Temptation Of Aragorn" (:48)**
#11: "That Which It Defends" (7:22)**
#12: "The Passing Of Boromir" (1:55)**
#13: "The Breaking Of The Fellowship/In Dreams/May It Be" (11:39)*
51.43 music, 27.24 released
[*=released, **=partially released]

The latest news is that we might be getting the complete scores one at a time, staggered by a couple months, begining this fall, presumably to avoid turning people off by the huge price to get the whole thing at once. And we should get more news hopefully in a couple weeks. LINK

This might be of interest if anyone here is attending the Symphony in Toronto:

By the way, if any one’s going to be in the Toronto area the weekend of June 4 and 5 and planning on attending the any Kitchener Waterloo Philharmonic’s LOTR concerts, I’m scheduled to speak as part of a panel at Roy Thompson Hall that weekend discussing film music and Shore’s scores. Should anyone be interested in a little sneak preview of upcoming publications, please drop me a line. I sound far less like a bad fortune cookie in person. (My email is in my profile.)

-Doug Adams

ttbk

[Encaitare]

The track immediately establishes a frantic feel with the brash Mordor theme. Even when the music softens a bit, it still seems urgent. Not until 1:24 does it relax a bit, although it becomes more eerie. A subtle rendition of the Ring theme is heard from the strings. The very end of the track features a very bleak-sounding version of the Fellowship theme.

On a level of personal preference, this track doesn't do much for me... which I suppose is evident by the meager analysis above!

[Lathriel]

I am not very fond of this track either but I do like the very end of the track when the strings take over. I always find that they represent Gollum's plea to Frodo to take another road into Mordor.

[The Tennis Ball Kid]

It doesn't do much for me either.

*shrug*


I did like how it was used in the film though, the Mordor theme blaring up as they see the gate, etc.



ttbk

[Encaitare]

The very first thing on the track is Elizabeth Fraser's solo lamenting Haldir:

Ar sindarnóriello mornie caita,
Ar ilye tier unduláve lumbule...

'And grey-country-from lies darkness,
And all roads down-licked [the] clouds...'

You'll recognize this from Galadriel's Lament. Sad stuff... poor movie!Haldir. The one problem I have with this is that I think she pronounces 'caita' wrong. According to the Quenya lessons we've been following, the first syllable of 'caita' should rhyme with why and not way. Just nitpicking, though.

The next section seems to have the Fellowship theme at its roots; the brash trumpets signify war more than the original theme does. The Isengard theme grows up underneath it and plays fully at 1:21. The Rohan theme is sounded on trumpet, and then fades.

We then turn to the Ents; the choir begins immediately, and is joined by another solo:

Chorus in Sindarin

rithannen i geven [2.18]
thangen i harn
na fennas i daur
ôl dûr ristannen
eryn...

Solo [Ben del Maestro] in Sindarin

...echuiannen [2.58]
i ngelaidh dagrar
ristar thynd, cúa tawar
dambedir enyd i ganed
si linna i 'waew trin 'ylf
Isto i dur i chuiyl
i ngelaidh dagrar

Translation

'Earth shakes
Stone breaks
The forest [is] at [your] door
The dark sleep is broken
The woods...

... have awoken
The trees have gone to war
Roots rend, wood bends
The Ents have answered the call
Through branches now the wind sings
Feel the power of living things
The trees have gone to war'

Word-for-word translation:

'Shaken the earth
broken the stone
at door the forest
sleep dark broken
woods awoken
the trees make-war
rend roots, bends wood
answered Ents the call
now sings the wind through-the branches
have-knowledge [of] the strength of-the living-creatures
the trees make-war'

I love the way the choir builds, joined by both the high solo and the lower mens' voices -- it's like the hobbits and the Ents together, almost. The moving violins under the brass really do give the impression of the chaos that is going on, especially when the dam is broken.

I can't tell what the choir at 4:00 is saying -- is it a repetition of the above? It's difficult for me to make out.

[Lathriel]

I like it that they got the same singer to sing Haldir's Lament as the Lothlorien track in FOTR.

The chanting of the choir really suits the march of the ents, it has this urgent feel and even a feeling of hope, that good will be victorious. Again I really like Del Maestro's solo. He's got such a gorfeous voice!

Just like the track before the boy's choir does chanting but they seem different to me.
On track 16 I think it sounds more urgent but in track 17 I think it sounds more desperate.

I really like this track but I think I prefer track 16 of the two.

[Encaitare]

The opening part of the track is a solo flute (yay!) accompanied by strings. At 0:27, the flute is replaced by a clarinet in a melody that seems related to the Shire theme.

At 0:42, the violins hold a pedal tone over the horns in the same theme we heard in the Breaking of the Fellowship in FotR. This is also a variant of the Shire theme.

At 2:03, the clarinet returns with the original Shire theme.

The strings gradually dominate and then fade away to Gollum's bit of sneaking at 2:59. The low brass under the violins resembles the music we will hear in Shelob's cave in RotK.

[Encaitare]

No response? Oh well.

Here we are, at the last track of the Two Towers soundtrack. I know that like all the credit songs in the movies, people have mixed feelings about this one. Emiliana Torrini is the vocalist here. The first minute and 15 seconds (approximately) are instrumental, with strings on the melody and gentle horns underneath. We then have the vocals. Since it's in English I'm not posting the lyrics, but if you want them they can be found here.

After the vocals, we hear the strings playing the Rohan theme, followed by brass and strings doing what is usually the hardinger solo.

So, what are your thoughts on this song? Do you like it? Or does Torrini's voice get on your nerves, like I know it does to some people? I personally like it a lot, but then again, I like Bjork, whose voice is similar.

[The Tennis Ball Kid]

Sorry I haven't been here....


Isengard Uleashed:

The choral Moth theme is beautiful here...but also violent...

I love the way the choir builds, joined by both the high solo and the lower mens' voices -- it's like the hobbits and the Ents together, almost.

I really like that.


Samwise The Brave:

We return to the emotional core of the score; the Shire theme....it's not in TTT a lot, but it is here, and it's almost heartbreaking....


Gollum's Song:

I like her voice here, I don't know if I'd listen to her out of the context of this song, but her voice has the right sound for this song....


The instrumental parts are my favorite parts of this track though, the melodies at the start are wonderful, and I love the way they work with the visuals at the end of the film.

And the finale with Eowyn's theme and the Rohan theme makes a great sendoff.




On to ROTK then, eh?


ttbk

[Kitanna]

I can't really say much for this song, except I really, really like it. I like the voice of the vocalist. That's really all I have to say about it.

[Encaitare]

Welcome to the Return of the King! Again, thanks to all who have taken part in this thread. This soundtrack is my favorite of the three because of the wide variety of sounds and emotions, so hopefully we will be able to have some good discussions.

The very first thing we hear is an oboe backed by strings. I would say the the oboe could be "Gollum's instrument" since we have heard it used in the Prologue when he is first introduced -- not sure if it's used elsewhere for the same purpose.

Brass then joins for the Ring theme during the titles, which opens each movie. We are also about to get a little history or backstory, like the beginning of each movie. What is different here is that it's a surprisingly calm scene with sweet hobbity music. (Pity it doesn't last!) There's a flute solo, and then the oboe returns with a plucky little tune.

Deagol is pulled under the water, and at 1:38 we hear the Ring theme on solo violin. I remember sitting in the theater seeing this movie for the first time and thinking how odd and artsy the sound of the violin is. It's really quite different from anything we've heard in the soundtracks before.

The last part is the Mordor theme, featuring a variety of instruments including clarinet, trombone, and tuba. This is not in the movie, but A Magpie's Nest suggests that it was an alternative soundtrack to Smeagol's murder of Deagol, whereas in the movie we only have an eerie sound and a thudding heartbeat. I thought the movie version was pretty funky and different from anything in the previous movies as well.

What do you think of this track? As I said, it's not what we're used to from the past two soundtracks. Is that a good thing or a bad thing, in your opinion?

[The Tennis Ball Kid]

As a note on the unused music: sync the CD at 1:54 with the DVD at 3:04 (Region1, EE), it plays till Smeagol has gotten a deathgrip; it gives the scene quite a different feel. (obviously ) You can also see a short clip of the scene with the music still present on the sound documentary on disc four of the EE set.

The noise used over that scene was also used in TTT, and later in ROTK, usually when Frodo is being tempted by the Ring. (e.g. right before he claims it at Mount Doom)

As for the track as a whole, Shore obviously uses a similar musical feel for the Stoors as he does for the Hobbits. And there's a very nice rendition of the Ring theme; the last minute however, is what I was humming for weeks after I first got the CD.



TTbk

[Kitanna]

The Return of the King soundtrack, gasp!

I know I've said very little in this thread, but I do emjoy it and I am glad we have finally reached ROTK, my favorite of all.

The first song starts out with the Shire feel to it, all happy and what not. As though no evil will come to Smeagol and Deagol and then the Ring theme takes over at 1:38. Then the mood changes. The strings no longer have the light happy feel, instead they are heavy and the evil theme comes into play. A very nice mix I think.

[Elladan and Elrohir]

Hey all,

Just want to drop in and say I've been lurking on the thread every once in a while and love the discussion. I love music and I love the soundtracks even though I can't go nearly as indepth as most of you guys can. My favorite soundtrack is FOTR, because it has some of the most memorable (for me) moments, it introduces most of the major themes for the first time, and it features the Shire and Fellowship themes (my two favorites) far more prominently than in the other two, particularly ROTK.

Just a sidenote: It would seem to me that the title "A Storm Is Coming" goes far better with track 2 than with track 1. Track 2 ("Hope and Memory") seems to embody the message musically of "A Storm Is Coming." And, of course, that title doesn't seem to fit with a track mostly concerned with the Smeagol flashback.

OK, back to lurking until I have anything I feel confident enough about to comment on! (Wow, two dangling prepositions in one sentence.)

[Encaitare]

It's nice to hear you've been reading, E&E! Please feel free to share your thoughts with us more often.

[Himilsillion]

I am new at the downs but, I have been reading the forums for a long time. This thread is a great idea and I really like it.

[Elladan and Elrohir]

Just *BUMPING* this thead back up to the top so we can hopefully continue this fascinating discussion.

[Lathriel]

Encaitare, what's going on. I would dearly like to continue the discussion. We left off with the beautiful melody in track three. What will happen with track four?

[Encaitare]

I'm really sorry for keeping you guys waiting. I've had so much RL stuff going on that has made it difficult for me to get online for a good amount of time, and when I was able I had to devote the time to Werewolf. But enough excuses. Since I suppose there seems to be popular demand, let's resume. Since Track 6 is pretty short, I think we can move on to Track 7 on Friday.

The switch from the pretty music of Gondor to the variation of the harsh Mordor theme is very jarring -- I always listen to the more lyrical tracks with the volume way up, and then I have to rush to turn it down before my ears get blasted!

The upper instruments play the main Mordor theme while the lower ones play in descending thirds. Beginning at 0:36, the music becomes very tense, and then with the tremolo or trill at 0:56, we are back into the brash theme. The drums at this point remind me of the 5/4 Isengard beat, although that's probably to embody the chaos of Mordor and Minas Morgul since Isengard really has nothing to do with this part. 1:29 is more gentle as the immediate danger passes.

This track isn't really a favorite of mine, just because it is so loud and brash... but I guess it's fitting for the location to which it pertains!

[Lathriel]

The first time I was listening to this CD I jumped when this track came on. It actually happened to me several times and I also had moments where I rushed to trun down the volume. I don't like this track very much either. However, I do like the last part. The melody there is actually heard before in the Fellowship when they are climbing mount Caradhras. So I really liked to hear it again.