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Composed,
Orchestrated and
Conducted by
Howard Shore
Produced by Howard
Shore
Performed by The
London
Philharmonic
Orchestra, The
London Voices
and The London
Oratory School
Schola;
(Solo
performances) Ben
del Maestro, Renée
Fleming, Sir James
Galway,
Annie Lennox,
Billy Boyd and
Viggo Mortensen
Released by
Warner/Reprise on
November 25, 2003 |
Author’s note: This
aspires to be a
spoiler-free review.
Though I am familiar
with Tolkien’s novels,
I will be focusing on
the music rather than
the scenes the music
accompanies.
Two years ago, Howard
Shore’s we began a
journey with
Fellowship of the
Rings. Some of us
took off running.
Others were a little
hesitant, unsure of
the leadership, unsure
of the means by which
we’d be traveling.
(Howard Shore? Of all
the possibilities!)
But even the most
skeptical among us
were left in awe,
swept up in its epic
scope. By the time we
reached The Two
Towers, all of our
doubt was put aside,
and we looked eagerly
to the future.
Steadily and surely,
we were infused with a
sense of wonder, of
terror, and
adventure—and, very
appropriately, all
from the most unlikely
of places. And all
things, for good or
bad must end, as we
have reached the final
leg of the journey,
Return of the King.
For those of us who
came this far have
marveled in the themes
so deftly woven into
the film’s tapestry of
images. As we must
recognize that the
film is a trilogy, and
in truth, three parts
of one whole work, we
must recognize the
music must be the
same, carrying over
thematically
throughout the
trilogy. We know the
trumpets that signal
the approach of evil,
the ethereal choir
that heralds the
elves, and the
insidious strains of
the ring theme. In the
opening track, “A
Storm is Coming”, a
deceptively sweet
introduction soon
turns to the frenetic
Ring theme, though
Shore has done his
part to remind the
listener of the
tension in music, he
wastes no time in
reminding us of the
heroism in the
following “Hope and
Memory”.
Short as the previous
tracks are, both
merely whet the
listener’s palate for
the following track,
which introduces a
theme that will
reappear throughout
score, what I take to
be the Theme of Gondor.
(Originally this piece
can be heard in the
Extended DVD version
of The Fellowship
of the Ring during
the council scene when
Boromir speaks.) The
theme is initialize
here in a dark moment,
but erupts into a
proud and fast-paces
orchestral march here
by the end of track.
Just knowing that this
is a theme is
thrilling because of
Shore’s noted uses of
themes in the past
films, one gets very
excited to hear a
resolved statement of
it here, knowing that
there is more to come.
“The White Tree”
becomes more of a
swashbuckling theme by
topping the statement
of the Gondor theme
heard in the previous
track, pushing the
grandness even more.
The next track is a
wondrous curiosity, a
more pensive
restatement of the
theme, a militaristic
moment, cued with
choir, drums and flute
. However, this is
abruptly silenced and
we hear the singing
voice of actor Billy
Boyd (Pippin), with a
wonderfully
incorporated song
here, which serves to
heighten the tense and
tragic elements of the
battle to come.
I will take a moment
here to speak of the
inclusion of songs in
the score. Shore has
really excelled at not
breaking the dramatic
moment of the score
with song, but rather
enhancing it. He
previously
demonstrated this with
Fellowship,
incorporating vocals
into the score, and
Return of the King
continues the
masterfulness of this.
Later, in the score’s
crowning moment, actor
Viggo Mortensen also
sings. Though while
this may bring
trepidation for some,
there is no cause for
fear—Shore’s
orchestration matches
the music to the
voice, and the result
is an amazing and
appropriate blend of
song and score which
serves the moment and
never detracts from
it. Indeed if such a
prominent feature of
singing actors in the
score were announced
previous to the
massive undertaking of
Lord of the Rings,
one might be tempted
to assume that it was
merely a concession of
ego. However, I have
been convinced (and
many other audience
members, too, I hope)
that the creative
efforts of all
involved (Shore
included) in this
trilogy
are—amazingly--not
about ego. There are
no introductory
titles, no billing of
any one actor above
another on the tops of
theater posters.
The themes progress
throughout the
scores—and eventually
return the cycle to
where it started two
years ago, the theme
of Hobbits. Such a
heartwarming inclusion
of the theme is
featured towards the
end of the score,
signaling the fact
that it is time to
return home for all of
us. But there is one
more closing, which
sums up our departure
from the magic of
Middle Earth.
Consistent to the form
of the previous score,
a beautiful
performance by Annie
Lennox is featured in
the closing song,
“Into the West”, a
song part folk ballad,
part lullaby.
There is so much
goodness in the score
that evokes such a
range of emotion, that
it is indeed tempting
to not explore
dramatic moments and
possibilities, even
when I have not seen
the film at the time
of writing this
review. I am virtually
wordless to describe
my wonder at how
skillfully and
emotionally the
journey was made. This
score must certainly
rank among the
strongest of the year,
and owning this CD (as
well as the two that
preceded it) would be
a true boon to any fan
of film music. The
journey is complete,
and with the final
chapter made, we now
have a musical trilogy
to accompany the film
trilogy, which will
hopefully be among the
most cherished of
memories to which we
can fondly return.
A closing addition:
Even as we leave these
shores, there are
rumors in the
east…perhaps soon we
shall have even more
to return to, as the
complete scores are
said to be in
production. To date,
we only have some
three hours of a movie
trilogy that nears 10
hours in total length,
and there is more to
be heard. So warm your
hearth with this score
and your thoughts of
what is yet to come.
Track Listing and Ratings
|
Track
|
Title |
Time |
Rating |
|
|
1 |
A Storm is
Coming |
2:52 |
**** |
|
|
2 |
Hope and
Memory |
1:45 |
**** |
|
|
3 |
Minas
Tirith -
Ben del
Maestro |
3:37 |
***** |
|
|
4 |
The
White
Tree
 |
3:25 |
***** |
|
|
5 |
The
Steward
of
Gondor
-
Billy
Boyd
|
3:53 |
***** |
|
|
6 |
Minas Morgul |
1:58 |
*** |
|
|
7 |
The Ride of the Rohirrin |
2:08 |
***** |
|
|
8 |
Twilight and Shadow - Renee Fleming
|
3:30 |
*** |
|
|
9 |
Cirith Ungol |
1:44 |
*** |
|
|
10 |
Anduril |
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 - Sir James Galway |
4:01 |
**** |
|
|
16 |
The End of All Things - Renee Fleming
|
5:12 |
**** |
|
|
17 |
The Return of the King - Sir James Galway,
Viggo Mortensen, Renee Fleming |
10:14 |
***** |
|
|
18 |
The Grey Havens - Sir James Galway |
5:59 |
***** |
|
|
19 |
Into the West - Annie Lennox |
5:47 |
**** |
|
|
|
Total
Running Time |
71:58 |
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