Modern Masterpiece: The Lord of the Rings
Modern Masterpiece:
The Lord of the Rings
You would be hard done to find anyone who hasn’t either seen, heard of, or geeked out on the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Based on the epic fantasy novels by J.R.R Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings was a masterclass in pretty much everything. The entire trilogy’s production was epic in scale, including the score - generally considered as one of the best in recent decades. It’s a generous nod to traditional orchestral scoring which includes themes and variations not heard before in a film project of this scale.
Written by Howard Shore, who you may have heard doing such classics as: Scanner, The Fly, Big, The Silence of the Lambs, Mrs. Doubtfire, Philadelphia, Seven, Ed Wood, Crash, Striptease, The Game, Dogma, Analyze This, High Fidelity, Panic Room, Gangs of New York, The Aviator, A History of Violence, The Departed and even Twilight: Eclipse. I’ll stop there but could go on…
Let us start small though, as even the concepts and world musical influences that shape the harmonic structure are layered and complex. Hinting at or featuring elements from conventional Celtic, Middle East and even African traditions. Shore had the tendency to seek out certain timbres or textures and if an instrument didn’t exist that could produce the desired result, he would create one.
The vocal stylings and characteristics of the various races were taken into consideration too. Shore’s choral arrangements are weaved into the lyrical creations of Tolkien, going to great lengths to ensure that the phonetic stylings of the fictional languages were congruent with the characters that sang them. For example, when humans speak elvish, they do so only in elevated speech - something which is reflected in in the writings of songs. Shore’s use of choral work excites both full text liturgy and variation and repetition to highlight the importance of poeticism in Tolkien's writings.
In fact, during the recording process every detail was taken into consideration up to the orchestral layout and microphone placements. Most notably, Shore positioned the orchestra in an non-traditional way, splitting the orchestra into sections of range, rather than family of instruments. This meant that each section (high - medium - low) harboured a different variation of instruments creating interesting textures and accompaniments. Shore also spent time focussing on how he could maximise the potential of space, done so by considering the interconnectivity of the melodic phrase variation and microphone placements to emphasise dynamics and texture. A real masterclass in audio world building and thematic variation.
It resulted in a gestating audio sphere in which melodic infusion and interconnected timbre could be weaved throughout the themes. Adding yet another level to the complexity of the structure (we haven’t even got to the actual music bit yet!), each race or faction from Middle Earth were subcategorised into themes represented by specific groups of instrumentation and harmonic theory. For example, the Hobbits typically had jaunty Celtic themes, the Elves and the evil of Mordor were portrayed with chromatic harmony (this was also linked to the theme of magic) and the brutal, physical, low percussive sounds represented the industrial tribalism of Isengard.
Evident in The Lord of the Rings is Shore’s embracing of all moments of scale. The smaller, intimate moments share just as much of a musical platform, with just as much attention to subtext details, as the larger moments. Never afraid to take a creative risk, Shore’s score benefits from his understanding and implementation of a composers duty to serve the film and it’s narrative. In layman terms, he smashed the typical paradigm of what is possible in a film score, both in scale and intricacy. It’s a mammoth work which features 50+ themes which are heard repeated and varied throughout, accumulating in over 11 hours of music.
The most obvious comparison that is made is its clear similarity to Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Sprawling orchestral swells, intricate melodies and leitmotivs swirl around the orchestra, taking turns to paint the thematic development of the film through the score. Instead of merely decorating the image, it pushes the audience to feel the narrative moment to moment, with each of the many (over 50!) leitmotivs buried in the many layers of the score stressing a more retro-active approach to understanding the narrative connections in the series. In Shore’s case, it isn’t the motive itself that acts as the emotional driver musically speaking, but rather the variation of rhythm, timbre and texture that underscore the mood and overall tempo of the film. Shore’s clear influence from Wagner gives the score a timeless feel, as though it was written 100 years ago and just recently unearthed, truly capturing the essence of late-romantic/early 20th Century stylings. With the films released just after the end of the last millennium, it’s a subtle nod to the death of traditional orchestral score as a primary method of scoring picture.
Shore’s use of leitmotif and strong Wagnerian influence organically dictates the relationships between the musical narrative and musical devices scattered throughout the expansive work. Said themes, instead of directly associating with specific devices, suggests meaning. Therefore they are allowed to resonate with the overall narrative of the story and moulded by the characters and their progress on their journey. Despite the complexity, there is a strong sense of cohesion and unity interweaved over the trilogy. Shore’s achievement is in this cohesion despite the epic scale and depth, paralleling Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen.
From the first moments of the film, image is preceded with music. The theme of Galadriel, who acts as a narrator for the history rings and the first voice we hear, describes the origins of the original nine rings. Eventually the theme switches to a more intense minor theme, of Mordor and Sauron as the story takes a turn. Foreshadowed leitmotifs are passed through different combinations of instruments. The mood and texture of the introductory prelude changes again when the narrator is switched to Bilbo Baggins, where the story of the hobbits begins.
In just the introduction alone Shore interweaves four main leitmotifs, which reflect the story arc and sets the overall mood and scale of the film and the world that it exist in. Even in the introductory piece, the weaving of themes from The Ring to the Fellowship and back are expertly melded into one fluid, consistent piece.
Although I believe that The Lord of the Rings is a masterclass in film making, it’s the Fellowship of the Ring that has always stood out to me as the biggest cinematic achievement of the trilogy as well as being a personal favourite. Unsurprisingly, Shore plays with the theme of the fellowship throughout the trilogy, but most notably in the first film. It’s also the most varied of the themes that appear.
The first real mention of the Fellowship’s themes can be heard just as Sam and Frodo leave the shire, merging with the ‘Concerning Hobbits’ theme (hear it between 01.00min -02.00min).
As the hobbits plod on, they find Aragorn (Strider) and the theme of the Fellowships begins to build again, creating a sense of urgency by introducing the timpani, mirroring Aragorn’s introduction who acts as the metaphorical beating heart of the Fellowship.
As the Fellowship are officially announced later on, there are three full orchestral moments where the theme can be heard in its total majesty. The first of which occurs at the initial announcement of Fellowship (see scene below); again when the Fellowship depart Rivendell and finally in the mines of Moria following their departure.
I find this scene to be one of the most effortless transition between themes. There’s a lovely moment during the initiation of the Fellowship where there is a brief call back to the theme of the Shire and the Hobbits’ home. It suggests that the Hobbit’s priorities have shifted and now understand that the life they had in the Shire must be left for a greater purpose. The Leitmotifs are blended with such effortlessness in this scene as each of the members pile on. From Gimli embarrassingly trying to smash the ring with his axe, which is then followed by an equally embarrassing lack of enthusiasm to step up and take responsibility to destroy the ring and finally an argument (this turns out to be a surprisingly relatable work meeting?).
About halfway through this bickering, the nobility of Frodo’s soft, naivety eventually propels the theme of the Fellowship forward. As each member moves to declare the weapons they with fight such an evil with, the leitmotif grows along with the size of the orchestra, enveloping the full string section and rising to its fullest power like the Fellowship itself.
There’s really only one point in this film where we get to hear the full orchestra playing a variation of this theme and it is in the Mines of Moria. Just before the fellowship are disbanded.
The theme of our protagonists is drowned out by the arrival of the orcs jarring 5/4 theme and from here on out the full theme is not heard again until the very end of the trilogy. Instead, we hear pieces and fragments of the theme. Small parts which tend to be drowned out by stronger more pressing themes. This mirrors the situation of the fellowship, weak and broken. Fractured.
Ultimately, the score grows and develops along with the characters and the story. This is just a brief look at one of the many themes and variations that appear throughout the trilogy, but it’s clear that the scale of detail and attention paid to even the smallest aspects of a score have been dutifully thought about. Shore has truly been able to create a soundtrack which brings to life the world of Middle Earth.