The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
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Free Music Notes for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Free Music Review: Dare I say the finest portion of this century's finest classical work?
Hit: 5 Stars
This orchestral score accompanies Peter Jackson's second serving of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic Lord of The Rings trilogy, The Two Towers. To many, including me, The Two Towers was the most interesting book and the most enthralling film, and the music has something to do with how tense and action packed the movie was. This is where hell breaks loose, and the music indicates as much. Most of the songs sway between quiet, mysterious movements and loud, dark, sweeping, full orchestra explosions at the drop of a feather. This keeps the score tense, progressive, and effective.
On one hand, the listener will hear many versions of the main Lord of The Rings themes that they have already been spoon fed hundreds of times before and probably won't need to hear again. The Taming Of Smeagol, The Riders of Rohan, and The King of The Golden Hall are in this way songs that you may want to skip simply because you can already hum along to them. But even these songs carry the same urgency and sense of destruction that most of the movie communicated. This keeps even the familiar melodies rather fresh. But for the most part, the listener will most likely find the most enjoyment in the songs they don't already know.
What Howard Shore has done here is craft an aural experience just as distinct as the visual and fictional experiences that it accompanies. There is a tint of Gaelic spirit in most every song, which adds to the overall coherency of the score. There are some songs meant to accompany the tense action scenes, such as The Uruk-Hai and Helm's Deep, that do their damage very well, and recreate the dismal aura of Sauron's lackeys.
When Tolkien created his books, he pushed his creative boundaries and created not just a series of books around his characters and events, but also a world. He wrote his own languages with their own phonetics, grammar, and vocabulary, and these languages are utilized here in several songs by accompanying soloists, as well as by booming female choruses. Isabel Bayrakdarian and Sheila Chandra sing exceptionally on Evenstar and Breath of Life respectively. But the real winner is, get ready, Liz Fraser appearing on Isengard Unleashed. Fraser has honed vocal emoting for decades using a language of angelic babel on her own, making her the most appropriate vocalist for this score. Her appearance, no matter how short, is deeply appreciated, and a bittersweet reminder that one of the worlds greatest singers still has her talent completely in tact after years of inactivity. There is some English singing on the closing Gollum's Song by Emiliana Torrini, which captures the insanity of Gollum very well.
The most memorable themes that the soundtrack has to offer are The Passage of the Marshes, The Black Gate Is Closed, Evenstar, Treebeard, The Leave Taking, Breath of Life, and Isengard Unleashed. But this is a soundtrack worth picking up for it's entirety. If you enjoyed any of The Lord Of The Rings movies, or have any appreciation for orchestral music whatsoever, you will really get a lot from this soundtrack, and really all of the Lord Of The Rings soundtracks. Don't lie to yourself. Just because The Lord of The Rings has an army of ridiculous fanatics to back it up does not mean it is not quality literature. This soundtrack does great justice to the second Lord of The Rings film, which does great justice to the original book.
Free Music Review: Shore Strikes Gold Again
Hit: 5 Stars
Following his Oscar winning score for the first installment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Fellowship of the Ring, Howard Shore returns with the even more epic and as equally satisfying score for the sequel, The Two Towers. Shore kind of came out of nowhere and made a very remarkable effort that injected that much more life into an incredible film. As the film goes, The Two Towers is grander, darker, and more challenging and the score lives up to that and more.The central themes from the previous effort re-appear, but a lot less prominent and are utilized in new ways. Each race is once again presented in their own unique themes as last time, Dwarzes with the opening "Foundations of Stone", elves with "The Leave Taking", hobbits with "Samwise the Brave", and the Fellowship's theme is present once again in "Forth Eorlingas". Of course the menacing themes of the orcs and evil are spectacularly present once again in "The Uruk-hai" and "Isengard Unleashed", the later living up to chaotic nature the title hints at.
The main difference between the previous installment and this one is the very present darker tone. Even the recognizable held-over themes generally end up evolving into a darker, unstable clone of themselves. This is of course due to the hopeless situation the broken up Fellowship find them in. The hobbits are still themselves, but there is a swirling uncertainty around them in the creature Gollum, which Shore hits on the mark with "Taming of Smeagol," which starts with the pastoral hobbit theme, but quickly turns into a swirling, forlorn tune. The elven themes are even more saddening as their existence is all but ending in Middle Earth.
The main new theme present is that of Rohan. First introduced in the aptly titled "The Riders of Rohan," it's Nordic in nature, reflecting the people it represents, and is noticable because of it's unique use of fiddles and dense brass sections layered on top of string sections that support it. The theme pops up pretty much anytime the Rohan are present in the film, but makes itself fresh by changing it's mood depending on the situation; proud and sweeping on "Riders", forlorn and pitiful on "The King of the Golden Hall", aggressive and battle ready on "Helm's Deep", and charging on "Forth Eorlingas."
Without having yet seen the film, but knowing the novels almost off the top of my head I can already tell this score works wonders within the film as I can already visualize the action based off the epic, moving music. I think what the best movie scores do is to remind you of the great scenes they become a part of and this, like the Fellowship of the Ring score, appears to be well on it's way to doing that. On the other hand it's also strong enough to be a stand alone piece and doesn't solely rely on visuals to give it life. Howard Shore appears to be on his way to another possible Oscar win, and he'll deserve all the credit he gets. There's a fine line between making the films cohesive and just re-hasing the previous work and he's made the conversion expertly. The new themes feel comfortable with the old, which is something truly special when it works as John Williams did in the original Star Wars trilogy. I can't see why any fans of the films or especially film scores or the previous Shore "Rings" effort would not fall head over heals for this release.
Free Music Review: Perhaps you thought Middle Earth couldn't sound any darker..
Hit: 5 Stars
Howard Shore's Fellowship of the Ring score was a revelation. Who knew that the composer of The Game and The Cell had such a mastery of the leitmotif approach to scoring? FOTR of the ring left us with fully fleshed out themes (the Ring theme, the Fellowship theme, the Hobbit theme, the Riders March, the Isengard march, the Lorien theme) and haunting motifs (Arwen's motif, Aniron, Gandalf's lament, the 'Moth' theme, the betrayal theme, Gollum's theme). The Two Towers offers both revised presentations of the old and a stunning collection of new material.Of the old, the Ring theme opens the album in a bold statement, followed by Goldenthal-like strings that take us back into the percussion and male choir of the Moria episode of FOTR. In "The Forbidden Pool", the Ring theme is most deftly developed, intertwined with Gollum's motif for the moment in the film that corresponds to the Henneth Annun segment of the novel. Also of note is the renewed Fellowship theme, which opens "The Uruk Hai" in grand style and proclaims the peak of the Riddermark charge in "Forth Eorlingas". The Isengard March (Shore's answer to Williams' Empire March) is twisted and turned into a charge for Gandalf in "The White Rider" (hear the opening!) and in "Isengard Unleashed", the brass is amazingly low. There are many other reprises of the old material, my favourite being the reappearance of, of all things, the 'Moth' motif in "Isengard Unleashed".
Of the new, there is the theme of the Riddermark, stated frequently in a number of tracks ("The King of the Golden Hall", "Riders of Rohan", "Hornburg"), and memorably played for the Hardinger by Dermot Crehan. A lovely theme for woodwinds appears in the second half of "The White Rider", reappearing in "The Hornburg". And then there are the action motifs: a minute into "Forth Eorlingas" will have you out of your seat! Not to mention the action motifs unveiled in "Helms Deep", which are heavy on percussion.
It's a triumph for Shore and his collaborators. Darker in overall feel and denser in orchestration that its predecessor, if either were conceivably possible. Kudos to the role call of vocalists: Isabel Baykradian (on "Evenstar", my favourite track), Sheila Chandra ("Breath of Life"), Elizabeth Fraser (thankyou Ms Fraser for the opening of "Isengard Unleashed", it's good to have you back for another score), Hilary Summers ("Farewell to Lorien"), Ben Del Maestro ("Forth Eorlingas" and "Isengard Unleashed") and of course... Emilliana Torrini. Collectively they give Enya a run for her money (and collectively probably cost less as well).
"Gollum's Song" song is rich and duplicitous, as much a song for Gollum as for men in general and all who can be corrupted by the Ring. It's a perfect answer thematically to Enya's "May it be", which praised Frodo's incorruptability. I suspect, after "The Two Towers", that incorruptibility will be brought into question.
And here's to Howard Shore's incorruptibility. May it be The Return of the King completes the most powerful series of film scores since, well, you know what trilogy I was going to say.
Free Music Review: Beauties which burn like cold iron
Hit: 5 Stars
In his review of the original publication of "The Two Towers", the great C.S. Lewis wrote: "Here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold iron; here is a book that will break your heart."
Now Tolkien was a friend of his - so Lewis's objectivity is open to question. [And truth be told: for me, the books have never fully lived up to their reputation. Which meant that part of what made living through the release of the films so exciting was seeing how spectacularly this Tolkien geek (fat and bearded - like a good Tolkien geek should be) had managed to articulate the nobility and the beauty that the other Tolkien geeks had always seen in the books.] But to whatever extent those words are true of the novel, they are the best possible description of the music that Howard Shore wrote for its film adaptation.
In fact, I will claim that the scores are the single most important factor in the films being as great as they are. Consider the shot that introduces Shadowfax - a minor event in the narrative. [If you saw the movie, I am certain you have not forgotten it.] On paper, it would have verged on cheesy.
117. EXT - DAY
A majestic white horse gallops up to Gandalf.
LEGOLAS
That is one of the Mearas. Unless my
eyes are cheated by some spell.
As filmed by Jackson, with a subtle use of slow motion and an anamorphic lens, it is a striking visual - conveying more artfully than the expository dialogue that this is no run-of-the-mill inn pony. Still, if you view the shot without sound, it is not much more than picturesque. It is left to Shore to do the impossible - to create a sound as epic yet exquisite as Tolkien's description of this legendary animal: "And there was one among them that may have been foaled in the morning of the world."
And this is just the horse, folks. Can you imagine having to create sounds worthy of evoking such immortal events as the fall of Gandalf from the Bridge of Barad'dur? The lonely sadness of the Shieldmaiden of Rohan? The hopeless stand of Theodin King at Helm's Deep? Not merely to find emotions that great within yourself, mind you - but to articulate them in practice through the workday medium of 100 union musicians and a 48-track recording studio? And to *actually accomplish it*?
If I ever meet Mr. Shore, I will be hard pressed not to fall to my knees and chant "We're not worthy!" This seems to me the surest proof that one has achieved the summit of one's art - to elicit not mere enjoyment, but gratitude.
Free Music Review: Shore is the best thing to happen to film since Williams
Hit: 5 Stars
Every once in a while there is a soundtrack that has nothing but great inspired music in every track. This is one of those scores. Howard Shore has managed to take his incredible Fellowship soundtrack and build upon it to make this wonderful score. Several of the first film's themes re-appear along side some moving new themes. Also in this score, we see Shore experiment with some interesting instrumentations, with great success. In the treebeard track we hear some large wooden percussion and slow, lumbering beats which will re-create the first time you saw Treebeard. You hear the age, the wisdom, and the anger that is part of the Ents. The Rohan theme works even better. For the main theme, which is presented in the third and sixth tracks, Shore chose a Norwegian fiddle, called a Hardinger. The music for Rohan is very heroic especially in the third track where it shows how much of a nation Rohan once was, but is no longer. But at the same time, it seems to have some despair to it as the fiddle starts to be weaker and less powerful in the sixth track. The hobbit theme is used many times throughout the score, most notably in the beginning as the film opens up on Frodo and Sam venturing through the rocky pass. The fellowship theme is presented very powerfully in the fifth track where the chase for the orcs is on. However, the most powerful moment in the film comes in the end of the battle of Helm's Deep where Gandalf arrives and the orcs are chased out. The theme used here which is a modification of the Rohan theme, is one of pure power and emotional release. The music for the end of the Ents' battle and the release of Frodo and Sam is the same as it was at the end of the first film, but it was too good not to put in both. The final song is the only track that I have a problem with. Don't get me wrong, the music is wonderful and the orchestrations are great, but Torrini's voice just doesn't do it for me. This track, known as Gollum's song would've been great with anybody else's voice, except her's. I can see why they used her, in a sense, because she has a very childish and innocent voice, showing how Gollum is actually very childish in thought and action, corrupted, but childish. But her voice is hard to listen to after hearing the rest of the score. However, you may like it, I don't know, what I DO know is that you will absolutely adore the rest of the score and will have a hard time putting it away. The music for the Lord of the Rings is absolutlely incredible and should not be missed by any fan of any type of music. Highest Recommendation.