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: Amazing!
Hit: 5 Stars
What can I say that hasn't already been said about Howard Shore's magnificent score for the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy? A soundtrack can define the whole atmosphere of a film, and this fully orchestrated work certainly does that with sweep, splendor and wonder, alternately humanizing (hobbit-izing?) the characters, imbuing the landscape with magic and capturing the world-shaking impact of events of mythic proportions. And this was no easy task considering the iconoclastic status of the story and the superb quality of Peter Jackson's filmmaking. This is a truly a soundtrack for the ages--a fitting accompaniment to a film for the ages! Every aspect of life, from the extreme to the mundane, is captured in this music. Listening to it can make every remembered moment of the movie come alive again in your mind, from the most horrific battle to the smallest moment of humor or kindness. In "The Two Towers," all the familiar themes from the first sound track return, reinvented as need be to tie the films together while adapting to new developments in the action and the story. In this album, I particularly like the hardanger fiddle-infused theme for the Rohirrim, the Viking-like horse-riders of the steppes, and the ponderous, quirky music for Treebeard, the walking, talking tree. I would have enjoyed a bit more of these distinctive elements, which lend levity and diversity to a sometimes depressing and overwhelmingly intense body of work. Here, they make all-too-brief appearances, at least from a listener's point of view. But soundtracks are ultimately slaves to the script, and in conjunction with the film itself, the timing and phrasing of Shore's music is impeccable. Mysterious, menacing, folksy or heroic, the total effect is utterly convincing and utterly transporting. Peter Jackson chose well when he picked Shore as his score writer. Very, very well! Be sure to get the scores from the other two movies in the trilogy as well - "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "Return of the King." They seem to be available in no end of different packagings, including ones with bonus DVDs about the creation of the score. Also, make sure to get the extended edition DVDs of the movie itself, with hours and hours of fascinating commentaries and behind-the-scenes documentaries about the making of the films. Truly a bargain at any price! And for a more comprehensive taste of hardanger fiddle music from Scandinavia, try the work of Annbjorg Lien or many of the varied releases from the NorthSide label.
Free Music Review: Darker and more urgent than the first
Hit: 5 Stars
The soundtrack for The Two Towers is written with the same exceptional level of quality as Fellowship's in the sense that you genuinely feel like you are being transported to Middle-Earth. You know that this is it - musically, this is precisely what Middle-Earth sounds like. However, the means by which this is accomplished is different from that of Fellowship's because the source material is innately different. Gone are the bombastic brass fanfares of Khazad-Dum and the playfully innocent tunes of the Shire that so befittingly characterized the first chapter - this is a darker, more foreboding sequel and the score substantiates that by being much less thematic and much more incidental.This isn't to say that there are no familiar themes - on the contrary, the opening track "Foundations of Stone" uses the same melancholy 6-note string motif that Fellowship opened its prologue with. Track 2, The Taming of Smeagol, begins with with the familiar theme of the hobbits, although it quickly changes and descends into feelings of despair and abandon that so accurately defines the way we perceive Smeagol. Track 3, The Riders of Rohan, introduces us to the new, heavily recurrent theme of Men. The kingdom of Men is one that is characterized by ideas of nobility, courage, and honor, yet at the period of time in this film, Men are falling into desperation and a forlorn conception of lost glory. Howard Shore approaches this theme perfectly by combining despondent strings with the unique sound of a Norweigan fiddle that nobly, yet mournfully sings the story of how Men once were. Listeners will immediately recognize the triumphant Fellowship theme on track 5, The Uruk-Hai. However, it feels ever so slightly held back and reserved, perhaps to illustrate that the Fellowship is now split in two and hope is fading.
This is exactly why this score is so marvelous. It brings back everything familiar and comfortable to us from Fellowship but adds that powerful sense of despair and urgency which is exactly what is warranted by the events in this middle chapter. Howard Shore has once again composed a superlative score that not only tells the epic story of the events in The Two Towers, but encompasses all of what Middle-Earth is precisely about.
Free Music Review: A Wonderful Score for a Wonderful Film
Hit: 5 Stars
Howard Shore's score for "The Two Towers" is nothing short of a gleaming masterpiece. Every dollar you pay for is worth it! Here are the highlights of each track:FOUNDATION OF STONE:
Awesome choral music as Gandalf battles the Balrog.
THE TAMING OF SMEAGOL:
Hobbit theme, Gollum fighting the hobbits music.
THE RIDERS OF ROHAN:
Rohan theme as Theoden draws his sword after being healed. Hardinger fiddle accompanies and sounds great!
THE PASSAGE OF THE MARSHES:
Awesome eerie music for the Death Marshes!
THE URUK-HAI:
The Fellowship theme, the Isengard theme, the Mordor theme all in one!
THE KING OF THE GOLDEN HALL:
More Rohan music including Eowyn's theme!
THE BLACK GATE IS CLOSED:
Perilous music as Frodo, Sam, and Gollum come to the gate of Mordor.
EVENSTAR:
Beautiful music featuring Isabel Bayrakdarian. This will put you to sleep with its awesome beauty and sadness.
THE WHITE RIDER:
The awesome theme for Gandalf the White!
TREEBEARD:
Some weird xylophone stuff for the Ents.
THE LEAVE TAKING:
A melancholy version of the Rivendell theme as the Elves leave.
HELM'S DEEP:
Awesome battle music/emotional parting of Eowyn and Aragorn before the Warg battle.
THE FORBIDDEN POOL:
One of the slower, softer tracks.
BREATH OF LIFE:
Some distinct music for the return of Aragorn from the cliff incident. His theme is at the end in full form!
THE HORNBURG:
Beautiful Rohan theme, Lothlorien theme as the Battle of Helm's Deep begins.
FORTH EORLINGAS:
My favorite track with the Rohan theme, Fellowship theme, and beautiful music as the Rohirrim ride into battle topped of with Gandalf's theme!
ISENGARD UNLEASHED:
Chromatic scales as Isengard is flooded. Awesome!
SAMWISE THE BRAVE:
A rendition of the Lord of the Rings theme as Sam narrates at the end and the Battle for Helm's Deep is won.
GOLLUM'S SONG:
A distinct, beautiful song for Gollum topped off with fanfare (Eowyn, Rohan).
This is a WONDERFUL soundtrack! If you appreciate good orhcestra music you won't regret buying this soundtrack!
Free Music Review: "The Two Towers," Shore's Dynamic Ring Fest Part Two
Hit: 5 Stars
Much has already been said and written in praise of Howard Shore's brilliant score for "The Lord of the Rings." Most interesting have been the various and expected comparisons with Wagner's Ring Cycle. But while there are obvious similarities in scope, length, complexity and to a certain degree subject matter, Shore's masterpiece seems to move in another direction. Here one might be reminded that there is still some argument about the national inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien himself. Celtic, Nordic, Icelandic, Germanic? Indeed, the more pertinent sources for both Tolkien and Shore seem to echo Finnish origins, "The Lemminkainen" epic, and of course its wonderful musical rendition by the great Jean Sibelius. "The Two Towers," Shore's second act in his musical trilogy for the Tolkien epic suggests these influences much more than Wagner, especially in his treatment of Rohan and the Rohirrim, the horse lords, which becomes the dominating musical foundation of this chapter. Upon first exposure to this score one might be moved to comment that this is simply a reinterpretaion of themes introduced in "The Fellowship of the Ring," but such a view would fail to recognize several new musical themes and motifs, the themes for Rohan and Gollum/Smeagol especially. In particular, these two thematic elements are beautiful and fascinating, the latter so tragic, the former so poignant and ultimately heroic. There is also a new treatment of an elvish theme that appears in the "Helm's Deep" music which is both mysterious and majestic. Shore's choral arrangements remain stunning and the vocal version "Gollum's Song" is absolutely pathetic, as it is meant to be. And here there is yet another element that separates Shore and Tolkien from Wagner, the latter is tragic, the former, particularly with "The Two Towers," may be dark but is, in the final analysis, hopeful and triumphant as Shore announces emphatically in the orchestral coda that follows "Gollum's Song." The soundtrack is nicely packaged and produced by Warner Bros., but one wonders why this album and its predessor were not produced as two disc sets to give worthy treatment to these monumental scores?Free Music Review: More of the Same...Never Sounded So Good!
Hit: 5 Stars
In as grand a scale as can exist, this is Shore's second movement to the most epic cinematic symphony of all time. I think I did a solid Fellowship review, so my commentary on "The Two Towers" = my first review + the following:Shore now wildly intertwines some of the beloved familiar themes with new ones. The instantly classic violin signature for Rohan erupts triumphantly from a well prepared three minute bed of a lush string lead-in.
The Ents, always a favorite part of mine, are given musical life in quite the spine-tingling fashion. Sparse percussion and atonal bassoons make you feel like you yourself are lost and wandering in an atmosphere that is so silent but eerily ready to bubble over with an ancient life.
And here's the gem:
Just as with the tasteful Enya tune from the first installment, someone hit a grand-slam with the idea for "Gollum's Song." Penned by Shore with Fran Walsh (and perfectly sung by the appropriately off-center voice of Emiliana Torrini), this also gives monstrous credit to Shore as a songwriter as well! "Gollum's Song" is EVERYTHING that a good song should be, regardless of genre/style. Some of the freshest chord changes I've heard in quite some time are topped off with a frighteningly haunting melody, touching lyrics, careful orchestration, and excellently alienating emotional aesthetics. And along with all that - it's peculiarly catchy! One may feel him or her self really feeling for Gollum with this gutwrenching piece of music, without any real visual accompaniment. The movie crew made you feel for a computer-generated character, and now the sound crew has you feeling those same things all over again - but this time, blind. A++++ on this one.
The careful detail of language, period instrumentation, awe-inspiring chord progressions, and musical story-telling remains as solid and passionate as ever, and it leaves you just begging the question of how will Howard bring it all home with the climactic final disc (if you don't have it already!). In case you feel that the middle installment is less significant than its surrounding partners, be advised: that would be a mistake.