SCORE: Lord of the Rings (1978) - Leonard Rosenman - COMPLETE SCORE ANALYSIS

[Faleel 5,345]

THEMES/MOTIF'S:

Main Theme/Theme of the Hobbits

An upbeat march for the Hobbits, first appears in the Main Title at 0:11

The One Ring Theme

An 11 note ascending theme that first appears at 0:21 in the Main Title and occurs whenever someone attempts to take or put on the Ring

Mordor/Ringwraith Theme

A two note melody with a 5 or 6 note rhythm, first appears in the Main Title at 0:38 (Rhythm)

Isengard/Orc Theme

A sort of grueling march, first appears in the Main Title at 1:14.

Heroes Vs. Orcs Theme

A 5 note theme, first appears in Battle in the Mines at 1:01.

Gandalf/Lothlorien Theme

A theme that seems to represent Gandalf, but also Lothlorien, first appears in Mines of Moria at 1:35.

Gollum's Theme

A playful melody that first appears at 3:26 of the Main Title.

Horn Call Motif

Throughout the film there are numerous Horns blown, and they all use the same two notes, this only appears in the score as presented on CD twice (The Main Title at 1:15, and Helms Deep) .

Unknown Motif

A 6 note arpeggio-ish motif, usually on glockenspiel like percussion first heard at 3:12 of the Main Title.

 

Unreleased Music

 

Gandalf rides to Isengard (0:34)

 

Bree/The Prancing Pony (source music) (1:41)

 

The Man in the Moon (song)  (1:08)

 

Nazgul attacks Merry (in the middle of the song so its part of the length listed above)

 

Frodo Stabbed (1:53)

 

Legolas's arrival (0:42)

 

Frodo Awaking in Rivendell (0:29)

 

Gandalf telling Frodo of Saruman's Treachery (0:30)

 

Bilbo's Poem (Rivendell source cue) (0:31)

 

Bilbo tries to take the Ring (0:15)

 

Frodo volunteers to go to Mordor (0:37)

 

Lothlorien arrival
-
    Mithrandir (song, film version) (2:06)

 

Leaving Lothlorien (2:13)

 

Boromir comes to talk to Frodo (0:09)

 

Boromir tries to take the Ring (0:15)

 

Saruman's speech (drums source)
  -
Riding to Edoras (partially only used in foreign language track) (1:11)

 

Removal of Wormtongue (1:03)

 

Smeagol and Gollum argue (0:13)

 

Helm's Deep film insert/take/mix (section at 3:29 is is slightly different in the film with more snare)

 

The Voyage to Mordor/The Dawn Battle/Theoden's Victory/Theme from the Lord of the Rings (End Titles) film version sequence (10:04)

 

Also all the Nazgul choral sections seem to be less intelligible as english, and just sound like moaning, alt takes, different mastering, or were layers mixed out?

 

So almost 20-30 minutes of missing material, that we know of.

[Ren 75]

Yay for Rosenman

[Faleel 5,345]

Yay for Rosenman!

Fixed!

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

Musically, I think it stands head and shoulders above Shore's scores (and most film scores in general). Rosenman's score may have not nearly the Tolkien-ness that Shore's does, partly because his movie didn't, partly because he always wrote in his own Rosenman style. But it's still fantastic music.

[KK 3,307]

The score gets a 2 star rating from me. The score is highly inconsistent and that's probably its greatest flaw. And then there's then the ridiculously silly main theme that's overbearingly frivolous in nature. And hearing the choir go "Mooooorrrdddoooorrr" for the Ringwraiths always cracks me up. It's incredibly difficult to take this score seriously.

[Faleel 5,345]

The score gets a 2 star rating from me. The score is highly inconsistent and that's probably its greatest flaw. And then there's then the ridiculously silly main theme that's overbearingly frivolous in nature. And hearing the choir go "Mooooorrrdddoooorrr" for the Ringwraiths always cracks me up. It's incredibly difficult to take this score seriously.

You should have kept the positive portion of your post.

What tracks were highlights for you?

[Incanus 5,714]

Musically, I think it stands head and shoulders above Shore's scores (and most film scores in general). Rosenman's score may have not nearly the Tolkien-ness that Shore's does, partly because his movie didn't, partly because he always wrote in his own Rosenman style. But it's still fantastic music.

I can't say with such confidence that Rosenman's score is musically above Shore's since both composers utilize a highly personal voice to channel the story of their respective films. Rosenman's happens to be for good or for worse highly tied to his avant garde sensibilities and he does create a quite compelling musical world for the Bakshi film, oftentimes a challenging one for such a cartoon environment. Obviously his thinking was not half as deep as Shore's on the architectural and subtextual level but I would not expect it to be or need it to be like that. There are a number of musical ideas running through the work but alas Rosenman's thematic writing is most of the time just not very strong. He sure wasn't Williams, Goldsmith or Horner when it comes to smithing tunes.

[crocodile 8,000]

I like this score.

Karol

[Faleel 5,345]

Rant replaced with thematic analysis.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Its my favorite of the few Rosenman scores I know. Or the least awful.

[Incanus 5,714]

Its my favorite of the few Rosenman scores I know. Or the least awful.

Ditto.

And this score actually has some very good sections. I have a certain childhood nostalgia for this score since it is the first the Lord of the Rings music I ever heard. I remember borrowing it from the library on LP.

[gkgyver 1,645]

Mithrandir's song is really the only thing worth saving for posterity.

[Incanus 5,714]

Mithrandir's song is really the only thing worth saving for posterity.

Well it has that Elgarian hymn feel to it doesnt it. Only thing lacking is that it isn't sung in Sindarin or Quenya but I think it was well beyond the intentions of Bakshi and Rosenman when they did the movie.

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

Its my favorite of the few Rosenman scores I know. Or the least awful.

Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they do.

[Jilal 569]

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I'm an Atheist!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Btw....

Why hasn't this thread been moved to the Tolkien subforum?

[Faleel 5,345]

For the same reason Inky's AUJ Analysis hasn't.

[gkgyver 1,645]

Because it's a review, and not eternal drivel.

Oh, wait ...

[Faleel 5,345]

Added unreleased music section with times