Chen G.

I'd say there is, he didn't specify "his" album, but "LOTRonPrime's album.

I’m sure I saw Bear McCreary (or possibly someone else) announce that the full album would be out next month i.e. August. Am I going barmy or did anyone else see that too?

Oh, for sure! I think a lot of the character designs look stupid, actually: I've already cited the Dwalkyrie above, but also the Dwarf guards that have face masks with a piece of beard armour (WTF?) and I personally think the use of gold and of motifs reminiscent of Rome (the wreaths, for instance) for Gil-galad is a bit on the nose. Even Durin III who looks awesome, has an oddly crude-looking crown.

He looks like someone who just got sorted into Slytherin.

Yeah, I feel a correction is in order: the character glimpsed in the trailer is an acolyte of some sort, played by Bridie Sisson. The voice we hear towards the end of the trailer is not Sisson's but, presumably, that of Joseph Mawle.

The Eminem character looks stupid regardless of who it is or isnt

Yeah, I feel a correction is in order: the character glimpsed in the trailer is an acolyte of some sort, played by Bridie Sisson. The voice we hear towards the end of the trailer is not Sisson's but, presumably, that of Joseph Mawle.

Well, you know, Lean had a foul mouth. He told Kenneth Tynan: "Beware of the man who is softly whispering in your ear, as he may be pissing in your pocket."

David Warner dies at 80.
 

 

 
David Warner in Titanic

Which version?
 
Do I have to recommend Jacobs again? Is that enough of a scream?
 
If not, switch to Solit's recording of Strauss's Elektra:
 

Beyond the choral aspect and the ample use of folk instruments, Shore has a very specific sound orchestration-wise: he tends to have a lot of different instruments in the same register doubling lines. That alone sets him apart from most film and TV composers: his way of thinking of the orchestra in "ranges" rather than in "colours", resulting a rather heavy, "rough" sound; which is to say nothing of his fondness for aleatorics and clusters and other modernist techniques. I actually think that was the thing that most readily hit audiences when they first heard it: that it wasn't yet another late-Romantic-styled score. It has its own unique soundscape.
 
Ontop of that - and this is absolutely where you should watch Monoverantus' channel - structurally his use of the leitmotif technique is much more thorough than what you see in other scores: its not a quilt of repeated musical reminiscences, which is what I expect of Bear's score, but rather a network of connected leitmotives that change their associations, their musical character, their connections to other motives and indeed their function within the piece and, in changing, relate to each other. By The Return of the King, it becomes difficult to tell individual themes apart anymore: they blur into each other completely, which is certainly not something I expect of any TV score.

I wonder whether getting Shore's token-involvement with the opening logos was a rather cheap attempt at some attention/legitimacy.

Beyond the choral aspect and the ample use of folk instruments, Shore has a very specific sound orchestration-wise: he tends to have a lot of different instruments in the same register doubling lines. That alone sets him apart from most film and TV composers: his way of thinking of the orchestra in "ranges" rather than in "colours", resulting a rather heavy, "rough" sound; which is to say nothing of his fondness for aleatorics and clusters and other modernist techniques. I actually think that was the thing that most readily hit audiences when they first heard it: that it wasn't yet another late-Romantic-styled score. It has its own unique soundscape.
 
Ontop of that - and this is absolutely where you should watch Monoverantus' channel - structurally his use of the leitmotif technique is much more thorough than what you see in other scores: its not a quilt of repeated musical reminiscences, which is what I expect of Bear's score, but rather a network of connected leitmotives that change their associations, their musical character, their connections to other motives and indeed their function within the piece and, in changing, relate to each other. By The Return of the King, it becomes difficult to tell individual themes apart anymore: they blur into each other completely, which is certainly not something I expect of any TV score.

In a way, it's the Starship Troopers of its time.

Beyond the choral aspect and the ample use of folk instruments, Shore has a very specific sound orchestration-wise: he tends to have a lot of different instruments in the same register doubling lines. That alone sets him apart from most film and TV composers: his way of thinking of the orchestra in "ranges" rather than in "colours", resulting a rather heavy, "rough" sound; which is to say nothing of his fondness for aleatorics and clusters and other modernist techniques. I actually think that was the thing that most readily hit audiences when they first heard it: that it wasn't yet another late-Romantic-styled score. It has its own unique soundscape.
 
Ontop of that - and this is absolutely where you should watch Monoverantus' channel - structurally his use of the leitmotif technique is much more thorough than what you see in other scores: its not a quilt of repeated musical reminiscences, which is what I expect of Bear's score, but rather a network of connected leitmotives that change their associations, their musical character, their connections to other motives and indeed their function within the piece and, in changing, relate to each other. By The Return of the King, it becomes difficult to tell individual themes apart anymore: they blur into each other completely, which is certainly not something I expect of any TV score.

I guess I'm a bit more of a moderate here, because I really don't think we can tell before we've seen the show.

I don't know about you, but my mind immediately goes to Star Wars when I hear a seventh interval X D Edit: scratch that, was thinking about a sixth.
Give "Sauron" some credit for it's chomaticism though, it nudges at the contour of the Descending Thirds.

I think McCreary's tracks are great on their own, but have no idea how well they'll work in the show to come. But the reason a lot of people don't associate his tracks with the soundscape of LotR can be mostly chalked up to orchestration. Shore was very deliberate when he crafted the culturally distinct sounds of LotR, while McCreary's tracks are more conventional.
"Galadriel" begins with female voices, harp, strings and flutes (which does fit very well with Shore's "Elf sound"), but the melody itself is presented with horns, evoking a melancholic, graceful character with an inner strength. Problem is, Shore associates horns with the world of Men, and none of the instruments he specifically associates with Galadriel, such as the monochord or sarangi are used.
"Sauron"... sounds evil. It has some fittingly harsh instrumentations and dynamics (the 7/8 rhythm is a nice touch), but Shore has only used deep male voices for Dwarves. And once again, the rhaita that Shore would have used for Sauron is nowhere to be heard.
This might be a bit nit-picky. I wouldn't even say it's impossible for McCreary to start from his sound and gradually approach Shore's over the series. But it explains why a lot of people don't feel like these themes fit Shore's Middle-earth.

Beyond the choral aspect and the ample use of folk instruments, Shore has a very specific sound orchestration-wise: he tends to have a lot of different instruments in the same register doubling lines. That alone sets him apart from most film and TV composers: his way of thinking of the orchestra in "ranges" rather than in "colours", resulting a rather heavy, "rough" sound; which is to say nothing of his fondness for aleatorics and clusters and other modernist techniques. I actually think that was the thing that most readily hit audiences when they first heard it: that it wasn't yet another late-Romantic-styled score. It has its own unique soundscape.
 
Ontop of that - and this is absolutely where you should watch Monoverantus' channel - structurally his use of the leitmotif technique is much more thorough than what you see in other scores: its not a quilt of repeated musical reminiscences, which is what I expect of Bear's score, but rather a network of connected leitmotives that change their associations, their musical character, their connections to other motives and indeed their function within the piece and, in changing, relate to each other. By The Return of the King, it becomes difficult to tell individual themes apart anymore: they blur into each other completely, which is certainly not something I expect of any TV score.

Beyond the choral aspect and the ample use of folk instruments, Shore has a very specific sound orchestration-wise: he tends to have a lot of different instruments in the same register doubling lines. That alone sets him apart from most film and TV composers: his way of thinking of the orchestra in "ranges" rather than in "colours", resulting a rather heavy, "rough" sound; which is to say nothing of his fondness for aleatorics and clusters and other modernist techniques. I actually think that was the thing that most readily hit audiences when they first heard it: that it wasn't yet another late-Romantic-styled score. It has its own unique soundscape.
 
Ontop of that - and this is absolutely where you should watch Monoverantus' channel - structurally his use of the leitmotif technique is much more thorough than what you see in other scores: its not a quilt of repeated musical reminiscences, which is what I expect of Bear's score, but rather a network of connected leitmotives that change their associations, their musical character, their connections to other motives and indeed their function within the piece and, in changing, relate to each other. By The Return of the King, it becomes difficult to tell individual themes apart anymore: they blur into each other completely, which is certainly not something I expect of any TV score.

If you wanna be, check out my Youtube channel  

I think the point is is that the subject matter contains opportunities for a wide array of characters and emotions touched by Don Giovanni's ruthless desires, which results in a variety of musical possibilities. Mozart categorised it as a comic opera (i.e. a comedy as opposed to a tragedy). Also, don't forget that, whilst e.g. the love duet between Don Giovanni and Zerlina sounds "happy" on its surface, there is a sinister subtext to the whole thing, since it's merely Don Giovanni trying to trick Zerlina for his own gains. So Mozart's music is reflecting the "surface level" seduction, and leaves it to the audience to deduce the subtext. Whereas a more, let's say, "modern" composer would probably focus on bringing out the subtext more in the music, or would focus more on the psychologies of the persons involved, with occassional rumblings of the double basses/timpanis or whatever...
 
You've reminded me of one of my favourite pieces for piano, Liszt's Réminiscences de Don Juan. It starts with the graveyard scene, then the love duet (and variations on it), and ends with the Champagne aria. It's undeniably an "optimistic" piece, even though the aforementioned love duet takes up most of the running time!
 
 
(It's also a bloody nightmare to learn.....)

I never expected Shore to take on the whole show. I just doubt that would have been remotely within his current working capacity and the needs of the show.
 
But these snippets really sound like generic EPIC video game fantasy music.