What section of The Fellowship of the Ring is your favorite, musically?

[Jay 37,321]

I was thinking about this recently. The Fellowship of the Ring is a journey film, and a journey score, with each different location getting its own musical identity. Any one of us who plays the LOTR soundtracks often can hear any 5 seconds of a cue and quickly tell what part of the film it comes from, even if the exact cue can't be identified right away.

So, what is your favorite segment of the journey, musically? For the sake of this poll, we are ignoring the prologue and end credits, so if your favorite music is in those vote for your next favorite. Also, feel free to take into consideration all music Shore wrote for a section, whether it appeared on the Complete Recordings, the OST, the Rarity Archives, or somewhere else. And let's ignore whatever negative impact the cast member vocals have on your experience.

My own answer took me a while to get to. I love the entire score from beginning to end, and feel Shore nailed every part of the journey, the characters, the locations, the emotions. Something about the Hobbiton music relaxes me and always leaves me wanting more, but without the darker music after it it wouldn't mean much. I love the Nazgul music that chases them to Bree and to Rivendell, and then I love the choral "you're safe now"-ness of the Rivendell music, which quickly turns to "You can't stay here long, there's SERIOUS work to do". The journey to the Mines features one of the best versions of the Fellowship theme over a truly iconic shot in movie history, and then the mines of Moria music is unparalleled, I think the "Bridge of Khazad-dum" music is the most played music of the whole trilogy for me. Lothlorien music is probably my least favorite - not that any of it is bad, but it is perhaps the only part of the film that could be argued is overscored, and some of the underscore doesn't relate much to anything else. The (theatrical version of) the goodbye from Lorien scene is gorgeous, and the History theme played as they pass through the statues is a highlight of the score. The music for the Parth Galen battle always has been interesting to me... In a way, a lot of times I feel like things climaxed with the Khazad-Dum sequence, film-wise and music-wise, and everything after is an extended denouement. The Parth Galen sequence feels that way to me as well. Even though its the actual climax of the film and score, I don't think it carries half the power of the Kazad-dum sequence. Its still a well filmed battle, and its still good music (I absolutely love the pounding, driving piano behind it).... but lacks the "punch" of Khazad-dum. The finale cue, however, is tragic, heroic, somber, and hopeful... its one of the best film score cues of the decade.

SO I guess I have to go with the Mines of Moria as my favorite sequence, but man, what a fantastic score it is from beginning to end.

[Brónach 1,301]

Moria & Lothlorien.

[Jilal 569]

Mines of Moria

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Jay 37,321]

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The Breaking Of The Fellowship

[Jay 37,321]

I asked for your favorite section, not favorite cue

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yes, I did not see it listed, that's why I mentioned it.

I don't think in sections, I think in tracks.

[mstrox 6,647]

It's probably the most simplistic of the score(s), but give me the opening in Hobbiton any day. Shore's Shire themes are my favorite. (I'd like to include the "A Shortcut to Mushrooms" variation in this, even though it's from section 2).

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

The very beginning has some terrific moments as well in terms of atmosphere. Everything from "Saruman the White" to "Khazad Dum" however is basically fantastic. The end begins to delve into prototypical fantasy fluff which is slightly off putting.

Nothing in the series would go on to capture the feel of The Fellowship of the Ring, film or music wise. They may have gotten better, but there is something very unique in how The Fellowship of the Ring presents itself that vanishes by the next two films. I would liken it to that feeling you get when it's overcast and foggy outside. The world seems very small, the eery fog has an almost cozy feel and yet as you move about in it, you realize there's much much more to this world. I think the mixing of the Shire material form the beginning with the darker stuff lends to this feel.

The fog seems gone by the Two Towers, and it's much clearer. You get a full view of your immediate world.

[Jay 37,321]

Yes, I did not see it listed, that's why I mentioned it.

I don't think in sections, I think in tracks.

So sorry for asking you to think outside the box

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Judging by the replies you are getting in this thread it is ME who is thinking outside the box.

[Jay 37,321]

Nothing in the series would go on to capture the feel of The Fellowship of the Ring, film or music wise. They may have gotten better, but there is something very unique in how The Fellowship of the Ring presents itself that vanishes by the next two films.

I agree with you. While I enjoy all 3 films and all 3 scores, there is something about FOTR that will always be placed higher than me than the other two, both film and score. FOTR is a completely tight film, getting you from point A to point B without wasting any time, and the score perfectly captures every moment along the way, and flows beautifully as its own listening experience.

With TTT that flow and sense of congruence starts to fade. As the footage came in, the Frodo/Sam/Gollum/Faramir material was edited separetely from the 3 Hunters/Gandalf/Rohan/Helm's Deep footage, and I think that shows all the way to the final product (film and score). It's almost like 2 separate films and 2 separate scores that finally come together at the very end. As a result, the listening experience isn't as fluid, its more like "here's this type of music for a while" then "here's this type of music for a while". But unlike FOTR, where each section naturally leads to the next, with TTT I feel they are more disconnected.

By ROTK the process seems to be completely different to me. I feel like Jackson was editing the film nonstop, and Shore had to just score finished scenes as they came in, completely out of order and not knowing how things would connect. We have much more of a series of short cues that score a specific scene, with no material at all to bridge to the next scene, with rare exceptions. It has the least flow of all the films, and the score has the worst listening experience as result.

While with FOTR I wouldn't give up a single second of any cue, and with TTT I still love it all the way through but wouldn't mind if certain cues were gone (namely the Arwen, Elrond, and Galadriel music), with ROTK I almost want to create my own shorter version of the score. Somehow, i just can't connect to ROTK the same way I can to FOTR and TTT, and I think the up-to-the-very-last-minute tinkering that happened to the film plays a role in that. It's still filled with terrific music, of course, it just feels more like a collection of good to great cues, rather than a truly great SCORE like FOTR is.

[Quintus 5,399]

Parth Galen and Finale, followed by options 2&3 combined.

Fellowship today remains the defining moment of the trilogy both filmically and musically, but the other two are still triumphant followups. My favourite scene of the trilogy is actually in RotK.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Bot FOTR has The Breaking Of The Fellowship, the single best cure from the noughties!

[Jay 37,321]

ROTK kicks FOTR ass in every way imaginable. It's the Gondor's theme extravaganza! The only disc I think doesn't flow well is the second disc from the CR. That's it. The first, third and fourth discs are awesome beyond measure!

I still don't understand why ROTK was split over 4 discs when it would have easily fit on 3

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Incanus 5,713]

This is such a difficult choice. I won't go on a long discussion on the individual merits of these different passages but I have to say that every time I try to choose, some track from another section pops into my head and I want to choose that section of the score instead. The variety and different dynamics of the score are enormous. I would have chosen Prologue if that would have been an option but now I choose Rivendell. Shore combines there antiquity and serenity with lyricism and melancholy beauty. Throughout the score Shore captures the setting and mood so well in his scores and in Rivendell the relief of brief respite is joined by the shadows darkening outside this haven. Dark thematic ideas lurk in the corners of the serene, learned Elven music, regret, horrors and the Ring all weaving in and out of the material. Even the dusky down cast version of Weakness and Redemption motif in Rivendell's theme at Aragorn's moments of inner conflict is a thing of beauty, sweetened by Arwen's optimism and faith in him.

Also the first appearance of Gondor (in Decline) is something I consider one of the finest moments in the score. Shore really captured the long faded glory of the South Kingdom in his theme, which is noble, ancient sounding, simple and direct and planted a seed for its prominence in RotK. The Council of Elrond sequence in its entirety is well scored, accentuating the moods but also constantly juggling thematic ideas to express the plot elements and subtext. And finally there is the first triumphant rendition of the full Fellowship theme that ends the sequence with a resoundingly satisfying dramatic note.

In the end I would choose everything if I could.

The very beginning has some terrific moments as well in terms of atmosphere. Everything from "Saruman the White" to "Khazad Dum" however is basically fantastic. The end begins to delve into prototypical fantasy fluff which is slightly off putting.

Nothing in the series would go on to capture the feel of The Fellowship of the Ring, film or music wise. They may have gotten better, but there is something very unique in how The Fellowship of the Ring presents itself that vanishes by the next two films. I would liken it to that feeling you get when it's overcast and foggy outside. The world seems very small, the eery fog has an almost cozy feel and yet as you move about in it, you realize there's much much more to this world. I think the mixing of the Shire material form the beginning with the darker stuff lends to this feel.

The fog seems gone by the Two Towers, and it's much clearer. You get a full view of your immediate world.

Very well put and mirrors what Shore was trying to do with the music scale-wise. The scope of the story widens and the music widens accordingly.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Bot FOTR has The Breaking Of The Fellowship, the single best cure from the noughties!

ROTK has The Grace Of Undomiel, The Lighting Of The Beacons, The Battle Of The Pelennor Fields, Shieldmaiden Of Rohan, Journey To The Grey Havens...

I still don't understand why ROTK was split over 4 discs when it would have easily fit on 3

Easily is not the word I'd use, but yeah, they could have done that.

Exactly, none of them as as good!

[Quintus 5,399]

I'd say the single best cue of the trilogy is, is... a tie between The Breaking of the Fellowship and The Lighting of the Beacons.

I might have gone for the arrival and charge of the Rohirrim if the film version wasn't an edit. It irks me that Shore always skips the best part outside of the movie.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

My favourite scene of the trilogy is actually in RotK.

I imagine you cheering quite loudly during the "I'm not a man!" scene.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Incanus 5,713]

I might have gone for the arrival and charge of the Rohirrim if the film version was wasn't an edit. It irks me that Shore always skips the best part outside of the movie.

Incanus is baffled by that statement as well and supports BloodBoal's bafflement.

What are you saying? That the OST version is bad or that the film version is bad or that the CR version is bad?

[Quintus 5,399]

Shore always omits the Nature theme, which breaks the effect of the cue in general, for me. He clearly doesn't see the Nature theme as being a part of it.

I love it on the CR, obviously.

@Blum

I'm not sure I know that line.

[Jay 37,321]

I still don't understand why ROTK was split over 4 discs when it would have easily fit on 3

Easily is not the word I'd use, but yeah, they could have done that.

Definitely easy - in fact it would have made more musical sense, as you'd have disc 1 be the lead-up to the big battle, disc 2 be everything in around the battle itself, and disc 3 be everything after the battle. Like so:

Disc one

1. "Roots and Beginnings" 6:31

2. "Journey to the Crossroads" 2:17

3. "The Road to Isengard" 2:18

4. "The Foot of Orthanc" 4:45

5. "Return to Edoras" 1:51

6. "The Chalice Passed" 1:51

7. "The Green Dragon" 0:35

8. "Gollum's Villainy" 2:10

9. "Éowyn's Dream" 1:24

10. "The Palantír" 3:10

11. "Flight from Edoras" 2:19

12. "The Grace of Undómiel" 6:21

13. "The Eyes of the White Tower" 4:33

14. "A Coronal of Silver and Gold" 8:27

15. "The Lighting of the Beacons" 9:03

16. "Osgiliath Invaded" 8:48

17. "The Stairs of Cirith Ungol" 2:41

18. "Allegiance to Denethor" 3:20

19. "The Sacrifice of Faramir" 4:09

20. "The Parting of Sam and Frodo" 4:04

Total length: 76:34

Disc two

1. "Marshalling at Dunharrow" 4:57

2. "Andúril - Flame of the West" 3:28

3. "The Passing of the Grey Company" 4:12

4. "Dwimorberg - The Haunted Mountain" 2:26

5. "Master Meriadoc, Swordthain" 1:40

6. "The Paths of the Dead" 6:22

7. "The Siege of Gondor" 9:01

8. "Shelob's Lair" 8:53

9. "Merry's Simple Courage" 2:09

10. "Grond - The Hammer of the Underworld" 1:33

11. "Shelob the Great" 5:13

12. "The Tomb of the Stewards" 3:58

13. "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields" 4:10

14. "The Pyre of Denethor" 2:59

15. "The Mûmakil" 0:57

16. "Dernhelm in Battle" 2:06

17. "A Far Green Country" 1:28

18. "Shieldmaiden of Rohan" 5:07

19. "The Passing of Théoden" 2:16

Total length: 72:55

Disc three

1. "The Houses of Healing" 2:58

2. "The Tower of Cirith Ungol" 4:41

3. "The Last Debate" (feat. Sissel) 4:21

4. "The Land of Shadow" 6:29

5. "The Mouth of Sauron" 8:16

6. "For Frodo" 3:17

7. "Mount Doom" 4:09

8. "The Crack of Doom" 4:02

9. "The Eagles" 2:24

10. "The Fellowship Reunited" 12:18

11. "The Journey to the Grey Havens" 7:35

12. "Elanor" 1:28

13. "Days of the Ring" 11:10

14. "Bilbo's Song" 2:58

Total length: 76:01

Each disc now begins and ends at a logical place, rather than the awkware places the 4disc version starts and ends. And its nicely split into 3 "acts"

[Incanus 5,713]

Shore always omits the Nature theme, which breaks the effect of the cue in general, for me. He clearly doesn't see the Nature theme as being a part of it.

I love it on the CR, obviously.

@Blum

I'm not sure I know that line.

Where does he omit the Nature's Reclamation? On the OST? Indeed he does. Which was one of the things that annoyed the hell out of me with that OST CD. That particular sequence was so poorly edited on the album that it basically tip-toed aroud the whole cue. I would not read this as anything but an album sequencing and editing decision though, not Shore thinking Nature's Reclamation as a lesser theme or that it did not belong there.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Quintus 5,399]

What the fuck is it you don't understand you dumb fuck?!

Edit: saw you edit. Never mind.

Ah, I remember the Eowyn line now.

@Incanus

If memory serves he omitted it from the symphony version as well. Shore doesn't think it fits, I reckon.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Jay 37,321]

I still don't understand why ROTK was split over 4 discs when it would have easily fit on 3

Easily is not the word I'd use, but yeah, they could have done that.

Definitely easy - in fact it would have made more musical sense, as you'd have disc 1 be the lead-up to the big battle, disc 2 be everything in around the battle itself, and disc 3 be everything after the battle. Like so:

It's not my job, nor yours, to do that. Leave it to the album producers, please!

Anyway, I remember trying to do that, to see if this could be done, and I didn't managed to end up with 3 discs. Weird... Either I'm bad with maths (that's a possibility, but highly unlikely), or you messed up with track times. Knowing you as much as I do, I think it's the second option.

My math is correct

[Quintus 5,399]

You're welcome!

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Incanus 5,713]

@Incanus

If memory serves he omitted it from the symphony version as well. Shore doesn't think it fits, I reckon.

Well Shore and John Mauceri followed the OST edits of the material quite closely in the Symphony so that is I reckon the reason for all the omissions and edits in it. One particular omission I am completely baffled by is the Foundations of Stone where in the Symphony they have the opening History of the Ring theme but then they skip the whole Moria choir for Gandalf/Balrog fall from the beginning of TTT, redundant as it seems to them, because we just had Khazad-dûm a while ago in the programme. I would have loved to hear that choir in there.

[Jay 37,321]

My math is correct

Yeah, but your track times aren't!

Oh?

[Quintus 5,399]

It's BloodBoal.

[Wojo 2,453]

I like the music for the Barrows and Tom Bombadil.

Oh wait.

Moria.

[crocodile 7,988]

Lothlorien. Definitely.

Karol

[Incanus 5,713]

I like the music for the Barrows and Tom Bombadil.

Oh wait.

Moria.

You wise cracking joker you! Almost had to write a didactic essay on the subject but then I noticed rest of the post.

[Quintus 5,399]

You may as well save it as a .txt, though - never know when it might come in handy.

[Incanus 5,713]

Lothlorien. Definitely.

Karol

That is one of my favourite parts of the score. The ethereal world Shore creates there is beautifully unique. Funnily enough initially it was my least favourite and I did not like the Eastern qualities in association with the Elves but at some point I fell in love with the mysticism and singular feel of the Lothlorien material.

[crocodile 7,988]

I see you voted for the close cousin.

Karol

[Brónach 1,301]

And the theme is gorgeous.

I like the zzzdiiinnngg intrumennt in the CR.

[crocodile 7,988]

Lothlorien's theme is probably one of my favoruites from the trilogy. Extremely malleable too.

Karol

[Brónach 1,301]

The battle version is amazing, gets the adrenaline pumping.

[Quintus 5,399]

For me, Rivendell exempt, the Elven choral pastorals remain the chink in the armour of these great scores. Its too vague, too namby-pamby.

However. I do like Lothlorien's march arrangement.

[Incanus 5,713]

The battle version is amazing, gets the adrenaline pumping.

The bolero rhythm was an elegant choice.

[Wojo 2,453]

I like the music for the Barrows and Tom Bombadil.

Oh wait.

Moria.

You wise cracking joker you! Almost had to write a didactic essay on the subject but then I noticed rest of the post.

I'm sorry, did I use sarcasm and cynicism in a way you are not accustomed to? If only there was a way I could have warned you.

[Brónach 1,301]

I like how it goes from the Moria music to the Lothlorien music through Gandalf's death music.