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Howard Shore's An Unexpected Journey (Hobbit Part 1)


Jay

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I don't care if it is Shore. Uninspired instrumentation, boring chords, and a sheer lack of invention in the melodic writing. This would never have made it into LOTR. Obviously standards have become abysmal.

;)

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That theme in "Where's Bilbo" is what Shore2Shore over on Doug's blog was talking about

Another small but important addition to the collection of Bilbo material, seems to be a heroic theme which is heard twice in the movie (that I've picked up on at least). I don't think it features at all on the soundtrack album but it is rather lovely. It is first played when Bilbo reappears with the dwarves outside goblintown, when they ask "how did you escape the goblins?" Perhaps this is the first time they see him in an heroic capacity. It is then given a much more muscular although briefer reading when Bilbo leaps to Thorin's aid in the climax. It is similar in sentiment to the Heroic Shire setting from Return of the King, although melodically different, though still maintaining hints of the melodic contours of the Shire music. In C major we have E G . . E G A C . . . A C D E . . D E D C. This lovely little twist at the end reminds me of some of the final shire variations heard in "The Fellowship Re-united" in Return of the King. Also the rising E-G-A and A-C-D figures hint at both Bilbo's "Took" theme, and the opening of the "Misty Mountains" melody. Fascinating connections. I hope we will get to hear more of this motif as the story progresses.
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I don't know, maybe it's a variation of it, but it seems like it's its own thematic identity. Bilbo's Adventure is (in the same tonality)

C D E G G B C G E G F

On the album, this is played once or twice verbatim, but in the movie it seems to just have a few subtle quotes, usually revolving around those first two rising intervals of a major and minor third (E G . . . G B)

The intervals are a bit different, and there's more decoration in this heroic variation, but I guess it's probably an extension the same idea.

It's strange that the theme was removed from the film but the variations stayed.

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Faleel, all the cues you have posted today are awesome! It's so cool you've been able to find all this music in the EE special features! I wish I had time to help!

That last one, "Unknown Cue", might not be by Shore... doesnt' really sound like anything else in the score.. I dunno!

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Yes, fantastic stuff. You are a gentleman and a scholar.

That unknown cue definitely sounds like Shore - it was also featured in the little making-of documentary about the AUJ score that was released last year. Here, at 2:51.

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I finally worked out all the Riddles in the dark bits in the EE documentaries.

We have:

"Elfish Blade"
"Is It Juicy?"
"Roots As Nobody Sees"
"Baggins First"
and most of "Teeth"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GGVNKGsUTU&feature=youtu.be

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That last one, "Unknown Cue", might not be by Shore... doesnt' really sound like anything else in the score.. I dunno!

It shares many of the rhythmic features of Shire music and sounds clearly like something written by Shore.

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Probably an alternate for the party at Bag End, no?

Could well be. I was certainly reminded of that section by the music. Let's hope that it sees the light of day on an official CD some day. It sounds great. :)

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I don't know if this question has been asked/answered before. Who did record the trailer version of music from the teaser? It was obviously released way way in advance of scoring sessions and Howard Shore arranged it (the Misty Mountains song) but when and where did they record that?

Karol - watching extras to The Hobbit extended edition right now

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I almost wonder how much of that cue is orchestral, the Shire theme at the beginning sounds almost synth, or atleast a much smaller orchestra...

I also wonder if its just the performance from Over Hill, with the rest of the music built around it...

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True.

Perhaps they played it over the scene, looking for something to replace "The Edge of the Wild", and they liked it, so just like Gandalf in Nature, it was used for that scene?

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Except, in LOTR it was A shire theme building into the Fellowship theme, so it sounded more natural.

in AUJ, its just the Company theme (with a little bit of Thorin's theme) building to the Company's theme.

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I definitely think The Edge of the Wild version of Over Hill works better (in terms of buildup) than the Over Hill version of Over Hill.

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The first part of Edge of the Wild up to the end of the Misty Mountains theme fits the scene pretty much perfectly. Obviously the original intent then was to transition to Gandalf at the High Fells, and the track reflects that. So the rest of it has no place in AUJ.

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Why is the quality so low? Bloodboals' videos are 720p!


The real key will be to continue from that footage to the leaked High Fells footage from the fan event :)

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We may not have all the necessary High Fells footage. Seeing as the Chronicles book contains an image of the exterior of the High Fells, I'm wondering if there is a scene initially showing Gandalf's arrival there.

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