Rings of Power Bear McCreary's The Rings of Power APPRECIATION thread

[Jay 40,305]

Hello!

 

Lately, it has become very difficult for a large number of JWFanners who enjoy this score and want to discuss it to do so in the existing score thread.  This is largely due to a steady stream of negative opinions being posted in that thread, often the same criticisms over and over again.

 

This has led to some JWFanners feeling like they cannot even post their thoughts at all, as they will only see them picked apart and made to feel like they have to defend their opinions.

 

To combat this problem, I am creating this appreciation thread, where those of us who like the score, and want to discuss it freely without the haters ruining the flow of conversation, can do so!

 

Any posts that go against the spirit of this thread will be delt with swiftly!  Nobody is being censored here, the original thread still exists!

 

Those of us who like the score, have at it!

 

[Jay 40,305]

On 08/10/2022 at 6:13 AM, JNHFan2000 said:

Episode 7 might be my No. 1 or 2 of the episodic albums.

There are wonderful variations of themes like Galadriel, The Stranger, Sauron, Númenor, Khazad-Dûm & Durin. 

 

I really feel like McCreary deliberately played the themes more straightforward in the earlier episodes so that people would get used to them. In the later episodes he's playing more with tempos, instrumentation & breakdowns of the themes. He also uses more of the B-phrases of some of them.

Great stuff!

 

 

Man, I totally agree!
 

We watched Episode 7 tonight and I was soooo impressed with the score in the episode; He's taken Galadriel's theme to so many places so far, none more so apparent than in this episode!  And the defeated renditions of the Southlands/Halbrand and Numenor themes really impressed me, and then he even finds an optimistic way to use Halbrand's theme towards the end too.

 

I love that Durin IV gets his own theme, and now the Khazad-dun theme is representing Durin III.  And man, I think the Stranger's theme is becoming my favorite; That and the mystics made quite and impression in this episode!

 

But boy, the moment where The Stranger and Nori's themes played off one another when they had to say goodbye was awesome!

 

I've been listening to the episode 7 album tonight and its just great, so dense with thematic development!

[tomsmoviemadness 3,695]

I also really liked the statememt of Sauron's theme in "Crimson Aftermath".

Up to this point Sauron's theme has mostly been played loud and on the low register of the orchestra. But hearing it hear in a bit of a mocking higher register was great.

[Alan 716]

Liked Bear's music right from the start and it has only continued to grow on me. How fortunate we are that we're getting a fully symphonic and thematic television score by a composer excited to share as much of his music and process as Bear is.

 

I only hope his approach is allowed to continue for the remaining seasons.

[Richard P 4,375]

8 hours ago, Jay said:

he even finds an optimistic way to use Harbrand's theme towards the end too.

 

I've gotten out of my habit of stopping the show to find the music on the album for the last few episodes, but as soon as I heard that beautiful rendition I had to find it - what a lovely way to take what is somewhat of a solemn theme and suddenly transform it.

 

8 hours ago, Jay said:

 

But boy, the moment where The Stranger and Nori's themes played off one another when they had to say goodbye was awesome!

 

Unusually I was too 'in the moment' with the scene to properly notice the music at that point, but listening to the track now it's like a symphony of solemn statements of Harfoor, Stranger and Nori themes. That interaction between the two themes in the middle reminds of Numenor > Galadriel > Numenor in White Leaves in how he morphs one of the themes not only to work narratively but also musically.

 

It also occurred to me during my one commute of the week today that Bear's achieved this thematic richness without actually having a 'main' theme to rely on, and it works because every single scene has a character or culture that is representable by a long-lined theme.

[Jay 40,305]

45 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

It also occurred to me during my one commute of the week today that Bear's achieved this thematic richness without actually having a 'main' theme to rely on, and it works because every single scene has a character or culture that is representable by a long-lined theme.

 

Woah, I hadn't thought of things that way either, but you're totally right! 

[TheUlyssesian 2,590]

Shore did not have a main theme for the the LOTR trilogy either right? People have alternatively thought of The Shire, or History of the One Ring or the Fellowship as the main theme.

 

Edit: In theory you could call Bear's Rings of Power theme to be his main theme. But its been kinda under played for obvious reason. It will apparently come to the fore in the last episode with the song.

[Jay 40,305]

Correct, no main theme there either

[Chen G. 4,779]

3 minutes ago, TheUlyssesian said:

Shore did not have a main theme for the the LOTR trilogy either right?

 

Not as such, no. The Ring doesn't have a main theme either.

[artguy360 1,941]

I'm sad to learn that negativity had taken over the score thread. I think Bear has achieved something special in long-form tv scoring, a rich, diverse musical score that we are only starting to appreciate and won't be properly understood and appreciated until ROP ends many years from now. The music is so good, the spotting in the show gives the music so many opportunities to shine, and the themes are fitting and play off each other well. I'm continually impressed by each new episode.

[Jay 40,305]

Yes! I totally agree!

 

Sadly, I don't think we'll see any other shows following in the footsteps of this though, as Bear talks extensively in his blog posts about how long it took him, and the physical and mental toll it took on his body 

[Score 773]

A nice interview with the three orchestrators who worked with McCreary on Rings of Power:

 

https://screenrant.com/lotr-rings-power-orchestrators-interview/

 

They talk about several interesting aspects of the score production. It's quite funny that the members of the orchestra did not know what they were playing for, although some of the choir members had suspicions because of the lyrics . Even the orchestrators could not see the movies, and had to rely entirely on McCreary's instructions.

1 hour ago, Jay said:

Sadly, I don't think we'll see any other shows following in the footsteps of this though, as Bear talks extensively in his blog posts about how long it took him, and the physical and mental toll it took on his body 

 

That left me wondering - how are they going to deal with the next expected 4 seasons? Will it be completely on McCreary's shoulders? It surely seems like a daunting task. Suppose they shoot a new series, comparable in size and scope to the first one, every two years until the end. That would require McCreary to write 9 hours of new music for the same project each time, for a grand total of about 45 hours of ROP music to be delivered in just a few years. Such an amount of music on the same general subject, at that level of complexity, would be unprecedented in the history of music; I'm not even sure it would be humanly possible! 

[Jay 40,305]

Where did the 9 hours figure come from? 

 

Isn't it around 52 minutes of score per episode times 8 episodes = 7 hours of music? 

[Richard P 4,375]

Quote

Making that decision came at a cost. I had to compose nine hours of music in nine months.

 

https://bearmccreary.com/the-lord-of-the-rings-appendices-part-3/ under To Conduct or compose

[Score 773]

Here at the beginning:

 

https://bearmccreary.com/the-lord-of-the-rings-appendices-part-1/

 

 

EDIT: Ah, posted at the same time as Richard Penna!

[Jay 40,305]

Hmm, I wonder if he just meant 8 episodes + 50 minutes of concert arrangements and rounded to 9?

[Meredith McKay 7,071]

Is he including the stuff newly prepared for the highlights album in that figure?

 

Edit: Ninja'd?

[Score 773]

1 minute ago, Jay said:

Hmm, I wonder if he just meant 8 episodes + 50 minutes of concert arrangements and rounded to 9?

 

Yes, I also thought so. Or maybe, he is just bad at remembering numbers.

[Jay 40,305]

Hehehe

[DrPsych 35]

Or maybe the Season Finale will be longer than an hour!!! 

[Boreli 1]

Have you guys ordered the double CD from Amazon?

Shipping already?

[Jay 40,305]

Yes, several people on this website ordered the physical CD edition

 

No, it hasn't started shipping yet

[WampaRat 1,321]

12 hours ago, jpmatlack said:

Or maybe the Season Finale will be longer than an hour!!! 

I sure hope so! Especially if we’re needing to wait two years before season two.

 

On the bright side, that should give Bear a bit of time to recover after his insane marathon scoring of season 1. He can tend to the other 15 shows and films he’s working on  (But seriously, when does that guy sleep??)

[Jay 40,305]

12 hours ago, jpmatlack said:

Or maybe the Season Finale will be longer than an hour!!! 

 

Every single episode of the entire season is over an hour long.  They've all been 66-72 minutes long

[Edmilson 9,445]

21 hours ago, Score said:

That left me wondering - how are they going to deal with the next expected 4 seasons? Will it be completely on McCreary's shoulders? It surely seems like a daunting task. Suppose they shoot a new series, comparable in size and scope to the first one, every two years until the end. That would require McCreary to write 9 hours of new music for the same project each time, for a grand total of about 45 hours of ROP music to be delivered in just a few years. Such an amount of music on the same general subject, at that level of complexity, would be unprecedented in the history of music; I'm not even sure it would be humanly possible! 

I was wondering that too. Will Bear commit to this insane marathon of writing and recording 8 to 9 hours of music every year during the 5 seasons? By his posts, S1 took a toll on him and, as he said himself, he's getting older. 

 

I guess it is more and more probable that, for the next few seasons, he'll have the help of additional composers.

[Disco Stu 15,504]

Pointless random fact:  Bear is the same age that John Williams was when Jaws was released: 43.  Is ROP his Jaws?  (meaning: the project that vaunts him to the next level of industry importance and respect)

 

I know it's not 1:1 (after all Williams was an Oscar winner with 9 other noms under his belt when Jaws came out), but I find it interesting to consider these turning point projects looking back at careers.

[DrPsych 35]

55 minutes ago, Jay said:

 

Every single episode of the entire season is over an hour long.  They've all been 66-72 minutes long

Well I meant I wonder if the finale will be more like a 2 hour episode rather than a 69 minute episode... 

[Jay 40,305]

Ohhhhhhh

 

Hmm, doesn't seem likely to me

[Chen G. 4,779]

They seem to stick quite rigorously to the one-hour runtime: I think Amazon ran some statistics and determined that's the length they're aiming for with their major shows.

[Score 773]

11 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Pointless random fact:  Bear is the same age that John Williams was when Jaws was released: 43.  Is ROP his Jaws?  (meaning: the project that vaunts him to the next level of industry importance and respect)

 

I noticed that too, although I had not dared to make the direct comparison . One of the reasons I got excited about ROP's score is precisely that I had the distinct feeling that Bear might be... on the right track. We will see.

 

[Jay 40,305]

1 hour ago, Disco Stu said:

Is ROP his Jaws?  (meaning: the project that vaunts him to the next level of industry importance and respect)

 

You know, I don't think so.  He's already scoring so many TV shows and movies every year, I don't even know where he can go from here, other than scoring really high profile major motion pictures, but even scoring those doesn't really make anyone a household name like Jaws and Star Wars made Williams one.  I think the entertainment world now is just so radically different in the 2020s than it was in the 70s and 80s, that no music composer is really going to have a career explosion like Williams did

[WampaRat 1,321]

Bear sits down with Billy And Dom. Listening now. I’ll report if there’s any new tidbits here.

 

EDIT: Apparently when Billy sent “The Last Goodbye” to Shore for approval, Shore responded that there are no minor sevenths in LOTR music lol 😅

 

Not much new info regarding Bears score that he hasn’t already shared on his blog.

[Monoverantus 563]

1 hour ago, WampaRat said:

EDIT: Apparently when Billy sent “The Last Goodbye” to Shore for approval, Shore responded that there are no minor sevenths in LOTR music lol 😅

I laughed out loud at this part, because it almost perfectly anticipated a joke I've written into my upcoming video about the simplicity (not derogatory) of Shore's LotR score.

1 hour ago, WampaRat said:

Not much new info regarding Bears score that he hasn’t already shared on his blog.

I actually enjoyed that. Around the time of a new release, all cast and crew of a show get pulled into the news cycle of endless interviews asking similar questions, and I've already heard Bear repeat several answers over and over at this point. It speaks to Billy and Dom's effortless charm that they let the chat go anywhere, and not necessarily always about the show.

[WampaRat 1,321]

6 minutes ago, Monoverantus said:

 

I actually enjoyed that. Around the time of a new release, all cast and crew of a show get pulled into the news cycle of endless interviews asking similar questions, and I've already heard Bear repeat several answers over and over at this point. It speaks to Billy and Dom's effortless charm that they let the chat go anywhere, and not necessarily always about the show.

Same. His enthusiasm and love of film scores and music in general is really infectious. I particularly liked his perspective on the scores and films we place on pedestals as fans. To the people involved in the creation of them, they were usually just gigs and it was on to the next thing. Even if it might feel special in the middle of it, it’s all just work work work. 

[mstrox 6,991]

On 11/10/2022 at 8:32 AM, Jay said:

Yes, several people on this website ordered the physical CD edition

 

No, it hasn't started shipping yet

I had ordered my CD direct from Mondo and mine shipped on Monday.  It’s tracking to arrive this week.

 

[Jay 40,305]

Awesome!

 

Mine won't ship until the Don't Worry Darling CD is ready because I ordered them together

[Jay 40,305]

Hi gang,

 

I have created my own google doc for the score.

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iPZSq84CsDwNeyokPVDh4adCyagChXIEW9X_-sYu5sc

 

There are two tabs:

 

Themes - This lists the 17 themes, has columns to show which episodes the themes are heard in, and where the concert arrangements can be found on the season 1 album

 

Episodes - This compares each episode album to the Season 1 score album to show how Bear pared down episode cues for the album, and at the bottom has some unique music I found on the season 1 album that hasn't turned up on an episode album yet.  I even found two bits of music that got snipped out of the episode 6 album, but are heard on the season 1 album!

 

For now I've listed the track numbers for the original 37-track album, the new 38-track album, and the CD edition side by side, but I'll probably eventually remove the original 37-track album numbers once the 38-track version replaces it on all platforms.

 

In the future, I plan on comparing the episode albums to the episodes themselves and timing out and listing the unreleased music heard in each, and also adding the cue names from GEMA if they show up there.

 

I also plan on listing which themes are used in each episode cues, too, at some point...

 

Any questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome!

[tomsmoviemadness 3,695]

All the episodic albums (except for 8) are on itunes right. New Zealand mind you.

So it will indeed all be there tomorrow everywhere.

 

https://music.apple.com/nz/artist/bear-mccreary/204012062

[Jay 40,305]

Woah!  Those weren't there when I checked earlier today!

 

That's great those are available outside Amazon Music now

 

Too bad the episode 8 album isn't up yet

 

And the episode 3 album has Street Musicians, so that isn't exclusive to Amazon Music

 

~

 

Film Music Reporter has the episode 8 details somehow

 

 

1. Encountering Servants
2. An Intriguing Suggestion
3. Power Over Flesh
4. Confronting the Mystics
5. Black Flags
6. The Broken Line and Broken Silence
7. Wise One
8. True Creation Requires Sacrifice

 

http://filmmusicreporter.com/2022/10/13/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-season-1-episode-8-alloyed-soundtrack-album-details/

 

Huh, the Fiona song is not on it, which made it even more bizarre that they put the instrumental version on the Episode 1 album

[DrPsych 35]

4 hours ago, Jay said:

Hi gang,

 

I have created my own google doc for the score.

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iPZSq84CsDwNeyokPVDh4adCyagChXIEW9X_-sYu5sc

 

There are two tabs:

 

Themes - This lists the 17 themes, has columns to show which episodes the themes are heard in, and where the concert arrangements can be found on the season 1 album

 

Episodes - This compares each episode album to the Season 1 score album to show how Bear pared down episode cues for the album, and at the bottom has some unique music I found on the season 1 album that hasn't turned up on an episode album yet.  I even found two bits of music that got snipped out of the episode 6 album, but are heard on the season 1 album!

 

For now I've listed the track numbers for the original 37-track album, the new 38-track album, and the CD edition side by side, but I'll probably eventually remove the original 37-track album numbers once the 38-track version replaces it on all platforms.

 

In the future, I plan on comparing the episode albums to the episodes themselves and timing out and listing the unreleased music heard in each, and also adding the cue names from GEMA if they show up there.

 

I also plan on listing which themes are used in each episode cues, too, at some point...

 

Any questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome!

This is amazing!

[Richard P 4,375]

That's awesome - I wondered whether with episode 8 being the season's end, it would also be the point where they all went immediately non-exclusive.

 

I'm holding off any purchases until we find out any physical episode plans, i.e. if they do a big box that includes the season album, for example.

 

It's really hard to believe we're about to hear the last hour of Bear's RoP music for two years....

[Jay 40,305]

Maybe an order page will go live on Mondo's site tomorrow?

 

Speaking of Mondo's website, they've added the Fiona Apple song to the 2xLP edition

 

https://mondoshop.com/collections/all-music/products/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-season-one-original-soundtrack-2xlp

[tomsmoviemadness 3,695]

Just saw the final episode.

 

I thought it was good. It's not the best show of the year but I really enjoy it even though some things could've been handled maybe better. I just love being in this world.

 

McCreary's music has 100% the best part of the series. It was a joy to hear the Valinor theme again. As well as hearing the full Rings Of Power theme in context. I also loved the big statements of The Mystics theme.

His music is so clever in so many aspects. I was already a fan of his but this, for me, really cements he's one of the best composers working today.

[Cerebral Cortex 3,358]

On 09/10/2022 at 10:39 PM, Jay said:

And man, I think the Stranger's theme is becoming my favorite; That and the mystics made quite and impression in this episode!

 

I love how tender and unassuming the theme is in nature despite having the potential to be (as heard in the album track) the most powerful and forceful theme in the entire show; characteristics that happen to perfectly mirror the character the theme is portraying. 

[tomsmoviemadness 3,695]

It had some wonderful statements in the finale. Powerful, dark, sweet & heroic

[mstrox 6,991]

Edit - these were show thoughts.  The score was fine.

[Knight of Ren 1,125]

The season is over, and I must admit I enjoyed it for the most part, although I must admit that there some slower parts with lesser interest. But this season finale I think delivered, offering great reveals, and character emotion, sending off a quite strong season. I particularly enjoyed a lot the confrontation between the Stranger and the Harfoots, and the Mystics, and he was finally revealed to be a good wizard. And I also like how it leaves the door open for a new adventure coming up, which I'm sure will be so much fun when it appears in the following season. The Mystics material is so cool and I loved how McCreary played with this, intercutting it with glorious statements of the Stranger's Theme, as well as presenting extended emotional statements of Nori's Theme, as she embarks on a new journey with her friend.

 

On the other side, Halbrand's reveals was done with so much intelligence and while it had been predicted by some earlier in the season, they managed to pull it off in an interesting way. And the forge of the rings was as great as I expected it was going to be. McCreary finally allowed Halbrand's and Sauron's themes to be played in unison, revealing them as two different sides of the same character (Halbrand's tehme inverted is very close to Sauron's theme), but I also loved that he brought back the Valinor theme, missing since the first episode. And then, the forge with the Rings of Power theme and the appearance of the Where the Shadows Lie song during the end credits was the cherry on top.

 

I think McCreary's score has been the big highlight of the season, and his work has truly managed to support the story in so many different ways, giving it emotion and heart, but also wit and intelligence, and I have enjoyed a lot going on this journey with him. Here's my last article of my blog, analyzing more in depth the score for the episode, and I hope you all have enjoyed reading all of these as much as I have enjoyed writing them!

Analysis of the Score of the Rings of Power - 1x08: Alloyed

 

Feel free to share your thoughts on it! What were your favorite moments of the score? What has been your favorite theme through the season? What theme development are you looking forward the most in upcoming seasons?

[Jay 40,305]

I'm comparing the episode 8 album to the season 1 album now if anybody wants to open the google doc and follow along in real time

[Stark 580]

I like this show, though I don’t love it for a variety of (not fatal) reasons - the score, however, is easily the best score of any medium of this year.

[TheUlyssesian 2,590]

3 hours ago, Knight of Ren said:

The season is over, and I must admit I enjoyed it for the most part, although I must admit that there some slower parts with lesser interest. But this season finale I think delivered, offering great reveals, and character emotion, sending off a quite strong season. I particularly enjoyed a lot the confrontation between the Stranger and the Harfoots, and the Mystics, and he was finally revealed to be a good wizard. And I also like how it leaves the door open for a new adventure coming up, which I'm sure will be so much fun when it appears in the following season. The Mystics material is so cool and I loved how McCreary played with this, intercutting it with glorious statements of the Stranger's Theme, as well as presenting extended emotional statements of Nori's Theme, as she embarks on a new journey with her friend.

 

On the other side, Halbrand's reveals was done with so much intelligence and while it had been predicted by some earlier in the season, they managed to pull it off in an interesting way. And the forge of the rings was as great as I expected it was going to be. McCreary finally allowed Halbrand's and Sauron's themes to be played in unison, revealing them as two different sides of the same character (Halbrand's tehme inverted is very close to Sauron's theme), but I also loved that he brought back the Valinor theme, missing since the first episode. And then, the forge with the Rings of Power theme and the appearance of the Where the Shadows Lie song during the end credits was the cherry on top.

 

I think McCreary's score has been the big highlight of the season, and his work has truly managed to support the story in so many different ways, giving it emotion and heart, but also wit and intelligence, and I have enjoyed a lot going on this journey with him. Here's my last article of my blog, analyzing more in depth the score for the episode, and I hope you all have enjoyed reading all of these as much as I have enjoyed writing them!

Analysis of the Score of the Rings of Power - 1x08: Alloyed

 

Feel free to share your thoughts on it! What were your favorite moments of the score? What has been your favorite theme through the season? What theme development are you looking forward the most in upcoming seasons?

 

You say the main melody of the Rings of Power finally reveals itself at 2:38. Isn't that actually 2:13?