Description
This final chapter of Peter Jackson's sprawling adaptation of Tolkien's "Ring" trilogy closes out one of the most accomplished cycles in cinema--and film music--history. As he's done for the saga's first two installments, composer Howard Shore has honed a mature, brooding orchestral masterpiece that's long on subtle shadings of mood and nuance,
This final chapter of Peter Jackson's sprawling adaptation of Tolkien's "Ring" trilogy closes out one of the most accomplished cycles in cinema--and film music--history. As he's done for the saga's first two installments, composer Howard Shore has honed a mature, brooding orchestral masterpiece that's long on subtle shadings of mood and nuance, while eschewing the hollow bombast that's characterized all too many mainstream action and adventure films for three decades. If anything, he's pared this chapter of his music for Middle Earth even closer to the bone, the trilogy's familiar themes repeated with a sparing hand that only heightens their dramatic power. Like Herrmann before him, Shore has a preternatural understanding of orchestral timbres and their almost mystical connections with human emotions, and he's used it here to close out this remarkable trilogy with Wagnerian dramatic sweep, yet one with a distinctly modern, understated melodic sense that is Shore's alone. James Galway and Renee Fleming make key instrumental and vocal contributions, respectively, while Annie Lennox's soulful "Into the West" makes the expected, if unobtrusive, bow to the theatrical pop song conventions. --Jerry McCulley
Album Description
The regular jewel-case version will contain one of seven collectors' cards.
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Ratings of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Soundtrack)
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2. Hope and Memory
3. Minas Tirith - Ben del Maestro
4. The White Tree
5. The Steward of Gondor - Billy Boyd
6. Minas Morgul
7. The Ride of the Rohirrim
8. Twilight and Shadow - Renee Fleming
9. Cirith Ungol
10. Anduril
11. Shelob's Lair
12. Ash and Smoke
13. The Fields of the Pelennor
14. Hope Fails
15. The Black Gate Opens - James Galway
16. The End of All Things - Renee Fleming
17. The Return of the King - Viggo Mortensen
18. The Grey Havens - James Galway
19. Into the West - Annie Lennox
Rating : 8/10