LOTR Soundtrack Critique

In some action movies, the appreciation of a good soundtrack is lost to the action. However, in the last movie of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Return of the King, the soundtrack defies this somewhat common pattern. With the accompaniment of several worthy noted artists and orchestras, such as Annie Lennox and the London Oratory School, composer Howard Shore is able to successfully combine and contrast three major styles of music. These styles being a “battle” style to match the intense fighting scenes, a “journey” style to match the travels of all the characters, and a “peaceful” style to match the passive sections in the movie.
The first style of music that is used to match the diversity of The Return of the King is the “battle” style. This style is normally displayed by loud and dramatic instruments, such as the French horn and lower stringed instruments like the cello and lower registers of the viola. These instruments are used to reflect evil and drama. On the other hand, the forces of good are generally depicted with higher toned stringed instruments, particularly the violin and viola. This contrast between good and evil is worked so intricately into the music such that even a camera angle will merit a sudden change in music. For example, at the battle of Pelenor Fields, before the actual fighting begins, the music changes from “good” to “evil” with the change of a camera angle respectively to each side.
Furthermore, the second style of music used in Return of the King is the “journey” style. This style is normally played whenever Sam and Frodo are pictured, on their quest to Mount Doom. This style is mostly depicted by stringed instruments such as the violin and viola. The “journey” style is the most common, because it is also used in many scenes that do not fit into any given category. For example, in scenes in which there is no obvious battle threat, yet a dramatic or important event occurring, a combination between the “journey” and “battle” styles resulting in a more dramatic form of the “journey” style.
Finally, the last style of music utilized in Return of the King is the “peaceful” style. This style is mainly used when The Grey Havens are referred to. The instruments used to exemplify this beautiful style are usually voice and wind instruments, specifically the flute. This is also somewhat common to the music played when Elves are pictured. As mentioned before, Annie Lennox is featured in a song from the soundtrack of The Return of the King. Her voice is applied to the final song of the movie, which refers to The Grey Havens. Her incredible voice not only brings an amazing climax to the entire trilogy, but also remains true to the careful and precise musical selection.
With movies like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it would seem hard to create music to match that of the sudden changing and intricate scenes. However, Howard Shore delivers in not only the first two movies, but even more so in the last movie, The Return of the King. His composition combines the diversity of the movie, through three main styles of music, a “battle” style, and “journey” style, and a “peaceful” style. Shore mainly stays true to these three base styles, but sometimes mixes to create an even more particular style of music to specifically fit the scene perfectly. In conclusion, Howard Shore has proved himself as an accomplished composer by creating an outstanding soundtrack for all three movies to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but particularly The Return of the King.