Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2005 11:37 pm
Posts: 422
Location: West of Russia and south of Prussia
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Consider yourselves warned, this won't be brief:
Well, I have been listening to this lovely set for the past six weeks. Almost daily. There was some other film music in between, but 80% of the time I was listening to stuff from my collection, it was RotK Complete.
You are all aware of my love for the LotR trilogy, book, film, and score. This, of course, makes anything I say about it inherently biased, but still...since the journey ends with the RotK set (kinda), a summary of sorts seems appropriate now.
First off, this set is, once again, a revelation. While the thrill of the opening chapter, The Fellowship of the Ring, was absent both from T2T and RotK, listening to the music Howard Shore conceived for RotK is almost a religious experience for me (and before anybody accuses me of blasphemy...shove it!). Even after all these years, I still get goose-bumps from the music, get that manic grin some of you know, get teary-eyed etc. And it keeps on being interesting to listen to. Even now I find myself thinking: "Whoa...I haven't noticed this before...", although Doug Adams' exemplary liner notes helped connecting the dots. 
I know that some of you have problems with the music, for whatever reasons (both valid and no). I probably cannot offer a musicological explanation for why I adore this music (hi, Chris!), but I don't think I have to do this anyhow. It's primarily an emotional experience, which is kinda impossible to base on facts or specific details. There are too many whole notes and too much vertical and aleatoric writing for your liking? So what? It still sounds great!  The trilogy offers some of the most gorgeous music I've ever heard, just as it offers the most ferocious, exciting, introspective, sorrowful, etc.
While Fellowship is and will continue to be my favourite part of the trilogy (partly due to it actually having been novel back in 2001), RotK has much to offer. Whether it be the complete Shelob's lair sequence, the complete Osgiliath sequence, the battle of Pelennor fields ("Shieldmaiden of Rohan"...Oh. My. GOD!), the increasingly desperate music accompanying Frodo and Sam to and through Mordor, or especially the three wall-shaking appearances of the 'Reclamation of Nature' (end of #15, CD 1; #4 and end of #16, CD 3), Shore cranks the music up to ridiculous activity and size and his method of "running themes into each other" to mirror the chaotic action on-screen makes for a marvellous listening experience. With the setting out of the Minas Morgul army (#14 on CD 1), the pulse of the music (and film!) begin beating and never wholly disappears until the climax.
Oh, and what a climax it is! Scoregasm material. Unbelievably so. During the 15 minutes from "For Frodo" (#16, CD 3) to "The Eagles" (#3, CD 4), Shore offers a culmination of themes and orchestral and choral power that, for me, is unrivaled in the history of film music. But what makes it even more outstanding, especially in the present climate of "everything must be bigger!", is that this musical zenith comes so naturally and appropriately. The journey of Frodo and Sam led us to Mount Doom, to this single moment of decision, and Shore's music has so perfectly illuminated this journey, and those that have offsprung (?) from it along the way. With the multitude of themes and motifs and their connections, the music informed us both of the action at hand and the bigger, overacing picture. And it never played as contrived or overly showy music. If there's a term for it, I'd say it's "being emotionally truthful". I know that this doesn't really explain anything and/or can be laid out ten different ways, but it's the best description I can come up with.
And when it's all said and done, the music is reduced to purity and quietness and "sails away with remarkable grace", as Christian Clemmensen once put it. All in all, Shore music for the entire trilogy is remarkably mature, but never more than in the closing moments of RotK.
I remember being very skeptical when I heard back in 2000 that Howard Shore had been signed to do the score for LotR. I remember sitting in the cinema for my first watching of Fellowship on Dec. 21st, 2001 and being spellbound by this spectacle. I remember the slight apprehension at the question whether or not Shore could continue the music at such a high level. I remember the relief, joy and mounting excitement when it became clear that not only did he maintain that level, but actually went higher with the next two parts. (And I remember being absolutely thrilled to have been invited and attending the rehearsal of the first Fellowship concert in London in February of 2003.) I don't think that I will ever hear another score that has been composed, thought-out and performed with so much diligence as the LotR trilogy. Of course, Shore had, unlike Williams with the original Star Wars trilogy, the entire picture in front of him from the beginning and knew how to lay out the path.
One day, I hope to be able to listen to the DVDs of the Complete Recordings. After that, I think I can die as a happy man. Unless somebody manages to get The Silmarillion done in as true a way as Peter Jackson& Co. did with LotR, I don't think I will hear something better. And even with all the other LotR fans out there (and over at moviemusic.com), I still get most pleasure out of it by simply sitting in my room with a cup of tea and letting the music engulf me.
For over six years (and counting) of sheer musical joy and excitement, I tip my hat to Howard Shore, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and London Voices and everybody else who had something to do with the creation of this magnificent opus. Hannon le! 
Thanks for reading,
Christian
Last edited by Christian Kühn on Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:27 am, edited 3 times in total.
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