The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
After watching all three LotR movies, I strived to have more, something,
anything. It was around the time of Christmas when I got all three soundtracks. Nedless to say, I was satisfied. Enriching, entrancing, even scary at some points, all add up to this beautiful work of art composed, directed, and orchestrated by
Howard Shore. At one hour, eleven minutes and twenty-four seconds, this is a journey, a journey through timeless music.
Although much of it is present on this LP, Howard doesn’t prefine himself to use just a stringed orchestra, he embodies operatic vocals, most of which are women to provide a pure, honest harmonies. These are given upon the listener when the Fellowship meets the Elves; since the Elves are the most purest, honest thing in Middle-earth, this was a wise decision and executed with the utmost precision. He also acquired himself brass instruments when needed, to pull out a sense of forcefulness and that extra ‘oomph’ to make the sound more powerful. A bass drum is also present to provide a deep, heavy sound to acquire push and adds huge sonic waves when needed.
This album can widely be accepted and enjoyed by almost all sophisticated music fans alike because of all the emotions it portrays. It can seamlessly go from happy, upbeat, and joyful, to becoming a Lucifer, that is, becoming evil and dark (‘
The Black Rider’), to making you feel brave and strong, as if you are one with the story (‘
The Breaking of the Fellowship)’. But that’s just it, you
don’t have to get into a Lord of the Rings mood to listen to this. If anything, it pulls you in, and makes you
want to become part of the story, the tones, instruments, and the way its played out ingeniously by Shore, it’s an incredible feeling. Howard also has a thing for details, if you are watching the movie while listening, you will feel the mood, the atmosphere of that particular scene.
Take ‘
The Bridge of Khazad Dum. Here at the beginning the Fellowship is at one of its major places, Moria. They are all brave and mostly sure of themselves, so, accordingly, the song is upbeat, for it assures the listener that they are in no great danger. As the song progresses, we as listeners are intent on finding how this will turn out, different measures of notes wave on by, showing the characteristics of bravery by a heavy emphasis on staccato brass and operatic vocals, adding dynamics, mostly fortissimo notes, on the music. A fire and shadow demon, a Balrog, is now present in the film, and to protect the Fellowship and allow it to continue passing safely, Gandalf must defeat it. This is near the four-minute mark, and the atmosphere of the record is heavy and menacing, for the quarrel between the Balrog and Gandalf is going bad. Then, at four minutes and thirty-seven seconds, all goes quiet, because Gandalf is now just dangling by the fingertips of an edge…then he drops. Somber, high pitched, and crescendos notes are introduced, because Gandalf was a major role model, friend, and leader not only to the Fellowship, but to much of Middle-earth.
Enya also makes appearances on the record, on
The Council Of Elrond and
May it Be. She must be mentioned, because she adds such a blissful beauty around the songs, and can really make a mark on you. While she didn’t compose on
…Elrond, she did on the latter. Its’ a kind of epilogue, a very calm, relaxed, and soothing track, her vocals are so distinct and quiet, really beautiful. Only a kind of woodwind, a select few stringed instruments, and her vocals are present, all legato, smooth, and entrancing. Then the hobbit theme takes over, which adds a different direction for the ending of the record, but not awkward.
While most of the songs are short here, it doesn’t matter, because each song provides depth, atmosphere, and emotion through every second. Howard’s use of dynamics and theory are varied with such high-performance techniques and different instruments all add up to define this wonderful work of music. I feel only a five can do this record justice, it doesn’t have not a single flaw, the sheer beauty and uniqueness of it can make anyone fall in love with this if they give it a try.
