Rings of Power musical score

[Voronwë the Faithful]

"Nori" is in this case short for "Elanor". Which opens up a whole other can of worms.

[Dave_LF]

Ah, well that's different then. The lovely "This Wandering Day" seems like it's probably a hobbit too, maybe even Nori herself (Edit2: Nope; the album credits Megan Richards on this track, and she is known to have been cast as Poppy Proudfellow. Still a hobbit though! ).

Edit: But I am bringing the thought of a dwarf/hobbit connection back after noticing that the Harfoot (or generic hobbit?) theme occurs in "In the Mines." But on the other hand, the (putative) Galadriel and Hobbit themes are so similar that I'm not confident I can even distinguish the two reliably without additional clues. Maybe McCreary simply isn't doing Leitmotifs the way Shore did.

[Dave_LF]

Here's the list of track titles, incidentally, along with their start times in the youtube link:

Hidden text.

Code: Select all

00:00 1). The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Main Title – Howard Shore  
01:33 2). Galadriel 
05:17 3). Khazâd-dûm 
08:37 4). Nori Brandyfoot  
11:26 5). The Stranger  
16:29 6). Númenor  
21:00 7). Sauron  
23:45 8). Valinor 
26:25 9). In the Beginning  
34:14 10). Elrond Half-elven  
37:37 11). Durin IV  
40:41 12). Harfoot Life  
43:03 13). Bronwyn and Arondir 
45:50 14). Halbrand  
48:46 15). The Boat  
52:53 16). Sundering Seas  
55:34 17). Nobody Goes Off Trail 
59:59 18). Elendil and Isildur  
01:04:15 19). White Leaves  
01:08:57 20). The Secrets of the Mountain  
01:12:45 21). Nolwa Mahtar  
01:14:47 22). Nampat  
01:17:21 23). A Plea to the Rocks  
01:21:09 24). This Wandering Day 
01:23:19 25). Scherzo for Violin and Swords  
01:25:11 26). Sailing into the Dawn  
01:29:29 27). For the Southlands 
01:34:01 28). Cavalry 
01:38:07 29). Water and Flame  
01:41:36 30). In the Mines  
01:49:50 31). The Veil of Smoke  
01:54:49 32). The Mystics  
02:02:43 33). Perilous Whisperings  
02:05:24 34). The Broken Line  
02:11:20 35). Wise One  
02:20:04 36). True Creation Requires Sacrifice 
02:25:55 37). Where the Shadows Lie

I don't remember the timeline well, but that seems awfully early for Isildur to appear if the series is going to be dealing with things like the two trees. Then again, given that track 9 is "In the Beginning," perhaps there's a lot of flashback/storytelling.

The titles suggest that season one ends with the forging of the rings and the revelation of Sauron in Mordor. That seems pretty early for that reveal too if there are going to be a bunch more seasons.

Another little tidbit, Sophia Nomvete aka "Princess Disa" is credited on "A Plea to the Rocks"

[Stranger Wings]

I think we can rest assured that "Harfoot Life" is hobbit music (unique rhythm there, by the way). It's interesting how dwarfy it sounds; particularly when it reappears in "Nobody Goes Off Trail." And then there's the track title "Nori Brandyfoot" that combines a canon dwarven name with an extremely hobbity surname... (I shouldn't start doing this; I really shouldn't).

That “dwarfiness” seems to be coming from The Stranger’s theme being strongly intermingled with the harfoot theme. Which could indicate that he’s Durin’s Bane (though I’m now leaning Blue Wizard on that). My favorite is Where the Shadow’s Lie, followed by Nampat.

And Sofia Nomvete’s vocal solo in the last half of A Plea for Rocks is incredible. She has a very powerful and beautiful voice.


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

[Dave_LF]

Forgive me for knowing so little about the production, but I get the impression that Galadriel is going to spend some time explaining the history of the world; perhaps to Halbrand, her human "companion by chance" that we saw in one of the previews. That might explain why a second-age story has tracks with titles like "Valinor" and "In the Beginning," and why "The Boat" sure sounds like it's about Galadriel sailing away from that place*.

I'm not sure how that would jive with only owning rights for LotR, but they've clearly worked something out.

* The same preview shows a brief shot of Halbrand on a (piece of a?) boat rescuing Galadriel from the sea, which seems relevant

That “dwarfiness” seems to be coming from The Stranger’s theme being strongly intermingled with the harfoot theme. Which could indicate that he’s Durin’s Bane (though I’m now leaning Blue Wizard on that).

Yes I think you're right; the themes are still a bit jumbled in my mind. I suppose if "The Stranger" is in any way involved with tricking people into making/accepting the rings, we should expect his theme to be woven together with basically all the others. I wonder if the hobbits will be offered rings as well, but will be the only race to turn them down?

A narrative difficulty they're going to have is that everyone in the audience is going to know that ringmonger is Sauron and that he shouldn't be trusted, but the characters have to be oblivious. That sort of dynamic can get old pretty fast.

[Dave_LF]

"The Boat" sure sounds like it's about Galadriel sailing away from [Valinor]*.
* The same preview shows a brief shot of Halbrand on a (piece of a?) boat rescuing Galadriel from the sea, which seems relevant

I suppose instead of speculating I could just read what's already known (but what fun would that be?):

Charlie Vickers, as Halbrand, a "dramatic leading role with comedic elements." A fugitive, Halbrand goes with Galadriel to Númenor, becoming shipwrecked en route.

https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/The_Lord_o ... ef-:2_87-2

[Dave_LF]

A "stray observation" is that the main title theme (composed by Howard Shore) reminds me very much of The Prophecy from the FotR soundtrack, which was originally meant to open the film, but got lost in all the last-minute prologue rework they did.

[Alatar]

We conceived and created the opening title sequence for The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power. The prequel series is based thousands of years before The Hobbit - a time of Sauron’s ascendency when dragons flew and Proto-Hobbits roamed. We set out to portray a universe both primordial and timeless. Taking inspiration from J.R.R Tolkien’s Ainur, immortal angelic beings that sing such beautiful music that the world is created from their very sound, we conceived of a main title sequence “built from the world of sound.”

Cymatics is a natural phenomenon that makes sound visible to the eye. Vibrations of fine particles on a flat surface display striking symmetrical patterns that reflect audio frequencies. Cymatics are understood by physicists and mathematicians, but to us mere mortals, they are nothing short of magic.

The sequence conjures an ancient and invisible power, struggling to be seen. Symbols form, flow, push, and disappear as quickly as they came. The unknowable realms of sound create fleeting visions of conflict and harmony that move in lockstep with Howard Shores’ opening title score.

[Aravar]

I've only heard the music in the show itself and not listened to it separately yet.

I love the main theme which seems to me to be a natural progression by Shore from the music of the films. However some of the incidental music reminds me more of John Willams and Star Wars which I find a bit jarring: changing universe so to speak.

Is there a known reason why Shore did not do all of the music?

[Inanna]

Alatar, that’s fascinating about the title visuals and track. Thank you.

[Dave_LF]

"Cymatics;" that's the word I was looking for. I wondered if that's what was going on in the opening. Good find.

[Stranger Wings]

Absolutely love the opening. Subtle and beautiful. So much better than the clunky, bloody mess that is the opening of House of the Dragon.


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

[Dave_LF]

I was listening to the soundtrack when 13 walked in and said, without looking at the screen or anything, "why are you listening to off-brand Lord of the Rings music?" I don't know whether to be more impressed with him or Bear.

[Smaug's voice]

[Dave_LF]

So we now know that the reason the Stranger's theme was wound together so confusingly with the Sauron/Mordor themes at the end of the season was because both the audience *and* the characters were meant to be confused about his identity. I think it's pretty cool to see the music cooperate with the narrative that way. I was totally wrong about his big climactic scene being the creation of Mordor though, or even taking place there--got tripped up once again by assuming one track = one scene when in fact the action can cut back and forth, or the track can be chopped up and played across different scenes or even different episodes.

Also, I thought "Wise One" was about either the revelation that Stranger was an Istar OR the death of Sadoc. Turns out it was both! However, the segment I thought might possibly play over Sadoc's death actually played over Nori saying goodbye to her tribe, so I don't think I can take credit.

[Alatar]

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/10 ... i-figures/