The climactic chapter in Howard Shore’s music for The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King gathers all that has come before and sets it charging relentlessly towards conclusion. Each character theme, each cultural style, every motif associated with the precepts of Tolkien’s work must reach the destination set before it in the previous two scores.
The Fellowship theme, after forming then breaking, must draw itself to a newfound level of heroic focus as the Company reaches Mount Doom. The Elves’ themes must bestow their final melodic gifts upon Middle-earth before receding into the West. Isengard’s metallic fury must meet its wrenching demise, but not before scraps of its rhythmic and melodic gestures migrate to Sauron’s domain and join with Mordor’s twisted themes, which are consolidating into their own terrible apotheosis.
Combating Mordor’s rise, the two kingdoms of Men summon their might—Rohan by aligning itself with Nature’s Reclamation, Gondor by calling upon the two grand themes established in The Fellowship of the Ring, the Realm of Gondor and Minas Tirith. These two lines, heretofore heard in isolated statements, are brought to the fore in The Return of the King, assuming lead roles in the breaking war.
And yet it is the Ring itself, that slim band of gold that has become the focal point for all Middle-earth, that undergoes the most profound and disturbing musical fusion. The Ring’s long journey to Mordor is nearing completion. Heeding its master’s call, the Ring has united its characteristics: Shore’s three principle Ring themes—History, Seduction and Evil—now impact each other directly, intertwining contrapuntally or pulling at melodic contours to form new lines, exposing the Ring at the dangerous height of its wicked promise.
In the end, Middle-earth survives the War of the Ring to enter its Fourth Age. Ushering in a new dawn of peace and unity, Shore grants the surviving cultures Fourth Age themes that maintain the aesthetics of each society, but which cultivate newly enlightened ideals. Men are granted respite; the Elves, peace; hobbits, wisdom—and the Ring is granted its just fate: destruction.
Part One:
Roots and Beginnings
Journey to the Cross-roads
Return to Edoras
The Chalice Passed
Gollum’s Villany
The Palantír
The Grace of Undómiel
The Eyes of the White Tower
A Coronal of Silver and Gold
The Lighting of the Beacons
The Stairs of Cirith Ungol
Allegiance to Denethor
The Parting of Sam and Frodo
The Sacrifice of Faramir
Marshalling at Dunharrow
Andúril–Flame of the West
The Paths of the Dead
Intermission
Part Two:
The Siege of Gondor
Shelob’s Lair
Grond–The Hammer of the Underworld
Shelob the Great
The Tomb of the Stewards
The Battle of the Pelennor Fields
“A Far Green Country”
Shieldmaiden of Rohan
The Passing of Théoden
The Tower of Cirith Ungol
The Last Debate
The Mouth of Sauron
For Frodo
Mount Doom
The Crack of Doom
The Eagles
The Fellowship Reunited
The Journey to the Grey Havens
The Themes of The Return of the King
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
The Fellowship of the Ring was broken at the end of the first film. The Two Towers found the members of the Fellowship scattered, but no less determined. Likewise, the Fellowship theme lacked the weight and heroism it once displayed, but it braved adversity unwaveringly. In The Return of the King, however, the Fellowship theme soars to new heights. At the story’s climax, the theme expands past the orchestral palette into the chorus which proudly sings, “Cyll e-Gorv, Le annon beth nín, Ú-erir aen han risto, Ú-erir aen han presto / Ringbearer, I give you my word, It cannot be broken. Nor turned aside, . . . “ as the Fellowship rushes the Black Gate.
THE SHIRE & THE HOBBITS
This theme is composed of basic and unadorned musical elements. The diatonic melody hints at a simple pentatonic scale while the harmonies present only a sensitive handful of chord changes. Because this tune is so simply and flexibly constructed, Shore is able to create several distinct variations out of the material. In The Return of the King, these variations are augmented by several distinct Heroic Settings of the Shire theme, which transform the gentle melody into a fanfare.
THE WORLD OF MEN: ROHAN
The Rohirrim’s love for their land is embedded in every turn of phrase present in their theme. The songful melody is equally at home in proclamatory brass or the intense, thoughtful strains of the Hardanger, a Norwegian fiddle. The Return of the King expands the theme, altering its intervals and modes and striking a more forceful profile as the Rohirrim ride to Gondor’s aid.
THE WORLD OF MEN: GONDOR
The Gondor music, which skirted the edges of Fellowship and The Two Towers, now comes to center stage as Mankind faces its greatest challenge. Two proud brass-dominated themes stand for Gondor in The Return of the King—the leaping Realm of Gondor theme and the more introspective Minas Tirith theme. The Realm of Gondor represents the kingdom’s might and pride, but it is the thoughtful Minas Tirith theme that will survive into the Fourth Age.
GOLLUM
Gollum’s Menace
The cimbalom, a distant relative of the dulcimer, represents Gollum’s heritage with twitchy chromatic figures. In The Two Towers this instrument represented but one aspect of Gollum’s split personality. In The Return of the King, however, Gollum has decided to kill the hobbits by leading them to Shelob, the giant spider. Thus, his villainous inclinations bared, this theme alone represents the character throughout most of The Return of the King.
Shelob
Shore’s music for Shelob is an orchestral tour de force, as well as the densest and most psychologically unsettling writing in the score. Though a recurring (and appropriately arachnidan) eight-note motif treads through the writing, it is the heavy web of orchestral counterpoint that makes Shelob so unique. Her music is written and orchestrated to undermine any sort of stability—a constant swarm of activity, tripping forwards and backwards unpredictably.
MORDOR
Mordor is morbid, threatening and sinister—this music favors low strings and the deepest registers of brass, fused to create a thick fog of overtones. Mixed choruses erupt into primal rhythms with abnormally close-spaced harmonies for a towering, ritualistic effect.
Mordor/Sauron (The Evil of the Ring)
The primary motif for Barad-dûr and Sauron is identical to the One Ring’s Evil theme. (The three are practically interchangeable story elements.) Shore uses this theme to portray the Ring’s “character,” but it also represents its effect upon the world.
NATURE’S RECLAMATION
The Nature music spends most of its existence resisting outward manifestations of emotion. It is rarely angry or vengeful. It is, instead, ethereal and restrained—resolute, perhaps, but as a musical balm for the imbalances in Middle-earth. But as the Orc themes infect the musical landscape of Middle-earth, Nature’s Reclamation is spurred to action. In The Return of the King, this theme aligns itself with Rohan as they ride to Gondor. In the end, however, it returns to Nature itself upon the arrival of the great Eagles.
THE ONE RING
The One Ring is the story’s most proactive element. It has three distinct themes to represent its multidimensional nature.
The History of the Ring
In each film, this theme is first heard as “The Lord of the Rings” text appears, and reappears whenever the One Ring changes hands or marks significant progress in its journey. In The Two Towers The History of the Ring intertwines with Gollum’s Pity theme to illustrate his besetting obsession with the Ring. But in The Return of the King, the History theme begins to intertwine with the Evil of the Ring as the Ring projects its legacy as a threat. Sauron’s hand may again claim the Ring. . .
The Seduction of the Ring
This theme, set in pure, clean choral tones and punctuated by rumbling bass drum strokes, represents the One Ring’s overwhelming allure.
The Evil of the Ring (Mordor/Sauron)
The third theme for the One Ring is an impervious snarl, limited to only four or five pitches, and unwavering in its focus. As with the other ancient powers of Middle-earth, Shore treats this theme to Eastern-tinted harmonic inflections suggesting a past age.
The Destruction of the Ring
The music for the destruction of the Ring and the collapse of Sauron’s domain represents the collision of the History, Seduction and Evil themes for the Ring, intertwining bits of each tune into a meditation on all the Ring has stood for and all that has been reconciled upon Sauron’s destruction. The Ring’s fall and Sauron’s withering complete the journey, vindicating the heroes’ plight and all suffering they have endured.
Original text copyright © 2005-2014 by Doug Adams
Additional information available in the book The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films by Doug Adams, and online at musicoflotr.com.