The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

For discussion of the upcoming films based on The Hobbit and related material, as well as previous films based on Tolkien's work
Post Reply
User avatar
Elentári
Posts: 5199
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2009 6:03 pm
Location: Green Hill Country

Re: The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

Post by Elentári »

Hollywood Music in Media Award & 2014 Maestro Award for Howard Shore and the score for Desolation of Smaug

Shore has been honoured for his wide-ranging body of work with the Maestro Award at the Billboard/The Hollywood Reporter Film & TV Music Conference at Universal Studios in Universal City. Meanwhile, film scores were recognized across three genres: feature went to The Fault in Our Stars; sci-fi or fantasy went to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and animated film went to How to Train Your Dragon 2.

Further articles from the Hollywood Reporter:

'Lord of the Rings' Composer Howard Shore on Scoring 80 Movies: "I Often Felt Like Frodo"

and Billboard: http://www.billboard.com/articles/63042 ... ings-music
There’s obviously a lot of continuity, musically and otherwise, between The Lord of the Rings films and The Hobbit. But what about the differences in your approaches to the two trilogies?

The books are different. The Hobbit was written before The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien wrote it in the ‘30s and he read it to his children as a bedtime story, so it definitely has a lighter tone to it. The Lord of the Rings was of course written later, during the '40s. The war was raging at that point, so it has a more serious tone. The journey in each is different. The Lord of the Rings is about a much bigger, more serious world that is on the verge of destruction by a great evil force -- the world could collapse. The Hobbit is a story that’s not quite as serious. The stakes aren’t quite as high.

How is that expressed musically? Were there orchestrations or groupings that you had used in The Lord of the Rings where you thought, 'This isn’t going to be appropriate for The Hobbit'?

The instrumentation for both stories basically remained the same. The symphony orchestra was the primary instrument, with a large mixed adult choir, a children’s choir and soloists. And many solo instruments were used from the four points of the compass to show the range and the differences in Tolkien’s descriptions of Middle Earth.

Any instruments you hadn’t used before?

We used a lot of eastern and African instruments in The Lord of the Rings. But in The Hobbit we used a gamelan, which is a wonderful, very exotic eastern instrument. It was used in the scenes with the dragon Smaug. So the gamelan really took on the character of Smaug. I had previously used things like Tibetan hanging gongs and Chinese cymbals, but the gamelan was a new color. Doug Adams wrote a book [The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films: A Comprehensive Account of Howard Shore’s Scores]. And in that book, which was just based on the first trilogy, he identified over 80 themes and leitmotifs that were used. So with The Hobbit films now, we’re well over a hundred.

Were you surprised to learn you had written more than 80 themes and leitmotifs?

No, because we went step by step. A few years ago we did a concert in New York, and Tolkien’s papers were being shown in a public library and I got to see them for the first time. And it was interesting how his journey and ours were similar in a sense. He was constantly trying to take one step in front of the other. He didn’t have the whole story completely mapped out. And I think everybody who worked on the films went on a similar kind of journey, where you just kind of took one step forward at a time. It was too large and massive a project to really conceptualize so perfectly before you started. You kind of just threw yourself into it: you absorbed the book and the ideas and then collaborated with a lot of other people who were great artists from all over the world who brought all of their own ideas about Tolkien. The inspiration was all around and all you had to do was be open and receptive to it, and contribute something as well. And in my case I contributed music.
There is magic in long-distance friendships. They let you relate to other human beings in a way that goes beyond being physically together and is often more profound.
~Diana Cortes
User avatar
Dave_LF
Wrong within normal parameters
Posts: 7039
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2006 10:59 am

Re: The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

Post by Dave_LF »

30-second soundtracks samples now available. Possibly not for long:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hobbit-Original ... The+Hobbit
User avatar
Smaug's voice
Nibonto Aagun
Posts: 1085
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2013 9:21 am

Re: The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

Post by Smaug's voice »

"The Last Goodbye"

:love: :love: :love:
User avatar
Elentári
Posts: 5199
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2009 6:03 pm
Location: Green Hill Country

Re: The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

Post by Elentári »

Listening right now! :love:
There is magic in long-distance friendships. They let you relate to other human beings in a way that goes beyond being physically together and is often more profound.
~Diana Cortes
User avatar
Alatar
of Vinyamar
Posts: 10778
Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2005 11:39 pm
Location: Ireland
Contact:

Re: The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

Post by Alatar »

Ooh, loving that snippet of The Last Goodbye!
Image
The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End
User avatar
Elentári
Posts: 5199
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2009 6:03 pm
Location: Green Hill Country

Re: The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

Post by Elentári »

In terms of really strong, standout themes this time, Sons of Durin and Ironfoot are top of the heap! Need to hear more of Last Goodbye before I make a judgement, 'tho I will say the sample is reminiscent of Into the West
There is magic in long-distance friendships. They let you relate to other human beings in a way that goes beyond being physically together and is often more profound.
~Diana Cortes
User avatar
Voronwë the Faithful
At the intersection of here and now
Posts: 47800
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2005 1:41 am
Contact:

Re: The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

I'm feeling ridiculously optimistic about this film right now. Quick, someone say something negative!

One thing that is cleared up is that it specifies that "Thrain" is a bonus track from the DoS EE.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
User avatar
Smaug's voice
Nibonto Aagun
Posts: 1085
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2013 9:21 am

Re: The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

Post by Smaug's voice »

Elentári wrote:In terms of really strong, standout themes this time, Sons of Durin and Ironfoot are top of the heap! Need to hear more of Last Goodbye before I make a judgement, 'tho I will say the sample is reminiscent of Into the West
Hey, Elen. How did you read my mind?
Passdagas the Brown
Posts: 3154
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:31 pm

Re: The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

Post by Passdagas the Brown »

"The Fallen" music is the best, IMO. It was also used in DOS, during the scene where the dwarves look upon all their dead kin in Erebor. Heart-breaking, yet subtle.
User avatar
Voronwë the Faithful
At the intersection of here and now
Posts: 47800
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2005 1:41 am
Contact:

Re: The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

I wish you would stop taking things out of my head and saying them. It is most disconcerting!
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Passdagas the Brown
Posts: 3154
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:31 pm

Re: The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

Post by Passdagas the Brown »

I live in your brain! Muahaha!
Passdagas the Brown
Posts: 3154
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:31 pm

Re: The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

Post by Passdagas the Brown »

Hmmm....

"The Fallen," which sounds like a funerary song, comes before two long and very action-oriented pieces of music, "Ravenhill" and "To the Death." Might this mean that there's still a lot of action after Fili and Kili are killed? That would not be in violation of canon, or anything, but I wonder if a lot of Azogy and orcish blah dee blah after their deaths will rob them a bit of their poignancy.

I say only Fili and Kili, because "Courage And Wisdom" comes after "To the Death," and I am assuming that title refers to Thorin's words to Bilbo, as he lay dying.
User avatar
Voronwë the Faithful
At the intersection of here and now
Posts: 47800
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2005 1:41 am
Contact:

Re: The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

Voronwë the Faithful wrote:I wish you would stop taking things out of my head and saying them. It is most disconcerting!
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
User avatar
Elentári
Posts: 5199
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2009 6:03 pm
Location: Green Hill Country

Re: The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

Post by Elentári »

The Special Edition Album of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is now up for pre-order in the iTunes US store, and along with that pre-order come 90-second samples for each track!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/hobbi ... mpt=uo%3D4
There is magic in long-distance friendships. They let you relate to other human beings in a way that goes beyond being physically together and is often more profound.
~Diana Cortes
Passdagas the Brown
Posts: 3154
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:31 pm

Re: The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

Post by Passdagas the Brown »

I'd advise not listening to the 90 second clips. The shorter clips sampled from more interesting parts of each track, IMO. Frankly, these are all very underwhelming. A long stretch of it sounds almost phoned in.
Passdagas the Brown
Posts: 3154
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:31 pm

Re: The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

Post by Passdagas the Brown »

Interestingly, every closing credit song for the Hobbit films were sung by men, while every closing credit song for the LOTR films were sung by women...
User avatar
Voronwë the Faithful
At the intersection of here and now
Posts: 47800
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2005 1:41 am
Contact:

Re: The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

In fact, I would advise skipping the movie altogether. Clearly, the whole production has been "phoned in".
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
User avatar
Smaug's voice
Nibonto Aagun
Posts: 1085
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2013 9:21 am

Re: The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

Post by Smaug's voice »

Sorry, but how do I play the tracks?
Passdagas the Brown
Posts: 3154
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:31 pm

Re: The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

Post by Passdagas the Brown »

Seriously, though. The shorter clips are much better, as I think they sample from evocative portions of each track, rather than just starting at the beginning. Avoid the 90 second versions, if you can.
Passdagas the Brown
Posts: 3154
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:31 pm

Re: The Music of the Hobbit (Now with possible Spoilers)

Post by Passdagas the Brown »

Smaug's voice wrote:Sorry, but how do I play the tracks?
Hit the play button to the left of each track.
Post Reply