Howard’s Shore scores for ‘The Lord of the Rings’ films are full of voices. They are used to accompany the cultures of Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits and Men and are the primary way we as listeners hear, and engage with, J.R.R. Tolkien’s language and poetry. But this vocal music is as much associated with darkness as it is light.
In this first of three videos looking at Howard’s Shore music for ‘The Lord of the Rings’, I consider how Shore uses voices, and choral music, to accompany the One Ring’s journey, from the Shire, all the way to the fires of Mount Doom.