5. The Return Of Program Music
"I wonder if we'll ever be put into songs or tales." It's undeniable that Lord of the Rings has one of the most acclaimed, recognizable, and beloved soundtracks in recent memory. One of the reasons for the success of the songs in this series is the use of what's called 'program music'. While not everyone has a positive opinion of this concept, the idea is that the music doesn't play just to the action in the scene, but rather echos characters, ideas, or in some way attempts to tell a story itself. Certain motifs represent actual things. You see this throughout the trilogy. You can barely look at the picture above of Edoras without hearing the
slow, elongated chords on the Hardanger fiddle. The Ringwraiths had their trademark
deep ominous tones accompanied by choral grandeur, and the horns of Gondor
weren't just a metaphor. A great example of this use of motifs to accentuate characters is in
The Black Rider. In this track you can hear the flighty and light-hearted sounds of the tin whistle and fiddle representing the Hobbit's theme utterly disappear when the Ringwraiths show up. It's not just that the tone of the music changes, but an actual other character enters. This isn't a new technique, but it saw a return to prominence after Lord of the Rings came out. For example, consider The Joker's
entirely unsettling theme from The Dark Knight, or Jack Sparrow's
aloof and quirky accompaniment throughout the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Lord of the Rings may not have invented the art, but there certainly has been a lot more of it over the last decade or so.