Honestly, I already thought I had read an interview a year or so ago (definitely when
Guillermo del Toro was attached to direct) that Oscar winning composer
Howard Shore had already begun working on his score for
The Hobbit. I could be wrong however. Regardless,
Shore has this week confirmed his return;
Weve talked about making these movies for many years, at least since 2002. It looks like finally its going to be happening. Ill be working on it for the next three years its going to consume a lot of my time and work now.
If nothing else - Shore has probably experimented, jotted down ideas, spent many nights thinking - dreaming - for what his score for The Hobbit would end up being. I'm fairly certain he knows pretty much what he wants to achieve and it won't take him long to find that distinct Middle-Earth sound again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prZ4RWWku7Y Which is great news for all of us.
Been a while since we've heard anything on the casting front - here's hoping we find out the rest of the major players soon.