A leitmotif or Leitmotiv is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of idée fixe or motto-theme. The spelling leitmotif is a partial anglicization of the German Leitmotiv, literally meaning "leading motif", or "guiding motif". A musical motif has been defined as a "short musical idea ... melodic, harmonic, or rhythmic, or all three", a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition: "the smallest structural unit possessing thematic identity".
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to enhance the dramatic narrative and the emotional impact of the scene in question. Scores are written by one or more composers under the guidance of or in collaboration with the film's director or producer and are then most often performed by an ensemble of musicians – usually including an orchestra or band, instrumental soloists, and choir or vocalists – known as playback singers – and recorded by a sound engineer. The term is less frequently applied to music written for media such as live theatre, television and radio programs, and video games, and said music is typically referred to as either the soundtrack or incidental music.
Howard Leslie Shore is a Canadian composer, conductor and orchestrator noted for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies. He won three Academy Awards for his work on The Lord of the Rings, with one being for the song "Into the West", an award he shared with Eurythmics lead vocalist Annie Lennox and writer/producer Fran Walsh, who wrote the lyrics. He is a consistent collaborator with director David Cronenberg, having scored all but one of his films since 1979, and collaborated with Martin Scorsese on six of his films.
The Siegfried Idyll, WWV 103, by Richard Wagner is a symphonic poem for chamber orchestra.
The music of The Lord of the Rings film series was composed, orchestrated, conducted and produced by Howard Shore between 2000 and 2004 to support Peter Jackson's film trilogy based on J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel of the same name. It is notable in terms of length of the score, the size of the staged forces, the unusual instrumentation, the featured soloists, the multitude of musical styles and the number of recurring musical themes used.
The Dark Knight: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 2008 film of the same name, which is a sequel to Christopher Nolan's 2005 film Batman Begins. The soundtrack was released on July 15, 2008, in three editions: CD, limited edition CD digipak, and digital download. The 2-CD Special Edition was released on December 9, along with the DVD. A limited edition 180-gram vinyl LP was released on August 12. The soundtrack was composed by Batman Begins collaborators Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard and recorded in April.
A Dangerous Method is a 2011 historical drama film directed by David Cronenberg. The film stars Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender, Sarah Gadon, and Vincent Cassel. Its screenplay was adapted by writer Christopher Hampton from his 2002 stage play The Talking Cure, which was based on the 1993 non-fiction book by John Kerr, A Most Dangerous Method: The Story of Jung, Freud, and Sabina Spielrein.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on 10 December 2002. The score was composed, orchestrated, and conducted by Howard Shore, and performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Voices, and the London Oratory School Schola. The Two Towers comes in a regular and a limited edition, which was an exclusive to Target in the US. This latter relates contains the additional track "Farewell to Lórien" from the extended edition to The Fellowship of the Ring.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the soundtrack for the 2003 epic fantasy adventure film of the same name. The score was composed, orchestrated, and conducted by Howard Shore, and performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Voices, and the London Oratory School Schola. The soundtrack was released on 25 November 2003. The limited edition contains a bonus DVD with the track "Use Well the Days" by Annie Lennox, song texts, photo gallery, and a Lord of the Rings trilogy supertrailer.
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the score album composed and produced by James Newton Howard for the 2018 film of the same name. The film marked Howard's second score for a live-action Disney film after Maleficent (2014). Howard, about the film score, described it as "The score is very traditional – a big orchestra score – with lots of woodwinds and strings, plus tinkle bells and celeste and chorale music".
The original score to the 2011 Martin Scorsese-directed historical drama film Hugo featured music composed by Scorsese's norm collaborator Howard Shore. It was released by his own label Howe Records on November 15, 2011 under the title Hugo (Original Score) and has 21 tracks from the selections of his score running for nearly an-hour, unlike the initial score which lasted for one-hour and seventeen minutes, being the extensive score he composed for Scorsese's films. The full score would be later unveiled as a part of For Your Consideration for the 2011–2012 film awards season. It also featured an original song "Cœur volant" performed by French singer-songwriter Zaz, that was used in the end credits.
The music to the 2011 science fiction sports drama film Real Steel directed by Shawn Levy, featured a compilation of songs by popular artists as heard in the film and an album that contains the original score written and composed by Danny Elfman. The first album, Real Steel – Music from the Motion Picture, was released on October 4, 2011 by Interscope Records. It consists of 13 tracks featuring artists including Foo Fighters, Tom Morello, Eminem, Royce da 5'9", The Crystal Method, Yelawolf, 50 Cent and Limp Bizkit. Elfman's score that featured over 17 tracks, was released into a separate album as Real Steel – Original Score on November 8, 2011 by Varèse Sarabande.
District 9: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 2009 film District 9. The album, produced by Clinton Shorter, was released by Madison Gate Records on August 18, 2009, four days after the film's release, and features 11 tracks. An expanded edition of the album was released on November 24, 2014, by Spacelab9, featuring eight additional tracks in double disc CD and vinyl LP record formats.
Cosmopolis: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 2012 film Cosmopolis directed by David Cronenberg starring Robert Pattinson. It featured musical score composed by Cronenberg's regular collaborator Howard Shore and the Canadian indie rock band Metric, who jointly composed and produced the album. The album was released through Shore's Howe Records label on 4 June 2012.
Maps to the Stars (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2014 film Maps to the Stars directed by David Cronenberg starring Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, John Cusack, Robert Pattinson, Olivia Williams, Sarah Gadon, and Evan Bird. The film's musical score is composed by Cronenberg's regular collaborator Howard Shore whose soundtrack was released on September 9, 2014, through Shore's label Howe Records.
Salt (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2010 film Salt. The film's original score is composed by James Newton Howard and released through Madison Gate Records through iTunes on July 20, 2010, and physically as an on-demand CD-R from Amazon.com on August 10, 2010.
The Monuments Men (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2014 film The Monuments Men directed by George Clooney. The film's musical score is composed by Alexandre Desplat and consists of a huge symphonic orchestral score, recorded within a short span of time. It was released through Sony Classical Records on February 4, 2014 to critical acclaim.
After Earth (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2013 film After Earth directed by M. Night Shyamalan and starring Jaden Smith and Will Smith; the film's score is composed by James Newton Howard whose inclusion was confirmed in July 2012. After Earth is Howard's seventh and final collaboration with Shyamalan, who worked on all of the films beginning with The Sixth Sense (1999). Sony Masterworks released the 28-track score album on May 28, 2013.
Men in Black II (Music from the Motion Picture) is the soundtrack to the 2002 film Men in Black II directed by Barry Sonnenfeld; a sequel to Men in Black (1997) and the second instalment in the eponymous film trilogy starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, reprising their roles from the predecessor. The soundtrack released through Columbia Records on June 25, 2002 and featured original score composed by Danny Elfman and three songs—"Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)" by Will Smith and Trā-Knox, "Who Let the Dogs Out" by Baha Men and "I Will Survive" by Tim Blaney—the former of which was released as a single on May 13, 2002.
Two soundtracks were released for the 1996 disaster film Twister: an album consisting of rock-music singles, many of which were exclusive releases for the film and a traditional orchestral film score composed by Mark Mancina. Both the albums featured an instrumental theme song "Respect the Wind" composed and performed for the film by Alex and Eddie Van Halen. Twister: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on May 7, 1996 through Warner Bros. Records in CD, LP and cassettes, while Twister: Motion Picture Score was released through Atlantic Records three months later, on August 13, 1996. An expanded edition consisting of more orchestral music which was not included in the first release was issued by La-La Land Records and released on January 17, 2017.
