Music of The Hobbit film series

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The Hobbit
Operatic film score cycle by Howard Shore
Related The Lord of the Rings
Text J. R. R. Tolkien, Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh, Howard Shore
LanguageEnglish, fictional languages (Sindarin, Quenya, Khuzdul, Black Speech, Adunaic)
Composed2010 (2010)–2014
Movements78 movements (in three parts)
Scoring
  • Soprano
  • baritone
  • tenor
  • mixed choir
  • boy choir
  • "Hobbit Band"
  • Gamelan orchestra
  • pipe organ
  • symphony orchestra

The music of The Hobbit film series is composed, orchestrated, and produced by Howard Shore, who scored all three The Lord of the Rings films, to which The Hobbit film trilogy is a prequel series. It continues the style of The Lord of the Rings score, using a vast ensemble, multiple musical forms and styles, many leitmotifs, and unusual instruments.

Contents

Shore composed over nine hours of music, featuring many new themes and reprising 50 themes from The Lord of the Rings. The score calls for an ensemble of a symphony orchestra, stage "bands" featuring non-orchestral instruments, multiple choirs, and several vocal soloists.

While not as widely admired by critics as his The Lord of the Rings, Shore's score remained a financial success, peaking in the top ten album charts in multiple countries, and garnering award nominations. The setting of the "Misty Mountains" tune became popular. The score has since been performed as a symphonic piece in four movements for orchestra and soloist. The score and its production were the subject of an hour-long documentary film created for the behind-the-scenes features of The Desolation of Smaug.

With these three scores added to the music of The Lord of the Rings film series, Shore has composed by far the largest collection of themes in the history of cinema, and one of the biggest for any cycle of musical compositions.

Structure of the music

Approach

Following the style of his music for The Lord of the Rings film series, Howard Shore constructed the score for The Hobbit using many strong recognisable musical themes. The musicologist Doug Adams described these as "an encyclopedic network of leitmotifs: dozens of themes that represented cultures, characters, objects, and dramatic concepts in Middle-earth." [1] Individual themes change and evolve to signal the evolution of characters in the story. For example, Adams writes, the home-loving Bilbo's "Shire" theme starts out with "safe, warm harmonies and cozy melodic contours." The theme then "moves into a new key and exposes Bilbo’s emerging thirst for excitement with leaping intervals and a stout, confident tone" [1] In contrast, the leader of the Dwarves, Thorin Oakenshield, seeking to regain his Kingdom under the mountain of Erebor, has a "proud, compact figure rising in three horn-calls, but remaining stubbornly affixed to its root (A–C; A–D; A–E)." [1] Different again is the Elf-queen Galadriel's theme, an elegant Arabic maqam hijaz played on a woodwind instrument, the cor anglais. This accompanies female voices singing in Elvish Ninque sile mise nár / Nóna silme andané, meaning "A white fire shines within her / The light of a star, born long ago”". [1]

As for The Lord of the Rings, Shore used an immense ensemble, including a symphony orchestra of 94 to 96 pieces; SATBB and boy choirs and vocal soloists; additional instruments to augment the orchestra in select passages, and onstage instrumental "bands". Overall, more than 300 pieces are used.

Soloists

As with The Lord of the Rings, many soloists performed in all three films. To support the more Dwarf-centric story, the singers of the end-credit songs were all men, contrasting with the female ensemble for The Lord of the Rings. [2] This included Neil Finn, who performed "Song of the Lonely Mountain" in An Unexpected Journey, [3] [4] and later Ed Sheeran and Billy Boyd. Richard Armitage appears as a cast performer in the film itself. James Nesbitt performs a song of his own composition in the extended edition of An Unexpected Journey, while Barry Humphries performs two songs (one of them only in the Extended Edition).

Within the underscore, Shore utilized soprano voices, featuring Clara Sanabras and Grace Davidson, often in conjunction with the music of nature or the Elves. Unlike in The Lord of the Rings, no boy sopranos or young girls were called for in the score.

Songs

As with The Lord of the Rings, the scores from The Hobbit were largely vocal works, including choirs and soloists, as well as diegetic music, and songs for the end-credits of each film.

Source Songs

Blunt the knives, bend the forks!
Smash the bottles and burn the corks!
Chip the glasses and crack the plates –
That’s what Bilbo Baggins hates!

Verse 1 of "Blunt the Knives", from
The Hobbit , ch. 1 "An Unexpected Party"

  • "Blunt the Knives": lyrics by J. R. R. Tolkien, [5] musical setting by Stephen Gallagher. Performed by the Dwarf cast.
  • "Misty Mountains": lyrics by J. R. R. Tolkien, [5] musical setting by Plan 9 and David Long. It is transformed into a theme that appears in Shore's underscore.
  • "The man in the Moon": Composed and performed by James Nesbitt.
  • "Down in Goblin Town": Composed by Stephen Gallagher.
  • "The Torture Song": Composed by Stephen Gallagher and Fran Walsh.

End-credits songs

  • Song of the Lonely Mountain: Composed by David Long, Plan 9 and Neil Finn. Orchestrated and arranged by Victoria Kelly under the supervision of Howard Shore and performed by Neil Finn and sons and the London Metropolitan Orchestra. It is another setting of the "Misty Mountains" melody.
  • "I See Fire": Composed and performed by Ed Sheeran.
  • "The Last Goodbye": Composed by Billy Boyd. Orchestrated and arranged by Victoria Kelly under Shore's supervision. Performed by Billy Boyd and the London Metropolitan Orchestra.

Diegetic music

Shore composed "The Valley of Imladris" - a diegetic piece (heard by the characters) for lute, lyre, wood flute and harp performed in Rivendell. It is a recapitulation of a piece of music introduced in the underscore previously as Elrond rides into Rivendell to meet the Dwarves. Shore also composed the horn-call at the end of the Battle of the Five Armies, a statement of the Erebor theme. Sound effects used in Mirkwood and the Treasure Hoard scene, while non-diegetic, were performed by the orchestra and feature on the album.

Other diegetic music was composed by The Elvish Impersonators, Stephen Gallaghar and members of the cast, including the source songs and a "trumpet fanfare" that sends the Dwarves off to the Lonely Mountain.

Concert suites

In The Lord of the Rings original soundtrack releases, several pieces of music were edited out of their film order to create a concert-like program, with concert suites of various themes. With The Hobbit, the original release has been expanded and features most of the music from the film in its chronological order. Some of the pieces of music were edited or even conceived as concert suites:

"The Hobbit in Four Movements" is a symphony program constructed from "A Very Respectable Hobbit", "Beyond the Forest", "Smaug" and "Ironfoot".

Recordings

An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit:
An Unexpected Journey
The Hobbit 1 CD Cover.jpg
Soundtrack album by
Released12 December 2012
Recorded2012
StudioAbbey Road Studios in London, England
Length1:48:49 (Standard Edition)
2:07:03 (Special Edition)
Label WaterTower Music, Decca Records
Producer Howard Shore, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens
Special Edition cover
Hobbit alternative.jpg
Disc 1
No.TitleLength
1."My Dear Frodo"8:04
2."Old Friends"4:29
3."An Unexpected Party"3:52
4."Axe or Sword?"5:59
5."Misty Mountains" (Music by David Donaldson, David Long, Steve Roche and Janet Roddick; [9] performed by Richard Armitage and The Dwarf Cast)1:42
6."The Adventure Begins"2:06
7."The World is Ahead"2:18
8."An Ancient Enemy"4:58
9."Radagast the Brown"4:54
10."Roast Mutton" (Contains excerpts of "Misty Mountains" by Donaldson, Long, Roche and Roddick [9] )4:03
11."A Troll-Hoard"2:39
12."The Hill of Sorcery"3:51
13."Warg-Scouts"3:05
Disc 2
No.TitleLength
1."The Hidden Valley"3:50
2."Moon Runes"3:20
3."The Defiler"1:15
4."The White Council"7:20
5."Over Hill" (Contains excerpts of "Misty Mountains" by Donaldson, Long, Roche and Roddick [9] )3:43
6."A Thunder Battle"3:55
7."Under Hill"1:54
8."Riddles in the Dark"5:22
9."Brass Buttons"7:38
10."Out of the Frying-Pan"5:54
11."A Good Omen"5:46
12."Song of the Lonely Mountain" (Lyrics and Performance by Neil Finn, [10] music by Finn, Donaldson, Long, Roche and Roddick [9] )4:10
13."Dreaming of Bag End"1:49
Special edition

The two-disc special edition contains six bonus tracks and six extended tracks.

Disc 1
No.TitleLength
1."My Dear Frodo"8:03
2."Old Friends" (Extended Version)5:00
3."An Unexpected Party" (Extended Version)4:08
4."Blunt the Knives" (Lyrics by J. R. R. Tolkien, music by Stephen Gallagher; performed by The Dwarf Cast, [9] exclusive bonus track)1:01
5."Axe or Sword?"5:59
6."Misty Mountains" (Performed by Richard Armitage and The Dwarf Cast)1:42
7."The Adventure Begins"2:04
8."The World is Ahead" (Contains excerpts of "Misty Mountains" by Donaldson, Long, Roche and Roddick [9] )2:19
9."An Ancient Enemy"4:56
10."Radagast the Brown" (Extended Version)6:37
11."The Trollshaws" (Exclusive Bonus Track)2:08
12."Roast Mutton" (Extended Version)4:56
13."A Troll-Hoard"2:38
14."The Hill of Sorcery"3:50
15."Warg-Scouts"3:02
Disc 2
No.TitleLength
1."The Hidden Valley"3:50
2."Moon Runes" (Extended Version)3:39
3."The Defiler"1:14
4."The White Council" (Extended Version)9:40
5."Over Hill" (Contains excerpts of "Misty Mountains" by Donaldson, Long, Roche and Roddick [9] )3:42
6."A Thunder Battle"3:54
7."Under Hill"1:54
8."Riddles in the Dark"5:21
9."Brass Buttons"7:37
10."Out of the Frying-Pan"5:55
11."A Good Omen"5:45
12."Song of the Lonely Mountain" (Lyrics and Performance by Neil Finn, [10] Extended Version)6:00
13."Dreaming of Bag End"1:56
14."A Very Respectable Hobbit" (Exclusive Bonus Track)1:20
15."Erebor" (Exclusive Bonus Track)1:19
16."The Dwarf Lords" (Exclusive Bonus Track)2:01
17."The Edge of the Wild" (Contains excerpts of "Misty Mountains" by Donaldson, Long, Roche and Roddick; [9] Exclusive Bonus Track)3:34

Ratings

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [11]
Examiner.com A+ [12]
Filmtracks.com Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [13]
Movie Music UKStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [14]
Music MuseStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [15]
MovieCuesStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [16]
TracksoundsStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [17]
Movie WaveStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [18]

The full score was nominated at the 11th Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards, [19] and "Song of the Lonely Mountain" received a nomination for the Houston Film Critics Society Awards. [20] In 2013, the score for An Unexpected Journey ranked ninth out of one hundred in Classic FM's top film scores. The album charted in several countries, reaching the top ten album charts in Korea and the United States. It was awarded a golden record certification in Canada.

Weekly charts
Chart (2012–13)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [21] 45
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [22] 16
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [23] 25
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [24] 54
French Albums (SNEP) [25] 70
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [26] 14
Irish Albums (IRMA) [27] 79
South Korean International Albums (Circle) [28] 8
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [29] 40
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [30] 32
Polish Albums (ZPAV) [31] 28
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [32] 28
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [33] 52
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [34] 40
UK Albums (OCC) [35] 61
US Billboard 200 [36] 30
US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard) [37] 3
US Top Independent Albums (Billboard) [38] 3
Year-end charts
Chart (2013)Position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [39] 187
US Billboard 200 [40] 194
US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard) [41] 7
Certifications
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [42] Gold40,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

The Desolation of Smaug

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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The Hobbit 2 CD Cover.jpeg
Soundtrack album by
Released10 December 2013
Recorded2013
StudioWellington Town Hall in Wellington, New Zealand
Length1:56:27 (Standard Edition)
2:09:17 (Special Edition)
Label WaterTower Music, Decca Records
Producer Howard Shore, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens
Special Edition Cover