News
| 15 May 2023: | All new version 2.0 of the desktop app released. Features an improved interface and adds choral pieces and songs to the index. |
| January 2015: | Initial release of desktop application. |
| August 2014: | Initial release of iOS application. |
About
The Music of Middle-earth is an unofficial companion app to index Howard Shore's music for the Lord of the Rings films.
The score consists of more than 80 leitmotifs or themes that relate to specific characters, locations or cultures of Middle-earth. This app attempts to list occurrences of all themes throughout the soundtrack and provides an interactive way to listen to them:
- Play sections that contain specific themes.
- Go through all themes that are part of a single track.
- Display currently playing theme(s) while listening to the full tracks.
The app includes information about the following albums:
-
The "Original Soundtrack" (OST) albums released between 2001 and 2003:
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King -
The "Complete Recordings" (CR) albums released between 2005 and 2007:
The Fellowship of the Ring - The Complete Recordings
The Two Towers - The Complete Recordings
The Return of the King - The Complete Recordings - The " Rarities Archive " (RA) released 2010 together with " The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films " by Doug Adams
The full list of theme timestamps (sorted by both track and theme) can also be found here.
Resources
-
The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films
(Amazon)
A comprehensive account of Howard Shore's scores by Doug Adams, and the essential resource behind this project. It gives deep insight into the themes, the score, the recording sessions, and more. -
The Lord of the Rings Score Analysis Project
A collaborative attempt to catalog and analyse Howard Shore's music for the Lord of the Rings films. This list served as a basis for the application and was modified to better reflect the analysis in "The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films" by Doug Adams. -
A Magpie's Nest (Wayback Machine link)
A truly excellent resource about the Lord of the Rings score and everything surrounding it. There is not only discussion about the themes but also the instruments, lyrics to the choral pieces, and much more. Unfortunately the page is no longer online as of 2019.
Contact
This project was created by Tizian Zeltner.
For feedback or any comments, feel free to send me a message.
Acknowledgements
This project isn't affiliated with Middle-earth Enterprises , the Tolkien Estate , New Line Cinema , Warner Brothers , WingNut Films , Doug Adams , or Howard Shore .
All copyrighs and trademarks for the books, films, and soundtrack music and lyrics are held by their respective owners.