The Lord of the Rings is a MASTERCLASS in Theme Writing

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Id happily watch a hour of LOTR music analysis honestly

The LOTR soundtrack is one of the only scores that can consistently make my hair stand on end, my pulse rise, my courage swell and my tears fall. It never gets old, a perfect match to this legendary story

The flag of Rohan being ripped away by the wind was actually a happy accident as the crew was filming. They thought it was so perfect that they then added a scene in which the flag lands near Aragorn. And the music brings it together beautifully!

I'll never stop repeating this - even though the other greats, like Zimmer and Williams have written far more iconic soundtracks, the LOTR score is still by far the greatest achievement in film scoring.

When people don’t include LOTR in their top soundtracks of all time, I don’t trust them. It’s a masterpiece and so intricate.

FYI, Spotify has the complete 1:1 score for all three extended edition movies. It’s 12 hours of pure musical bliss

I love that Shore uses Hardanger fiddle to introduce the hauntingly beautiful Rohan theme. It feels delicate, ancient, and yet unwavering. Definitely my favorite theme in the trilogy.

You may know, but Shore also said that as he wrote the music with the original books as his guide, unintended but wonderful interplay among themes arose later in the score, which he attributed to Tolkien's astonishing writing.

The charge of the rohirrim is really one of the best scene I've seen in my entire life. Goosebumps every damn time, I love it !

I had the honor to sing the boy solo when the lotr symphony was first played on European soil in Antwerp Sportpaleis Belgium. Conducted by Howard Shore himself. I will never forget this!

Peter Jackson had one criteria for a theme - it had to be hummable. I love the fact that the first time you hear the Gondor theme is in solo French Horn over the Council of Elrond scene. You don't hear it properly until the arrival at Minas Tirith in Return of the King (unless you count the Osgiliath deleted scene in the Two Towers extended edition).

Howard Shore getting Enya to sing ‘May It Be’ was one of the best choices he made with the music. Amazing singer and she nailed that song.

Howard Shore created something really unique. He gave Middle Earth a voice, a soul, a feel. The scripts are amazing, the acting is as well. Everything about the Lord Of The Rings is magnificent. However the score added so much more to the entire work. As a composer myself I am so happy to live in a time in which people like Williams, Zimmer, Shore, Morricone, Elfman etc. give us these immortal treasures of music.

The music of the Lord of the Rings reminds us that there is still some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for.

I remember going to watch The Two Towers at the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra playing live...... it was then I realised that the score is literally playing all the way through the movie, and it made me realise just how incredibly important Howard Shore's score was. That trilogy would not have been the same without the incredibly hard work that Shore put in.

The Rohirrim arriving at the battle of Pelennor Fields is my favourite scene from any movie, ever. The music when they arrive making you feel the uncertainty of both armies, Theoden's incredible speech with the music building as the camera pans out to reveal the full might of the Rohirrim army, the "DEEEAATH!" battle cry, deafening horn sounding, and then that epic charge. Gets me every time without fail.

Hans Zimmer has created some really interesting themes and sounds that live in my head. I've listened to John Williams literally as long as I can remember, and the music of Star Wars in particular is written on my heart. But with Lord of the Rings, Howard Shore somehow set up shop in my soul, and never left.

I’d thoroughly recommend the book “The Music of The Lord of the Rings” by Doug Adams, who was able to sit in on much of the music-making process of the films. It covers every single theme used in the trilogy and then musically analyses every scene from start to finish

Choosing Howard Shore to write the soundtrack was probably the best thing Peter Jackson did in directing these movies. It's perfect. So glad you made this video!