Music Chart RP Style - w/c 8 June 2020

This week is Lord of the Rings. Josie and I have embarked on the first half of the marathon - all 3 Lord of the Rings in 5 days - and it has been AWESOME. Howard Shore has only done a few films, as far as I can, but he did the most epic ones in my opinion. I'm trying to picture this film with a Hans Zimmer score and I just can't.

I grew up with these films. The Fellowship of the Ring came out when I was 10, and for the following 2 birthdays that's what we did for my party... we saw Lord of the Rings. And I did the same thing when The Hobbit was released in 2012-2014 as well.

I just love them, and the music is FANTASTIC. Each area of Middle Earth has it's own motif, so from the music you can tell exactly where the characters are.

This week I have 15, because as easy as it would be to do 10 songs from each film, I'd basically be describing the entire film to you... so I have elected to do 5 from each film.

I wish I could include everything, because I just love them all, but if you stay tuned to the next few weeks or months of these blog posts, I'm sure the others will turn up eventually!

Remember you can find the playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5uvGPB5HsOhdICfOxGVqDZ?si=5ZD8MUgfR460EgVbAhb45Q

And you can find all my previous top 10s at this playlist as well, in case you missed them: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5fhY81wTXMPjzRRKu2CAbY?si=KZPBcKEbT1G1PPKKGFtjRA

These first 5 are from The Fellowship of the Ring... Released 19 December 2001, and even though it was nearly 20 years ago, I can still remember pretty much every line... much to my sister's annoyance.

NUMBER 15.

Bag End - Howard Shore (feat. Sir Ian McKellen)

This first one is from the Extended Recordings album, which is the entire film in musical terms, so includes things missing from the original soundtracks. Here is where Frodo goes to meet Gandalf and you hear the lovely Sir Ian McKellen's singing to himself. It's followed by the beautiful Shire motifs, with the drums, fiddle and strings as Bilbo goes into what makes the Shire so special.

NUMBER 14.

The Black Rider - Howard Shore

It starts off jolly, as Sam, Frodo, Merry and Pippin get chased out of farmer Maggot's field... but the scene takes a scary turn as they meet a Ringwraith, helped by an epic use of choir. I don't know about anyone else, but I spent half the film in 2001 hiding in my sister's lap because the Ringwraiths scared me shitless. The horses were cool, but the horrible screams and ghoulish nature of the Ringwraith, no thank you! I think Peter Jackson did an incredible job bringing them to life.

NUMBER 13.

Give Up The Halfling - Howard Shore

This one is in the extended recordings as well, and starts with Arwen finding Strider (as he was known back then!) in the woods with the hobbits. As it plays in my ears I can hear the elvish and the 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING? THOSE WRAITHS ARE STILL OUT THERE!' from Sam as Arwen gallops off with Frodo in her protection. We revisit the choired chants of the Ringwraiths as she is pursued, ending with her spell on the river. A beautiful mix of Elvish and Evil, and a beautiful score.

NUMBER 12.

Balin's Tomb - Howard Shore

"Let me risk a little more light..." says Gandalf and shows off the spectacular size of the Great Hall in Moria. The scene is then followed by "We have a cave troll" action next to Balin's Tomb, but the horns and strings which show off the magnificence of Dwarrowdelf are fantastic. I really wish you could see this set... but unfortunately most of it is CGI.

NUMBER 11.

The Breaking of the Fellowship - Howard Shore (feat. Edward Ross)

It's the part where the Fellowship go their separate ways; Frodo and Sam heading off to Mordor, Boromir's tearful goodbye to his king and his captain, and then Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli heading off the opposite way to hunt down the Orc pack across the plains of Rohan. It has everything, and the song in the credits, In Dreams, is beautiful as well, leaving us with a little bit of hope of the second one.

Okay now we move on to The Two Towers... my sister's favourite. I love this one because we meet Rohan and... well I'll get to that! Lots of horse tracks.

NUMBER 10.

Glamdring - Howard Shore

Frodo's dream; Gandalf vs Balrog. This score is found in the Extended Recordings, but you can hear the familiar music from Khazad Dum in the first film, the choir chants and the choral phrases as they fall into what looks like a pool of water before Frodo wakes up with a start...

NUMBER 9.

The Riders of Rohan - Howard Shore

'RIDERS OF ROHAN! WHAT NEWS FROM THE MARK!' Here you hear the iconic Rohan motif for the first time, but it's a mixture of scenes. It's Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli meeting Eomer, it's the three plus Gandalf and Shadowfax travelling to Edoras and it's Aragorn saving Grima from being stabbed by Theoden (even though he should have been and would have saved Rohan a lot of trouble). It's a bit of everything, but it's iconic because Aragorn meets the BABE that is Eomer. And I love Eomer!

NUMBER 8.

Breath of Life - Howard Shore (feat. Sheila Chandra)

In the original cut of Lord of the Rings, you don't see Aragorn calming a horse in the stables, you just see this random horse coming to save him after he falls off the cliff. But in the extended version, you learn he was Theodred's horse, and Brego saving Aragorn makes sense. But here you hear the whole track; Sheila Chandra's elvish song whilst Arwen kisses Aragorn, then when Brego safely gets Aragorn back to Helm's Deep. Beautiful.

NUMBER 7.

The Last March of the Ents - Howard Shore (feat. Ben Del Maestro)

This is the most epic bit of the film. The Ents marching on Isengard after Saruman burned the forests to set the fires of Isengard alight. A wizard should know better. The boy they use to do those short but powerful choral section has a beautiful voice, and speaking as a member of a choir, it is important you get these epic bits right. We did this bit for our concert a couple of years ago and it felt AMAZING to be able to sing it. GO ENTS!

NUMBER 6.

Forth Eorlingas - Howard Shore (feat. Ben Del Maestro)

This song is literally giving me goosebumps as I type this. Literally. And it's Ben Del Maestro again. It's Gandalf and the Rohirrim riding down the hill to save the day, and it's EPIC. I can't even describe how epic the scene is. But it's that bit when Aragorn looks up and he sees Gandalf and he says "Theoden King stands alone." And Eomer comes up next to him and says, "Not alone. ROHIRRIM." Literally I have goosebumps again oh my GOD.

Okay and now we're onto my favourite! Return of the King is the best one. But in Extended terms, it's over 4 hours. But I don't care. So much happens in this film to tie it all up and I just wish I could put all the songs down. Alas, these are my top 5 from Return of the King.

NUMBER 5.

Return to Edoras - Howard Shore

I like this one because of the Rohan motif at one minute in. The horses are galloping back to Edoras after picking up Merry and Pippin from Isengard, and it's a slow mo shot of Edoras and the Golden Hall. I think this is iconic on a landscape basis actually, because this is one of the places I definitely really want to visit on my trip.

NUMBER 4.

Lighting the Beacons - Howard Shore

This one had to be a gif, to get the scale (I don't own the gif, but KUDOS to the person who made it because it's amazing) but this scene is incredible. From Pippin lighting the pyre at Minas Tirith to the beacon above Rohan, the Gondorian motif can be heard as it follows the beacons from one city of man to the other. Not only does it give you an epic two minutes horns and brass but it gives you the most beautiful sweeping vistas of New Zealand you'll ever see.

NUMBER 3.

The Steward of Gondor - Howard Shore (feat. Billy Boyd)

The slow and steady canter to sure death. It starts with the soft pan flutes as the Gondorian soldiers make their way out of Minas Tirith and towards certain death. It's coupled with Pippin (Billy Boyd) being asked to sing for Denethor as he eats his lunch... The Gondorian motif is heard again, but this time it's much slower as the whole scene is in slow motion. "Home is behind... The world ahead..." I love Billy's singing, and we were blessed with it again at the end of The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies. That one will come soon, don't worry.

NUMBER 2.

The Battle of Pelennor Fields - Howard Shore

"Eomer, take your Eored down the left flank. Gamling, follow the King's banner down the centre. Grimbold, take your company right, after you pass the wall. Forth! And fear no darkness! Arise! Arise Riders of Theoden! Spears shall be shaken, shields shall be splintered. A sure day, a Red day... 'Ere the sun rises..." *PAUSE FOR BUILDING INTENSE MUSIC* "Ride now! Ride now! Ride! Ride to ruin... and the world's ending! DEATH! DEATH! DEAAAAAAAATH!" *PAUSE FOR MORE EPIC MUSIC* "Forth Eorlingas!" *horns* aaaaaaand then they smash into Orc's west line. Goose bumps all round methinks.

NUMBER 1.

The Houses of Healing - Howard Shore (feat. Liv Tyler)

When you hear Eomer screaming at the fact he's seen Eowyn lying unconscious on the ground after the Battle of Pelennor, you can't help but cry. Well, I did anyway. The raw and roaring emotion you feel for Eomer at losing all his family is hard. But here we see Aragorn healing her... and with the beautiful soft words from Liv Tyler, she is made better again. When she wakes she meets Faramir... and the rest, as they say, is history. I love that it's Liv Tyler as well. It's like a clever connection between Aragorn and Arwen, even if Arwen isn't actually there. Love, love, love.

So there we have it... I enjoyed this week's one. And this is week, erm... something or other. But these are 15 of the most beautiful tracks from three of the most exciting, beautiful and epic fantasy films there will ever be. These ones are particularly special to me...!

Remember the playlist link is here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5uvGPB5HsOhdICfOxGVqDZ?si=5ZD8MUgfR460EgVbAhb45Q

And enjoy!