The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

The One Ring

As close to the central theme of the entire trilogy as you can get, the wispy, ancient-sounding “History of the Ring Theme” represents the archaic history of Middle-earth and the Ring’s role in it. It plays whenever the Ring changes hands or makes significant progress in its ongoing desire to go back to the hand of its master, Sauron.

The “Seduction of the Ring Theme” directly alludes to Gregorian chant, and in this way, like the “History Theme,” sounds ancient. Through the use of a boy's choir, it also actively seeks to perpetuate the lie the Ring offers — a soothing, seductive, and pure answer to all calamities, but of course, false. The melody also features a minor mode version of the three notes that open the “Shire Theme.” Whereas the latter fondly reflects on the allure of home, the former represents a darker form of seduction.

The “Pastoral Variation” is painted with warm, traditional harmonies and is almost always carried in the string section or with a flute, whistle, or clarinet playing the melody. Since we are greeted with the Shire untarnished by the troubles of the outside world, the melody is bold and unrestrained, but as soon as the Hobbits leave their beloved home, the theme takes on a more reflective, longing air, and is never represented in a happy guise again until the return home at the end of the story.

“The Rural Theme” transforms the pastoral melody into a folk-styled dance with standard folk accompaniments and instrumentations. It represents everything good about the Shire, its people, and its customs. Unlike the “Pastoral Variation”, it only appears while the action is taking place in Hobbiton. Once the Hobbits leave its border, it is never heard again until the return at the end of the story.

The “Hymn Variation” is based on the same chords and melody as the other Hobbit tunes, and is regal and religious in its quality. It represents the Hobbit’s loyalty and love for each other which provides the strength of will that will be needed to carry out the quest.

Probably the most expressively beautiful and romantic variations of the Hobbit themes is what I call “A Hobbit’s Strength”. This variation features more ornate figuration and bolder orchestrations, representing the strength of the Hobbits in the face of adversity. Since it is the farthest removed from the Hobbit’s base personalities, Shore uses it only for the moments when the Hobbits show great personal resolve.

Two themes represent both sides of the character’s split personality and Sméagol's slippery melody represents his sad fate, playing when we are reminded of the Ring’s sick hold over the creature. It also carries moments where Frodo and Bilbo start to show signs of their growing dependence on the Ring, turning themselves into a creature like Gollum. Additionally, there are a few connections we can make between “Sméagol's Theme” and other motifs.

• The four notes that form the opening of “Sméagol’s Theme” are the same as the “Weakness and Redemption Motif”. Sméagol after all, of all the characters, is the most representative of this idea. 

• The harmonies of the theme are the same tortuous harmonies of the “Mount Doom Theme” which makes it clear Sméagol’s awful past was caused by the evil of Mordor and the Ring.

• The harmonies are also the basis for “Gollum’s Song” which is heard over the end credits in The Two Towers.

The sanctuary of Rivendell is described by Tolkien as the “last homely house before the Sea” and is ever open to weary travelers upon the road, happy to offer them refuge and rest. Correspondingly, the music of Rivendell is inviting and lavish, its exotic colors betraying no hint of inner darkness or untrustworthiness. Much like how Elven culture flourished thousands of years before the actual events of The Lord of the Rings, so too does the Elven music feel like it’s from another time. However, the lush arpeggios that accompany the theme in the low strings form the “Weakness and Redemption Motif,” cementing the relationship between the Elvish past and present.

The “Lothlórien Theme” paints a different portrait of Elven culture, one that is dark, alien, ancient, and mysterious. The exotic melody moves placidly through an altered chromatic scale and is neither happy nor sad, nor aggressive, but definitely inexplicable. It acts like a musical equivalent of the phrase “once upon a time.” Helping to create the exotic texture are two foreign instruments: the ancient Mediterranean monochord, the metallic slithering heard behind the chorus, and the Indian sarangi doubling the chorus on the theme.

This moving and thoughtful theme represents the beauty of and wisdom in the great city of Minas Tirith, translated as the “Tower of Guard” for the city has become the last stronghold keeping the forces of Mordor at bay. The gorgeous harmonies tell of the rich history of the Gondorian people and the melody features a raised fourth scale degree (in this case the F#) putting the melody in the Lydian mode. The raised note suggests a brightness to the music, that despite the somber attitude, Minas Tirith shall rejoice again, and the White Tree will bloom.

This music simultaneously marries the palette of vocals to the Elves and reinforces the fact that Arwen is a descendant of Luthien Tinúviel, of which she is said to be of the same likeness. We only hear this music twice in all three movies, the second time during Aragorn’s coronation precisely when Arwen shyly reveals herself from behind a banner.

This motif carries with it the characteristic Elvish vocal palette but this time Shore uses a darker solo alto voice. It represents the ever-receding status of the Elves in the events of Middle-earth. However, they still have a small part to play and so the ending of an unresolved chromatic tone purposefully withholds a meaningful resolution to their story.

This motif, a simple set of three rising chords is only heard twice in the entire trilogy. The first is when the magical luminescent doors appear at the entrance to Moria, and the second is when Haldir leads a battalion of Elves to aid the men of Rohan at Helm’s Deep, honoring an old pledge. The connection is obvious, the Elves helped the Dwarves build the doors of Durin, and now the Elves honor another with mankind.

The theme for Moria is appropriately composed of sturdy and strong monolithic fifths. The use of the open fifth evokes another ancient society quite different from the flowing textures of the Elves. This is angular, cornered, dark music, reminiscent of the vast caverns under the mountains. Shore said of Moria’s music, “When you look down in those caverns, you hear these voices coming up from thousands of feet below.” Those voices are the ancient Dwarves themselves.

Based on the open fifth of the Moria, this three-note motif sounds an open fifth before being dragged down a minor second, perverting the steadfast Dwarvish music.

The only true theme for the Dwarves rests with their greatest creation — the great Dwarf city of Dwarrowdelf. This majestic, but no less ancient-sounding, theme speaks to the great craft and splendor of what was once a shining realm. But now it is destroyed, and although beautiful, the theme displays a palpable somber air. Although not composed of pure fifths, the movement of the harmony is stepwise either going up or down which is the same way the fifths move in the Moria theme.

The Gondorian music represents the pinnacle of Man’s achievement upon Middle-earth, but like the Elves, they are a diminished people and only a shadow of their former glory in days before the line of kings failed. Nevertheless, the music is robust and strong, more dignified than Rohan’s more rustic and earthy flavors. There are in fact two different variations of the theme, both of which start identically, but end differently. The first is called “Gondor’s Decline” for as we see it at first, Gondor is a declining society. Shore curls the ending of this variation downward into melancholic decay.

Strong and resilient, the “Fellowship Theme” always retains its essential character in every situation it finds itself in, as immovable as the quest of the Ring must be. One of the most famous themes in the films, instantly iconic is its bold choice of harmony: a relationship between two major chords, a minor third apart. What’s even more interesting however are the thematic relationships that are generated by the first phrase of the theme. The first three notes feature a “There and Back Again” whole-step down/whole-step up major second relationship. Now, we’ve already heard relationships between seconds before: in “Sauron’s Theme” and the “History of the Ring Theme”. But in those cases, it’s a half-step up/half-step down relationship — a minor second. Furthermore, the second phrase of the “Fellowship Theme” harbors the first three notes of the “Seduction of the Ring Theme,” subtly alluding to the Fellowship's own form of devotion to the Ring.

Although the “Contemplative Variation” of “Strider’s Motif” exudes strength in its powerful opening fourth interval and upward climb, this is no hero’s theme. At the beginning of the story, Aragorn is reluctant to take up the mantle of the king and assume a leadership role, for fear of the shortcomings of his ancestors.

The rhythmic and textural backbone of the Orcish musical material is the “Five-Beat Pattern,” which signifies the Orcs in most situations if no melodic material is present. Virtually incapable of growth and expansion, as are the orcs themselves, the “Five-Beat Pattern” instead invades and perverts other thematic material, casting the shadow of Saruman’s and Sauron’s vast armies across Middle-earth.

The music for Isengard and the Orcs consists of some of Shore’s more animalistic leitmotifs. More rhythmic than melodic, all of the themes and motifs represent insanity, cruelty, and evil industrial might. The theme is almost always locked to “The Five-Beat Pattern” and it represents everything the “Fellowship Theme” is not. It’s stuck in a perpetual loop, never going anywhere, never achieving anything. It’s literally symbolic of turning gears and Saruman’s newly formed “mind of metal” as Treebeard says. If the “Five-Beat Pattern” represents the orc’s brutality, this theme represents their unrelenting, terrifying drive and focus.

Now, lifting the hood a little bit on the theme reveals that it is, in fact, an antithesis to the “Fellowship Theme.” The “Isengard / Orc Theme” opens with a quick half-step back and forth motion, whereas the “Fellowship Theme” has the bold whole-step motion. The half-step aligns the “Isengard / Orc Theme” with Mordor’s chromaticism and further, both the Fellowship’s as well as Saurman’s fates are tied up with the Ring (one is trying to destroy it, the other is trying to claim it) and so it stands to reason that their melodies would share common DNA.

Snarling and ferocious, “Sauron’s Theme,” much like Sauron himself, casts a long, dark shadow across Middle-earth. There is no expressivity in his music, as Sauron has no love of beauty. He is relentless and seeks to overpower through sheer ferocity and a will to dominate all life. Constructed from a harmonic minor scale, first with the scale’s characteristic raised 7th degree reaching up to the tonic and then falling down again (creating the interval of evil in Shore’s writing — the minor second), the phrase falls to the augmented interval of the scale, evoking the exotic, ancient, and evil nature of Sauron.

It is extremely important to note that the first interval of the theme is a sinister minor second which connects it to the “History of the Ring Theme,” which also starts with a minor second.

Needing no amount of expressivity, and only raw power, the “Mount Doom Chords” aren’t so much a theme as they are a physical event, representing the terror of the massive volcano. Theoretically, the chords are the same as those used in “Sméagol’s Theme”, suggesting the vile creature’s role in the story's final moment.

This iconic motif is one of the most recognizable from the whole trilogy. The motif forms the sinister accompaniment to “Sauron’s Theme” and the “Ringwraith Theme,” but also can stand alone, threatening our heroes from the shadows. Another thing to note is that it is obviously derived from the Dies Irae, the “Day of Wrath” chant tune.

It is easy to forget the role of Nature in the events of The Lord of the Rings. Middle-earth is home to many strange and wondrous creatures and great beings. The Ents, Sauron, and wizards who are but demigods confined to human form, and of course the Gods themselves, the Valar, perpetually watching over the events over the Great Sea. Shore gives a musical voice to these spiritual powers and many a time it is the thematic material of men or elves that fight the darkness, but the pure voice of nature.

No theme in The Lord of the Rings is more difficult to classify and name than the so-called “Nature’s Reclamation” theme. Shore originally intended the theme to be used in association with nature and that is how it is primarily used in The Fellowship of the Ring. However, in The Two Towers and The Return of the King, Peter Jackson liked the theme so much, he decided to track it into scenes involving Rohan and their growing strength. That is why we hear it as the Rohirrim crest the hill before their charge into the fields of Pelennor at the Battle of Minas Tirith. I’m not denying that is a perfect use of the music, it is, it just presents a difficulty when classifying the theme. Therefore, I call it “Nature’s Hope,” for it is used predominantly as a bringer of hope to our characters throughout the movies. Moreover, Nature has the powerful ability to heal itself after receiving a great hurt and this parallels quite nicely with the free forces of Middle-earth rising to defeat the cancer of Sauron that has infested the lands of Middle-earth. 

Often cast in the voice of a solo boy soprano or chorus or the brass for truly heroic moments, this theme represents the power of Nature to reclaim what is defiled. Although it does contain the opening interval of a minor second (like the “History of the Ring Theme”), unlike the “History Theme,” it rises, powerfully again, attaining new heights than before.

Heard only a handful of times in the trilogy, and only at specific moments, this four-note motif signifies the tragic history of Man, and their tendency, both in the past and in the present, to make the wrong choice, and fall.

This motif isn’t so much a singular entity as it more often intrudes into many of Shore’s other themes. The concept of failure and redemption is a recurrent one in Tolkien’s writing. By the time of the Third Age, men are on the brink of defeat, but through their courage and valor, they succeed in the end. The Fellowship is brought to the edge of a knife, but they succeed in the end too. The Elves as well are facing, as Galadriel calls it, “the long defeat.” The end of the Third Age is the final reckoning of the failure of the collective history of the races of Middle-earth. In this way, the “Weakness and Redemption Motif” reminds us of this past weakness, but it also reminds us that there is hope yet in the war against Sauron.

Like so many of Shore’s other themes, this one takes on an inhale/exhale pattern to its dynamics. Sparse and desolate, if not a little urgent, this music represents the growing shadow and fear across the lands of Middle-earth as Sauron’s power grows in the East. It also features the same harmonic progression as “Sméagol’s Theme.”

The “Watchful EarthTheme,” which is yet another theme that features the “Weakness and Redemption Motif” in its first four notes, represents the earth’s all-knowing knowledge of the events that transpire over its surface. Although it is ominous, it never shadows the journey for long, as peaceful music always follows it.

The flexible and versatile “Evil Times Motif” receives a vast quantity of variations throughout the three scores. It commonly represents the growing evil that has encroached upon the freedom of Middle-earth by the end of the Third Age. In the later films, the motif becomes brutal and snarling, but in Fellowship, it only broods and darkly colors the music, the great evil is still far away, but his reach can be felt. Shore cleverly connects the motif to the power of the Ring by quoting the first four different notes of the “History of the Ring Theme” and it furthermore bears an eerie resemblance to the contours of “Sauron’s Theme,” albeit without the lowered final pitch.

This sparse, but expansive theme plays several times after the Fellowship has left Rivendell and is in the Wild. It foreshadows the dangers to come and serves as a reminder that we are far from the comfort of the Shire. 

Heard three times in the trilogy, these solemn four chords represent Gandalf’s farewells, whether he is saying goodbye or others are saying goodbye to him.