Actually, Shore won
two Academy Awards (Oscars) for the soundtracks - one for "Fellowship..." and one for "Return...".
The 'violin' playing the Rohan theme on "The King of the Golden Hall" from the TT-soundtrack is actually a Hardanger fiddle - a Norwegian folk music instrument with additional resonating strings.
The box-set with all 3 CD's is OK. It came out the same date as the RotK-soundtrack, and is simply the 3 soundtracks in one box. So you'll save money compared to buying them seperately.
Shore has written a symphony based on the soundtracks - he's touring with it, and if it isn't already recorded, it will be. The symphony have the music arranged in accordance with the books, so there are six movements each corresponding with one of the six books the novel is made up off. It might come out already in May, but I'm far from sure about this.
There's also talk of a complete LotR movie music box-set, with 8-10 CD's - a sort of a 'super-extended soundtrack'.
A lot of musicians have felt inspired and written music based on Tolkien. So, if you're only looking for the music Shore wrote for these particular movies, take an extra look at a CD you wanna buy - maybe it's not the right music!
I love the music Shore wrote - I have many favorites, but I think I'd like to mention one that others don't seem to. It's the Polynesian choir singing (in Dwarfish!) on "The Bridge of Khâzad Dûm" from the FotR-soundtrack - of course, the Fellowship theme that follows right after on the same track is also great!
