This is one of my favorite tracks.
To be perfectly honest, when I heard exerpts from this track and from the Enya songs prior to the release of the CD, I was afraid that the whole soundtrack would turn out to be "new age"-type Celtic noise. Of course, as it turns out, the tracks I heard happened to be the most Celtic ones there were (a bit like Bilbo thinking Mirkwood was endless since the tree he climbed was in a valley).
And after repeated listenings, I realize that this track is much more than cliched Celtic music. As Encaitare points out, there is something very mid-18th century about it, not only in the fact that a harpsichord is used but also in the manner of its use. The track on the whole is a blend of Celtic and Rococco styles that somehow, in my opinion, perfectly captures the feel of the Shire.
I do wonder what kind of flute that is. It certainly isn't an ordinary transerve concert flute - it could be a wooden baroque flute, I suppose. At first I assumed it was some kind of recorder, but now that I think about it, it doesn't really sound like one.
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