Track-by-Track: Soundtrack Discussion and Analysis

[Anguirel]

Together, I think the Bridge of Khazad Dum, Lothlorien, and the Great River represent the absolute peak of the FOTR soundtrack.

The Bridge (Track 13, appropriately enough), is quite simply the most dramatic track on the FOTR CD. I see the scene swimming before my eyes. And...how do I describe this...the Fellowship theme is far more...urgent...than in, say, the Ring Goes South. I'm struggling with the musical vocabulary, but there are these sort of higher notes streaming from it, like sparks off a blade. The shadow and flame really emanates from it, and especially later from the choir.

Like others, I at first didn't like Lothlorien, either visually or musically. I remembered the joyous haven, the relief I'd experienced on my first reading; how I was literally begging my book to stay longer, never to leave the safety and beauty of the golden eaves. The "menace" of Track 14 just didn't seem right. But it's grown on me (as has the film interpretation, with the fabulous FOTR EE.) It's simply another point of view, and an interesting one. What must Boromir, Gimli, Merry or Pippin have thought on entering this strange land of dreams, where the branches resounded with laments? The melancholia of the place is caught exactly.

As for the Great River...it's actually the most fully Elven music in FOTR. I can never be satisfied with listening to it once; I have to replay the voyage...