The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

1	The Prophecy
2	Concerning Hobbits
3	The Shadow Of The Past
4	The Treason Of Isengard
5	The Black Rider
6	At The Sign Of The Prancing Pony
7	A Knife In The Dark
8	Flight To The Ford
9	Many Meetings
10	The Council Of Elrond / Enya
11	The Ring Goes South
12	A Journey In The Dark
13	The Bridge Of Khazad Dum
14	Lothlorien
15	The Great River
16	Amon Hen
17	The Breaking Of The Fellowship
18	May It Be / Enya

Barnes & Noble

Hailed as an adventure to match Raiders of the Lost Ark for thrills and Star Wars for visual magic, the first installment of the The Lord of the Rings trilogy demands an outsize score. Luckily, composing powerful film music is nothing new for Howard Shore, a Hollywood favorite responsible for The Silence of the Lambs, Ed Wood, and other soundtracks. And if Shore's credentials aren't enough, Celtic chanteuse Enya contributes two magical numbers to this winning soundtrack. Shore's epic score is operatic in length, richness, and variety -- utilizing a 100-piece orchestra with three different choirs. Immediately, the listener is seized by the high drama of this music. The score opens with "The Prophecy," as the powerful somberness of the orchestra's brass and the voices of the choir (singing lyrics by Philippa Boyens in an ancient-sounding language ), conjure images of the majestically sinister Gothic world of Middle-earth. And the magic continues with the "Fellowship Theme," a pastoral melody that follows the main character, Frodo Baggins, throughout his quest. The passage is typical of Shore's masterful musical rendering of both the grand scale of Tolkien's classic and the essential themes of love and brotherhood that lie at the heart of the tale. Among the ten soloists featured is Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins on the stirring "Lothlorien," which uses an Indian bowed lute to haunting effect. This is an exuberant score filled with cinematic thunder and childlike wonder, and not since John Williams's triumphant Star Wars theme has there been movie music so likely to capture the listener's imagination. Andrew Velez

All Music Guide

Appropriately enough for the film adaptation of one fantasy literature's most enduring favorites, Howard Shore's score for Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings is traditional and majestic, using sweeping strings, brass, and choral sections to create moments of fire-and-brimstone menace as well heroic triumph. An ominous, bombastic feel runs through much of the score, particularly on pieces like "A Journey in the Dark," "Flight to the Ford," and "A Knife in the Dark," but Shore also includes respites such as the sweetly elfin, Celtic-tinged "Concerning Hobbits" and the stately "Many Meetings." The vibrant "Bridge of Khazad Dum" and "Amon Hen" combine the score's major themes into dazzling climaxes, while Enya's contributions, "Council of Elrond" and "May It Be," add a subtle serenity that gives the score balance. While it's not a particularly melodic score, Lord of the Rings nevertheless does an excellent job of conveying the film's moods through music and has more than enough presence to be appreciated outside of the film's context. [Fashioned in the style of the faux-leather-bound books that housed the lauded trilogy's "Special Edition" DVD releases, 2005's Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring - The Complete Recordings gathers every bit of composer Howard Shore's Oscar-winning score for the first film and spreads it over three discs (a fourth CD/DVD presents the work in 5.1 Surround Sound)]. Heather Phares