The score for The Two Towers, part two of Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, accomplishes a difficult task: augmenting the action of the “middle.”
There are some lovely swirls as Shore conjures forth themes for the stern but beautiful people of Rohan with help from a Norwegian hardanger.
He also evokes the deep, ponderous Ents with a deep, nearly discordant confluence of string and voice.
Perfect accompaniment for rereading the books.
The Two Towers
- Original movie score
- Composed by Howard Shore
- Reprise/Warner
- Four stars out of five
Originally published in Uptown Magazine, January 6, 2003
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August 12, 2012 at 9:08 am
The Rohan theme is one of my favorite parts of the Jackson movie soundtracks. Apparently the hardanger was also used to develop part of the Hobbits theme?
August 12, 2012 at 9:42 pm
Oh, that’s interesting! I didn’t know that. I love the bit of the dwarves singing in the Hobbit trailer, even though sj mocks it mercilessly.