Music

We have had afew comedians rough around the edges... See Carl Barron and Rodney Rude as examples. {{{{Disgusting men  - especially Rodney! }}}

Actually, I've had an epiphany!  Is this the stuff Ol' Anon was nurtured on? And there's me totally blaming poor old Benny Hill for Ol' Anon's moral decline...

This is what The Hobbit (film, that is) lacks most of all:

I thought the main theme of the Hobbit was pretty good (far better than the LoTR main theme). But you are right, memorable secondary themes are missing.

The main theme is good, though I still like the LotR one better And the misty mountains is chilling, but that's about it, sadly.

Oh come'on, the Hobbit theme blows away the LoTR theme! LoTR starts out blocky, begins to soar, and just when you think you are going somewhere it claws you back down into that blocky two-tone motif. The hobbit theme pulls you along, takes you on a journey, and is admirably suited to swirling accompaniment and changes of orchestration. Sounds as good on a single violin as it does in a host of trumpets. The LoTR theme is just horns, horns, horns. The hell with it.

I actually listened to it again to be sure I could say this and mean it: I'm sorry, but I still like the LotR theme more

 

i like both

I think you can't really compare the whole LotR music-universe to the Hobbit music.... No offence, but in my opinion you can't just pick one theme from LotR and judge the whole soundtrack by it.
In LotR every creature, every sequence, every setting has gotten its own motif, that may intertwine with others in the next scene and create a totally different world which the Fellowship or whoever may just be entering. Ok, I'm sure, it's doing the same thing in the Hobbit, but it just never reached those depths for me.
I mean - sure, the Hobbit soundtrack (which I think is very, very good, mind you!!!) is part of the whole Middle-earth universe but in my opinion it's just a tiny part of it. An important part of course, but   for example: did you realize that the Nature theme - I like to call it Ent-theme, because it's very pronounced during the last march of the Ents - can be heard during the final "battle" against Azog in AUJ?
The music simply reaches totally different dimensions then and it's like the whole thing is building up to something far greater  - and that great thing is LotR


Edit: I know you guys were only talking about the main themes in the first place, but the LotR soundtrack always gets to me.
Dangerous topic to start when I'm around...

Well yeah, that was the point RR was trying to make: the LoTR themes are memorable, the Hobbit themes largely are not. Though the main Hobbit theme kicks the LoTR theme's ass clear out of the park. Just sayin'.

BTW, I've realized RingRotten may be differentiating between "over the Misty Mountains Cold" and some other theme. I consider it to be the Hobbit Theme, and is better than the Fellowship theme in LoTR.

Oh great, now I'm reminded of when they used the "Gondor Reborn" theme at the end of AUJ. What cheapness. I'm so over Howard Shore.  

If I want a good soundtrack I'll put on some Bernard Herrmann. 

halfwise wrote:BTW, I've realized RingRotten may be differentiating between "over the Misty Mountains Cold" and some other theme.  I consider it to be the Hobbit Theme, and is better than the Fellowship theme in LoTR.

Out of curiosity, which songs do you consider to be the Hobbit and Fellowship themes?  My understanding is that it's these two, but I could be wrong.





IMO they're both good, though the Hobbit theme was overused in AUJ.  But the real reason I prefer the Fellowship theme is that it's engrained into so many memories of my childhood that it's instantly iconic and evocative for me.

Those were the ones I had in mind too.

Eldorion wrote:Out of curiosity, which songs do you consider to be the Hobbit and Fellowship themes?  My understanding is that it's these two, but I could be wrong.

That's the problem I think. You can't just choose one. I mean, for the Hobbit you can, but for LotR....

anyway:

Eldorion wrote:
IMO they're both good, though the Hobbit theme was overused in AUJ.  But the real reason I prefer the Fellowship theme is that it's engrained into so many memories of my childhood that it's instantly iconic and evocative for me.

totally agree with that

Super excitement! Just got a call to say my new guitar has been shipped and arrived for me to go pick up. Only 1200 worldwide and I will have one of them in a few hours!!!!

 

What you picked I would call the Hobbit theme, but I don't think the theme you picked for LoTR is the Fellowship theme. The one I'm thinking of is what you hear most of the time the fellowship is on the move, usually performed in brass. Let me see if I can find it.

here it is:

http://www.woodzie.org/lotr/fellowship.htm

How you guys came up with that lovie-dovie thing as the fellowship theme I'll never know, it's rather rarely used.

Edit: what you picked out this woodzie guy calls the travelling theme, and it's used only 3 times. The fellowship theme is used 38 times.

Fun going through that musical theme site. At one point the guy says he can't imagine where Shore got the idea to have a theme to represent evil plans being unexpectedly thwarted (he calls it the 'rescue' theme) but it's clear he's no Tolkien scholar (or paid much attention to the appendices in the EE) or the word "eucatastrophe" would have jumped out at him. It IS interesting that Shore has a eucatastrophe theme.

Actually after getting deep enough into what Eldo posted, that recording is a bunch of themes mixed together. I don't know which one you are calling the fellowship theme.

I heard the Shire theme (played on tinwhistle and strings), the extended Shire theme (often accompanies the shire theme if more wonder is needed), the Fellowship theme (in trumpets), the traveling theme (or new vistas theme as I think of it), etc.

The breaking of the fellowship is still the saddest possible song you can ever listen too

Ha! I love his note on music used in The Hobbit.

http://www.woodzie.org/lotr/index.html

Note on The Hobbit:

Several people have written me to ask if I intend to expand this site to include The Hobbit. I do not. Unhappily, I found the movie, and Shore's additional music for it, too uninteresting to justify the effort it would take to do this kind of analysis.

I think Shore was probably not inspired by the material he was given.

Lancebloke wrote:Super excitement! Just got a call to say my new guitar has been shipped and arrived for me to go pick up. Only 1200 worldwide and I will have one of them in a few hours!!!!

 

So what kind of guitar is this, Lance?