07 The Lord of the Rings / The Rings of Power: Side by Side - Part I cover art

07 The Lord of the Rings / The Rings of Power: Side by Side - Part I

07 The Lord of the Rings / The Rings of Power: Side by Side - Part I

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 In a two-part Kinotes series, we look at Bear McCreary’s work on the new “Lord of the Rings” TV show, THE RINGS OF POWER as it relates to Howard Shore’s expansive score for the LORD OF THE RINGS film trilogy. McCreary wasn’t allowed to use the music from the movies, but felt it was important to stay true to the musical tapestry Shore established for Middle-earth.

In the first episode, we’ll look at the approaches the composers took and how important music was for Tolkien and his legendarium. We’ll compare the way the Galadriel-narrated prologues establish the world differently between the show and first movie. Then we’ll go through the various realms and cultures of Middle-earth, putting the show and films side-by-side: The Elves, Galadriel & Elrond; The Dwarves, Moria, Khazad-dûm, Durin and Disa; the differences and similarities between the Hobbits and the Harfoots, between Bilbo Baggins and Nori Brandyfoot. We’ll listen to the evolution of Howard Shore’s Fellowship of the Ring, and try to understand the various themes for the powers of the Ring and its consequences—even theorize about a piece of music that may be building to Bear McCreary’s theme for the One Ring and the other Rings of Power.

Then, next episode, we’ll tackle the human realms: Gondor, Númenor, Rohan, and the Southlands, and some of the figures associated with them. We’ll also look at star-crossed Elf and human relationships, Sauron and the various villainous figures of the show and movies, and try to use McCreary’s music to speculate about mysterious characters from the show.

Show Notes:
00:00 - Introduction
02:06 - Tolkien & Music
04:19 - Composers’ Approaches: Shore & McCreary
06:13 - The World of Middle-earth
07:18 - Prologues & Antiquity
09:47 - Valinor
13:18 - Greed, Power & Seduction
19:06 - Music of the Elves: Galadriel & Elrond
30:33 - Music of the Dwarves: Moria & Khazad-dûm
40:16 - Homebodies & Nomads: Hobbits & Harfoots
49:31 - Fellowship of Races
52:54 - Outro / Looking Ahead / Sources / Social Media / “Valinor”

Please subscribe, rate, review and/or leave a comment on iTunes. For other queries, email us at kinotes.podcast@gmail.com. We’re also on Twitter: @kinotespodcast and @nicknylen (my personal handle).

All episodes are written and produced by Nick Nylen.

Sources:

  • Books: THE MUSIC OF THE LORD OF THE RINGS FILMS by Doug Adams. Available used on Amazon.
  • Podcasts: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING series of “The Soundtrack Show” by David W. Collins. Available on Apple Podcasts.
  • Interviews: Bear McCreary interview for YouTube channel In Deep Geek - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyf7WQ6wQt8
  • Blog: Bear McCreary’s blog series on making the music for THE RINGS OF POWER - https://bearmccreary.com/bears-blog
  • Others: The insights and musical analysis of Frank Lehman (@fmlehman on Twitter) and Monoverantus on YouTube & Twitter (@AMoverus) - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbyg3ujMxvifnRRHFrlCvmg/featured
  • The Tolkien Professor Corey Olson (@tolkienprof and @SignumU) on Twitter.

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