VIA PRESS RELEASE | The Lord of the Rings trilogy remains one of the most successful films in cinematic history. Based on the popular J.R.R. Tolkien novel of the same name, Peter Jackson directed the trilogy, which features a score composed by Howard Shore. The trilogy earned 17 Academy Awards®, including three for music. Beyond critical acclaim, the music from the films also enjoyed wide commercial success, collectively selling over 7 million albums.
Today, The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy Soundtrack is available exclusively at Rhino.com as a 6-LP boxed set on 180-gram Black vinyl limited to 2,000 units worldwide. The music for all three films was composed, orchestrated, and conducted by Howard Shore. His music was performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, with contributions from two choirs: London Voices and London Oratory School Schola.
The Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack was certified platinum in the US alone and sold exceptionally well worldwide. It won the Academy Award® for Best Original Score, as well as the GRAMMY® Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album. It includes two original songs written and performed by Enya: “May It Be” and “Aníron (Theme for Aragorn and Arwen).”
The Two Towers soundtrack was certified gold in the US, the UK, and Canada and won the GRAMMY® Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album. The Return of the King soundtrack was certified Gold in the US and the UK and won two Academy Awards® for Best Original Score and Best Original Song with “Into the West” performed by Annie Lennox; two Golden Globe Awards® for Best Original Score and Song; and two GRAMMY® Awards for Best Score Soundtrack Album and Song Written for a Motion Picture.
“There’s probably never been as ambitious a film score as Howard Shore’s 10-hour epic for the Lord of the Rings series… the music is rich and complex, drawing on a vast range of styles and exotic instruments to evoke J.R.R. Tolkien’s world… Shore uses an elaborate leitmotif technique (where musical themes are associated with specific characters or ideas, and are developed across the entire series) to hold the sprawling tale together. Lush, beautiful, and full of intriguing surprises, it’s no wonder that it’s become one of the most popular film scores ever written.” —Stephen Brookes for the Washington Post, May 2008
