before you see one single image in the
Lord of the Rings film trilogy you hear
a chorus singing in a somewhat
unsettling harmonic minor key over black
this is a musical feat that signals the
Lothlorien else it's the theme of
Galadriel who is about to narrate the
story of the One Ring in prologue but
not before the Rings own theme fades in
with the first title
as the prologue ends and an E flat minor
chord shifts to an E flat major
the narration shifts also from Galadriel
to Bilbo and the mood changes the
lighter Shire theme is introduced as
Bilbo places us there on a map and
finally after he places us at a time the
fellowship theme plays in full statement
as its corresponding subtitle fades in
bracketing the opening of the film the
third age of this world now if this
masterful interplay of themes isn't
enough to prove to you already that
composer Howard Shore is a genius that's
okay there's a lot more to say the first
thing is that these four themes that
I've mentioned are actually what's
called light motifs an operatic
technique popularized by Richard Wagner
that fuses musical themes with specific
people events or places to aid and in
some cases augment the dramatic
development of a story in order to show
how sure develops his light motifs I'm
going to isolate one the fellowship
theme which has the most variations and
focus on its development in the
Fellowship of the Ring now before the
fellowship theme can come together in
its full heroic glory short builds it up
with a few variations the first time we
hear it after the title is when Frodo
and Sam leave the Shire on the road to
Rivendell Shore presents a small snippet
of the shire theme of foreshadowing of
that themes final variation at the end
of the film and then transitions into a
humble statement of the fellowship theme
using just French horn and corn gladly
used to say it's a dangerous business
photo
this is almost immediately contrasted
with another darker variation as Gandalf
rides in to Isengard to take counsel
with Saruman sure adds crashing cymbals
and plays the theme of Gandalf galloping
horse in this tense variation prefigure
seramins eventual betrayal and the two
versions playing off each other
anticipate the eventual fracturing of
the fellowship later in the film the
next time we hear the theme Frodo and
the hobbits have accepted Strider or
Aragorn as their temporary leader the
Fellowship is growing so the brass
section is growing too we started with
one French horn now we have three but
the stately melody of this theme is
upset with the timpani drum beat that
adds urgency
the fellowship light motif doesn't
appear again until after Frodo has been
stabbed by the ring wraiths as Arwen
races to get him to Rivendell the
fellowship theme mixes with array theme
threatening to overtake it the
fellowship might dissolve before it even
has a chance to fully form
at the middle of the film the fellowship
finally comes together and sure echoes
that by presenting a string of three
fellowship theme statements in their
full orchestration and full glory
first as Elrond announces the fellowship
I'm companion and third as the
fellowship strides heroically away on
their quest
but the second one is the most
interesting to me just as the Fellowship
is about to depart sure
softly teases the Shire theme before it
is overpowered by the fellowship theme
suggesting that the hobbits priorities
have shifted and they now have to live
with the consequences of that and it
ends with a unique harmony on the second
half of the full statement as if to sow
a seed of doubt right into the middle of
the team as it comes together fellowship
awaits the ring
we're going to get another exciting full
statement in the mines of moria the only
time that the nine members of the
fellowship will be in action together
but the three four time signature of the
fellowship is quickly swallowed up by
the five four time signature of the orcs
and from now on after Gandalf is lost
the fellowship theme will only appear in
fragmented form until the very end of
the trilogy
pama your foods for example after what's
left of the fellowship two parts
Lothlorien the theme can only muster
violins and core and clay and sure has
this already weak variation trampled on
as soon as it starts then as they rest
on the shore the light motif can't find
its footing it wanders away from its
full expression as uncertainty and
suspicions creep in so I can faith in
your own people these insecure
variations on the theme Herald the
breaking of the fellowship first with
the death of Boromir then with the
departure of Frodo and Sam
in fact sure links these two moments
with severely deflated but poignant
renditions of the light motif that fades
into silence
like the fellowship itself the
fellowship theme builds to its full
formation and then is deconstructed
until it's only a shell of its former
self
sure does this with instrumentation with
tempo and with harmony he does it for
several other light motifs in the
trilogy weaving them back and forth and
through one another so that the result
is a complex web that in twines
with the story I think that we hardly
grasp the importance of music and film
it's an invisible layer of pure emotion
that guides us or challenges us or
guides or challenges the drama itself in
the Lord of the Rings trilogy Howard
sure gave us perhaps the most complete
and complex exploration of light motifs
in the history of cinema and the result
is a score that says alive as the world
Tolkien gave us
hey everybody thanks for watching and
thank you to Squarespace for sponsoring
this video all of you guys who pledged
on patreon Squarespace is just helping
to fund this channel keep the nerdwriter
going and they don't interfere and the
content which is amazing
anyway the product is really great
really sleek professional-looking
websites if you don't know very
intuitive you don't have to know coding
to start one and you can get a free
domain name if you sign up for a year
you can start your free trial today at
squarespace.com and if you use the offer
code no writer you can get 10% off your
first purchase so yeah do it anyway
thank you so much
Squarespace you should