you hear a chorus singing in a somewhat unsettling harmonic minor key over black.

This is a musical theme that signals the Lothlorian Elfs.

It's the theme of Galadriel, who's about to narrate the story of the One Ring in prologue,

but not before the Ring's 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 in time.

The "Fellowship" theme plays in full statement as its corresponding subtitle fades in,

bracketing the opening of the film.

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 Leitmotifs - 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 Shore develops his Leitmotifs,

I'm gonna 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,

Shore 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 as foreshadowing of that theme's

final variation at the end of the film

and then transitions into a humble statement of the "Fellowship" theme,

using just French horn and cor anglais.

"Remember what Bilbo used to say?

'It's a dangerous business, Frodo. Going out your door.'"

This is almost immediately contrasted with another,

darker variation as Gandalf rides into Isengard to take counsel with Saruman.

Shore adds crashing cymbals

and plays the theme off Gandalf's galloping horse,

and this tense variation prefigures Saruman's 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 drumbeat that adds urgency.

The fellowship Leitmotif doesn't appear again until after Frodo has been

stabbed by the Ringwraiths. As Arwen races to get him to Rivendell the

fellowship theme mixes with a Wraith 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 Shore echoes

that by presenting a string of three "Fellowship" theme statements in their full

orchestration and full glory. First, as Elrond announces the fellowship.

"Nine companions."

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 Shore 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 the 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.

"The Fellowship awaits the Ringbearer."

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 3/4 time signature of the Fellowship is quickly swallowed up by

the 5/4 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.

"Fly, you fools!"

For example, after what's left of the fellowship departs Lothlorien,

the theme can only muster violins and cor anglais,

and Shore has this already weak variation trampled on as soon as it starts.

Then as they rest on the shore, the Leitmotif can't find its footing.

It wanders away from its full expression as uncertainty and suspicion creep in.

"You've so little 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 Shore links these two moments with a severely deflated,

but poignant rendition of the Leitmotif 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.

Shore does this with instrumentation, with tempo, and with harmony,

and he does it for several other Leitmotifs in the trilogy, weaving them back and forth and

through one another so that the result is a complex web that entwines with the story.

I think that we hardly grasp the importance of music in 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 Shore gave us perhaps the

most complete and complex exploration of Leitmotifs in the history of cinema.

And the result is a score that's as alive as the world Tolkien gave us.

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