Hi Rebecca – glad you’re enjoying the blog! If it’s leitmotifs you’re after in the two Tolkien trilogies, there’s a comprehensive list online at jwfan.com in this post:
https://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/23907-the-themes-of-howard-shores-the-hobbit/

Interestingly, there seem to be no appearances of the Fellowship theme in the Hobbit films. But there are plenty of LOTR themes that return in The Hobbit trilogy. In fact, that post begins with a long list of exactly that! I hope this helps, and best wishes for your research.

I have a question : is there some place that i can learn these music characteristics like a theme that is Dark or Mystic or Happy. (I understand the Major Minor feelings) and are these Tonal music ? or Modal and Atonal ?

I’m a classical composer myself but in classic we don’t have these feelings or I don’t know about them.

This is Spectral and Minimal music combined and orchestrated if i’m correct.

My goal is to achieve high places in Classical and Film music but I don’t know where to read about Film music.

Thanks for your reply!
In the LotR the connections weren’t nearly as abstract as that, and Sauron had his own thematic material. Also, it was a triumphant moment focusing on Thorin confidantly striding down the trunk of the tree. Not a pre/post battle long distance shot for contemplative foreshadowing.
Shore was very consistent in the LotR in not only themes but how they are presented and manipulated. And I did believe in his consistency, heck that was the only reason I went to see The Hobbit, but after what I can only assume was a bout of lazy cut and pasting that threw my uni essays praising his consistency to the wind, I was sorely disapointed.

Hi Marika. My guess is that the Ringwraiths theme in this climactic scene foreshadows the second film’s reveal that Azog is conspiring with Sauron, who is disguised as the Necromancer. Perhaps there is a parallel being drawn between the Ringwraiths relationship to Sauron, and that of Azog to Sauron – both are in the latter’s service. And the use of a “bad guy’s” theme for this moment may suggest that Azog is in control in this assault from Thorin. (Put another way, we don’t hear the heroes’ Misty Mountain theme until the team returns to successfully fight off Azog and his band.) All this is a little abstract, to be sure. But if we are to believe in a consistency in Shore’s and the filmmaking team’s application of the themes, this is probably the most plausible explanation.

Hi Paul. Yes, work on the blog has been slow of late, but I intend to pick the pace back up now. Wow, great work on your own blog! It’s always nice to know how my blog has impacted others. Very cool. 🙂

I just wanted to say that I am following your blog for a while now and find it all very interesting! I hope you find the time to continue this work, it would be much appreciated!

You have partly inspired me to analyse some film music on my own, please have a look at:

http://paulwendlandt.blogspot.de/2014/07/howard-shore-dead-ringers-main-titles.html

I was investigating the Main Title sequence in Howard Shore’s score for ‘Dead Ringers’

-Paul

I had a listen and must say I can hear the resemblance. The excerpts you mention are even in the same key as “Thorin” (A minor)! That closely follows Wagner’s practice of leitmotifs as he often kept statements in the same key in his Ring cycle. The “Sword” motive, for example, nearly always appears in the key of C major as a sign of something pure and noble.

In “A Journey in the Dark” at 2:41 and “Balin’s Tomb” at 0:37 in the complete recordings, you can hear an almost exact quotation of the first three notes of Thorin’s leitmotif. I could see where Howard Shore based this theme harmonically, melodically and rhythmically. I am really looking forward to the rest of trilogy.