That thread consisted of me posting an analysis of the track as heard on the CD, and also an analysis of the music that appeared in the film. Discussion was loosely based around it's use in the film, the use of Tolkien's languages, how it worked as an independent piece of music, as a soundtrack album, and the emotional response it triggers.
For TTT, the format will stay much the same; however, I will not be posting an analysis of the music as heard in the film, for two reasons:
1. Discussion would be chaotic, to say the least, as TTT (&ROTK) differ from FOTR in that the soundtrack albums are rearranged, and not in chronoogical order as FOTR was.
2. A fine study has been done of the music in TTT, but not by me. The interested could click here.
The soundtrack for The Two Towers was released on December 10th, 2002; it included 72 minutes out of more than three hours of music composed for the film. A complete release of the score is expected to arrive sometime this year.
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0:00–Quiet strings play variations on the Moria/Darrowdelf/Cadahras music as we see first the Newline Logo, then the Newline Title, then...
0:25–the Wingnut title.
0:32–The first phrase of the Ring Theme plays over the title, The Lord of the Rings.
0:42–The Ring Theme continues, with rising horns beneath, as we pan over the Misty Mountains
0:50–Strings take up another variation on the Moria music as we continue to sweep over the peaks of the mountains. We start to hear Gandalf's voice and the rumble of the Balrog. As the camera begins moving straight toward the wall of one peak, Gandalf voice becomes clearer.
1:43 – The music makes a dramatic switch to pounding music as we move through the wall of the mountain and to see Gandalf facing down the Balrog on the Bridge of Khazâd-dûm.
1:50 – Gandalf clashes his staff onto the rock of the bridge.
1:58 – Sustained brassy notes are heard as the bridge collapses and the Balrog falls into the depths of Moria.
2:11 – The sustained notes give way into a low soft note as the relieved Gandalf turns to walk away. But the whip comes up to snap around his ankle...
2:14 – ...and he tumbles into the chasm, grabbing the ledge as he falls. The Fellowship is startled and Frodo tries to run to him but is stopped by Boromir. Low brass notes descend down, down, down...
2:30 – ...into a last low, sustained note........... "Fly, you fools!" (The music from 2:11 - 2:30 is the same as the music heard for this scene in FOTR. )
2:32 – Mettana!
2:32–Choir I calls out the challenge, "To the death!" (not heard in the movie). Four quick, brassy descending notes blare out and we're off into pounding music accompanied by a low, chanting chorus (Choir II) as Gandalf falls after the Balrog.
2:35 – Choir II: katabrikihu tanakhi uduhu bin-nât aznân tarsisi Bazar gurd! satf agânî sulluzu zatablugi tarsisi! tarsisi! - till 2:45
2:45 – Choir I chimes in with more prominent, powerful singing. (I believe Choir II continues to chant while Choir I sings through 2:45 - 3:32 but it's hard to tell.) Glamdring is falling before Gandalf but he quickly catches up with the sword, grabs it and descends on the Balrog.
2:45–Choir I: irkat-lukhud ma ulfat-atam ma atam ulfat-atam ulfat-atam ulfat-atam ulfat-atam zatagrafizu - till 2:59
2:59 – Choir II is back. The fight gets personal as Gandalf begins hacking away at the Balrog, both still falling rapidly.
2:59 – Choir II: zatagrafizu gurd! zatablugi zatablugi sulluzu ulfat-atam bin-nât tarsisi! tarsisi! - till 3:07
3:07 – The brass and Choir I echo each other in a descending phrase. The Balrog and Gandalf are bouncing off the walls and tumbling as they fall.
3:07 – Choir I: ma nîd uduhu
3:11 – The notes of the brass and Choir I begin ascending, higher and higher as Gandalf and the Balrog fall deeper and deeper until it climaxes into...
3:11 – Choir I: bin-nât aznân tarsi(si) Bazar udu agânî-furkh(în) sakhu gurd!
3:32 – ...a cessation of the pounding music and sub-chanting as Choir I sings a more lyrical 6/8 melody. The camera cuts to a dim shot of a cavern filled with water. Slowly a glow grows and we see the small-in-comparison, flaming Balrog fall from the ceiling.
3:32 – Choir I: Mettanna. Nurunna! An mauya mahtie.
3:41 – The choir shouts out it's last notes over some final pounding percussion as, from above, we see the Balrog fall with a flash into the water.
3:41–Mettana.
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Code: Select all
Irkat-lukhud ma No shaft of light
katabrikihu Can breach it
Ulfat-atam ma No breath of air
tanakhi uduhu Comes from it
bin-nât aznân tarsisi Only an endless dark rises
Bazar udu agânî-furkhîn Deep from the beginnings of the world.
Gurd! Have fear.
Ma nîd sakhu! Do not look down
Ma satf unkhai! Nor step too close
Atkât zatagrafizu The silence will take you.
Zatablugi sulluzu It will swallow you whole.Code: Select all
Cuiva Olórin Awake Olórin
Nárendur Servant of fire
Tira nottolya Face your foe
Tulta tuolya Summon forth your strength
An mauya mahtie For you must fight
Ter oiomornie Through endless dark
Ter ondicilyar. Through chasms of stone.
Mettanna.
To the end.
Nurunna! To the death!A brilliant introduction, the slowly building strings moving into the History Of The Ring theme, and then back into the Dwarven music as we glide over the Misty Mountains...
It is followed by a brassy passage, and then a reprise of the music heard in the first film as Gandalf falls.
On the album the choir calls out "Mettanna!" ("To the death!") after he falls, but it is not present in the film.
The next minute or so is some of the most violent music in the trilogy, two choirs, percussion, and massive brass underscore this battle of Maiar.
The cue climaxes on a more lyrical note as Gandalf and Balrog come out of the tunnel, and into the cavern, the orchestra falls away and the choir is alone, in a vast expanse. One of the better combinations of music and image in the film.
Feel free to chime in, or at the very least, turn up the volume just a tad.
TTBK
Resources:
Magpie's Nest: Foundations Of Stone
to any lurkers.
) It's twice as long in the film.
