Here’s another sample from Howard Shore’s score for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. ‘Old Friends’ is very much a reprise of Concerning Hobbits, and obviously meant to signify Bilbo and Gandalf’s getting reacquainted. It also turns a little dark and foreboding at the end. Now what on earth could that signal? Thanks to our friends at Tolkiendrim for the heads-up!

EDIT: It appears that the youtube link below is blocked from viewing in the USA. So is every other youtube link I could find. However, you can go to the Hobbit website as they have it playing there, as background music. If it sounds very much like Concerning Hobbits at the start, don’t panic — it starts there, and then evolves very slowly around that theme. (There’s no actual video on the clip, just sound, so the effect is exactly the same no matter how you obtain it.)