Author Doug Adams, who famously documented the story of the Lord of the Rings soundtracks in The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films has been conducting an Ask Me Anything over on his blog.
He writes:
I still can’t answer many Hobbit questions, but for the time being, feel free to post them here and I’ll do the best I can!
I haven’t had time to scan the entire thread, but here are a couple of interesting snippets.
leitmotifs don’t always merely echo what’s on the screen. (Or in opera, what’s on the stage.) Sometimes they’re providing additional information — foreshadowing, plot threads, subtexts, etc. It’s always worth bearing this in mind. After all, what is dramatic music accomplishing if it’s limited to a strict redundancy of what’s already meeting the eye?
Question: While we are at it – what meaning does the Ringwraith theme have in TH: AUJ finale? 🙂
Nice try! 😉
The implication — although Adams cannot say — seems to be that there is some string of relevance between Azog and the Nazgul.
Yes, there was less choral work in AUJ than in the LOTR films, but I think that has much to do with its distinct tone.
Question: Is it possible anything from the theatrical edition music will be changed for the extended cut. For instance in FOTR, Frodo’s run down to Gandalf at the beginning is muted in original while it has music in the EE. Or will any of the music already in the film for parts, be altered? I’ll say it upfront: I’m guessing you can’t answer.
Good guess. You’ll see in a few weeks/months why I had to sign so many NDAs for the EE. 🙂