The original music heard in the record-breaking The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power teaser trailer was composed by Felix Erskine.
Music continues to be top of mind for fans as Amazon Prime Video’s show kicks into gear. Thanks to a new Spy Report from Jim J Ware we can confirm that Cavalry Music is responsible for the epic score in the teaser.
Erskine is a London-born composer and the founder of Cavalry Music. A music prodigy, he studied Classical Guitar and Composition at the prestigious Royal College of Music at the age of 11 and spent his early music career working alongside composers like Brian Eno and Michael Kamen.
Erskine also arranged music for the recent KENOBI trailer from Disney+, which included an epic Duel of the Fates drop that some consider John Williams best-ever work. This guy knows how to blend celebrated old themes with the new, so why wasn’t he allowed to do the same with any of Shore’s iconic LOTR themes?
I hear you. I hear you. I hear you. But Duel of the Fates is the best thing John Williams has ever done. The end. Best.
The question remains: Where is Howard Shore & Bear McCreary in all this? There have been rumors and suggestive posts everywhere from Deadline to Instagram comments (suspiciously deleted).
Watch Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power superbowl teaser again:
Deadline and Fellowship of the Fans (FOTF) are carrying separate reports that Howard Shore is in the frame to compose soundtrack music for the LOTR on Prime series. FOTF reports the deal is, in fact, already inked and, additionally, that Shore will be joined by American composer Bear McCreary.
For those living under a rock (yours truly, for example), McCreary is best known for his work on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the reboot of Battlestar Galactica, as well as Outlander and The Walking Dead. He also composed the music for the God of War computer game.
The choice of Shore offers more evidence that Amazon Studios is exerting a lot of effort to create a synchronicity between the LOTR on Prime Second Age-focused series and the aesthetics that Peter Jackson established with his own renditions of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
Update
In 2019, Shore expressed in an interview with Loot Crate that he’d be open to and interested working in the Middle-earth milieu again.
I spent so many happy years traveling through Tolkien’s world. If I was able to return and explore a bit more in a creative environment, I would be very interested to do so.
It’s also worth noting that in September 2020 TORn Tuesday revealed a rumour that Shore and Amazon were in discussions. Staffer Justin reported that Shore didn’t “necessarily want to compose the whole series”, but was keen to be involved in the design and development of the themes. This would tend to bear out FOTF’s report of a dual-pronged appointment and the involvement of McCreary. You can watch that TORn Tuesday episode here (Shore discussion starts around 9 mins 50 secs).
