Lord of the Rings: The Animated Musical | Music: Sméagol Is Turned Out
This week’s instrumental covers the mental decline of Sméagol from the time he discovered the Ring’s power of invisibility until he made his home in a cave underneath the mountains. While most of the musical motifs in this section have been covered in previous essays, one brand new motif representing the Sun makes a brief appearance. In this essay, I will talk about my inspiration behind how I portray the Sun along with describing how the many motifs blend together to create the piece.
The Sun: A Tale of Two Edvards
My inspiration for the Sun motif is both musical and visual. The first Edvard is Edvard Grieg, the most famous composer of Norway, although his surname was Scottish. A hundred and fifty years ago in 1876, Grieg collaborated with the most famous playwright in Norway, Henrik Ibsen to make Peer Gynt, a somewhat silly play about rural Norwegian life. Several famous melodies come from the incidental music, including “In the Hall of the Mountain King” and “Morning Mood”. Instantly recognizable because of its prevalence in commercials and movies, “Morning Mood” is the quintessential sunrise song of Western classical musical.
The original piece is in 6/8 time and E major. The gentle melody is carried first by the flute and proceeds in a stepwise motion moving down the scale: B, G#, F#, E or V, III, II, I. My instrumental is in D♭ major, so the notes are transposed: A♭, F, E♭, D♭. My piece is in 4/4 time, but the “River Anduin” motif is divided into triplets across a half note, making the piece sometimes sound as if it is in 6/8 time. The transposed melody in the flute plays atop the “River Anduin” motif in oboe, clarinet, and bassoon with minimal dissonance.
The second Edvard is Edvard Munch, perhaps best known for his image “The Scream”, which is not a single painting but a collection containing a painting, pastel drawing, and eight woodcuts all bearing a similar image. My favorite piece by Munch is simply called “The Sun” and is hung in the University Aula, an auditorium at the University of Oslo. It does not hang alone but is one of eleven expressionist paintings depicting “primitive” Norwegians enjoying the natural environment of their country while venerating “The Sun” at the front of the auditorium.
To me, the story of Munch’s paintings is most interesting because of how the moods of the artwork change drastically depending on his stage in life. Both his parents and two of his four siblings died before he was thirty, while he and his two remaining siblings were chronically ill. Munch created the original version of “The Scream” in 1893 as part of a series reflecting on love and death. He admired the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, a German scholar whose book Also sprach Zarathustra [Thus Spake Zarathustra] popularized the concept of nihilism, or the belief that everything is meaningless, in western philosophy.
Nietzsche also tangentially inspired vitalism, the concept of returning to a holistic lifestyle that prioritized physical activity alongside high culture, mostly without clothing. At the time, an idealized vitalist figure was known as “the primitive man”, although women were encouraged to participate as well. Munch focused on nihilism during his early artistic career, but after a breakdown from 1908 to 1909, around ages 44 to 45, his attitude became much happier, and he focused instead on vitalism. His murals in the Aula were his first project after his mental recovery, as he painted them from 1909 to 1916. While the consensus among art critics is that his later paintings do not possess his “previous intensity”, and the Nazi party declared his works to be “degenerate art” in 1937, “The Sun” is among my favorite paintings for its optimism and visual patterns.
While a reference to “The Sun” will not appear in this section, keep it in mind for an episode in the far future. I do include a reference to Arien, the Maia of the Sun, who appears onscreen during her brief motif. I will continue to incorporate characters from across the legendarium into my adaption.
Themes & Motifs
The entire instrumental is in D♭ major or B♭ minor, 4/4 time, and 120 bpm. The piece begins with the “Stoors Claves” rhythm and the supporting trio of treble viols introduced last week during “The Death of Déagol”. The marimba — an instrument in the same family as the glockenspiel, xylophone, and vibraphone, as last discussed in “The Story of the Ring” where these instruments were used in “Sauron Theme” — plays “Sméagol Theme” in B♭ minor with a raised third or mediant, changing the D♭ to a D♮. The shift of Sméagol’s melody from his child-like hum in the previous scene to an instrument of Sauron shows how Sméagol is at risk of becoming a tool for the Dark Powers.
The marimba ends the melody in measure nine as Sméagol is kicked out by his kin, only to reappear with an accented third inversion of a D♭ major 7th chord (D♭Δ7/C♮) as Sméagol’s grandmother turns him out. This sounds more complicated than it actually is, so let me break down what this chord is doing. Major 7th chords (D♭Δ7) are known for sounding dissonant, as the 1st or root note typical at the bottom of the chord (D♭) is only a half-step from the 7th or note typically at the top of the chord (C♮). By placing the 7th at the bottom of the chord, also known as a third inversion (/C♮), the 7th sits directly next to the 1st, increasing the feeling of dissonance. The rhythm of this chord adds to the uneasy mood. The chord begins as a half note followed by a half rest. After three iterations, the rest is replaced by a half note, making the chords sound more urgent.
The next set of mini-scenes shifts to Sméagol’s journey down the river alone in his boat. The triplet arpeggios creating the “River Theme” play an F minor chord (Fm), while the trio of treble viols play the same chord as a first inversion (Fm/A♭). The “Stoors Claves” motif continues and is joined by “Drums of Doom”, first described in “After Breakfast”. The rhythm of the bass drum is different than usual, as it counteracts the claves. The typical “Drums of Doom” pattern is two beats long: a quarter note and a quarter rest. This pattern is eight beats long: half note, quarter rest, quarter note, quarter note, quarter rest, quarter note, quarter note. While more complicated, the rhythm drives the piece forward, just as Sméagol continuously wanders without a home.
At measure 29, “The Sun” motif plays in the flute, ushering in a decrescendo in the oboe, clarinet, and bassoon, and inviting the marimba to return, playing “The Road Goes Ever On” in F minor with similar instrumental in the woodwinds as first appeared in “Bilbo Gives Up the Ring”; Bilbo had recalled seeing the mountains for the first time, although his experience was underscored by major keys. After the melody repeats at an octave higher, the marimba drops out, leaving only the chords and percussion as Gandalf explains what he has learned. The piece ends with an accented staccato quarter note in all remaining instruments as Frodo exclaims, “Gollum!”, at last connecting Gandalf’s research to the stories he had heard from Bilbo since childhood.
Watch the music video here: