Lord of the Rings: The Animated Musical | Music: To Destroy the Ring

The release of “Chapter 2: The Shadow of the Past” is less than a month away! This is the penultimate essay I share the animations on October 18. This week, I will describe the music theory and motifs behind the instrumental of “Scene 16: To Destroy the Ring”. Next week, or October 4, I will produce a similar essay on “Scene 17: Frodo Decides; Sam Is Caught”. Then, I will take October 5 through 18 to complete the animation process for the chapter. This year of production has gone much more smoothly than the previous chapter, and I am hopeful that “Chapter 3: Three Is Company” will come out much more quickly than its predecessors. Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated. On to the analysis.

The piece begins with “Sauron Theme”, which first appeared in “The Story of the Ring”, Scene 8 of Chapter 2. The complex percussion instrumentation of the theme is identical to its past appearances. However, a sforzando (sf) or strong emphasis appears in measures 6, 9, 15, 23, 29, and 34 to mirror the “Drums of Doom” that sound throughout the piece. For each thought Frodo has to destroy the Ring, the drums sound, demonstrating that he has already lost much of his will to have it destroyed. The eerie “Sauron Theme” melody begins in measure 36 and plays in full, with a decrescendo from measure 78 to measure 80 when the theme ends.

In measure 81, the “Mountains Theme (minor)” plays is A minor. This variation on the theme was first heard during “Sméagol Is Turned Out”, Scene 10 of Chapter 2. However, in this appearance, the melody is played by the horn and timpani sound the “Drums of Doom”, while the tuned gongs, anvil, and splash cymbals remind the listener that Mount Doom is the workshop of Sauron. The melody plays once, lasting eight measures and ending with a brief decrescendo in measure 88.

Much of the piece from this point is a complex variation of the “Decision Theme”, first established in “Bilbo Gives Up the Ring”, Scene 5 of Chapter 1. This variation includes the countermelody heard in “Gandalf Warns about the Ring”, Scene 7 of Chapter 1. The melody and its harmonization are played in the Piccolo, flue, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, second violins, violas, cellos, and basses. The countermelody is played in the first violin. Meanwhile, the harp plays an arpeggiated variation of the melody. For percussion, the timpani continues the “Drums of Doom” as in the “Mountains Theme (minor)”, while the bass drum and snare drum play a complimenting rhythm. The melody lasts for 16 measures. On the first repeat, the piccolo, flute, and oboe raise an octave. On the second repeat, all of the strings raise an octave. At the end of the second piece, the final measure is tagged six additional times has all instruments diminuendo.

While this may seem like the end of the instrumental, one quiet melody introduces foreshadowing to the piece. Sam whistles the “Frodo & Sam Theme” introduced in “The Serinette Tune”, Scene 2 of Chapter 2, and given lyrics in “The Sun Is Up”, Scene 5 of Chapter 2. All of these melodies will receive more screen time in the many chapters to come.

Watch the music video: