Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movie trilogy inspired the music in its prequel series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The prequel series was developed by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay for Prime Video and premiered on the streaming site on September 1. Based on J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novels and their appendices, The Rings of Power is set thousands of years before The Hobbit during the Second Age of Middle-earth and tells the epic tale of upheaval as the Rings of Power are forged and the elusive Dark Lord Sauron rises.
With two episodes still remaining in The Rings of Power season 1, the Lord of the Rings prequel series has been generally well-received by both critics and audiences, which should be a huge relief to Prime Video considering the large investment the company made in the show. This success is thanks to the many crew members who have dedicated themselves to adapting Tolkien's works for viewers, including the series' music department. While The Rings of Power's main theme was composed by Howard Shore, the composer for both The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy, Bear McCreary composed the rest of The Rings of Power's score.
McCreary's score clearly invokes the same feelings that The Lord of the Rings did, and now The Rings of Power orchestrators Jonathan Beard and Edward Trybek explain the score's connection to Peter Jackson's movie trilogy. In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, the pair break down how Shore's work inspired McCreary. Check out their explanation below:
Jonathan Beard: Sure, I mean, he's talked about that in some interviews and how grateful the members of production have been to have this new Howard Shore theme to go with it, as well, which we were not involved with. Howard has his own operation, but it's a big footprint, of course.
Edward Trybek: It's impossible to avoid, no matter where you are. I can say, for the three of us, it was like when those movies came out, I was at the midnight screenings of those, back when I could stay up that late. [Chuckles] Musically, it was so inspiring as a younger composer, musician, and orchestrator is just like, “Oh my God.” So, I think that it'd be impossible to avoid in any way, and then given the nature of it, it is still related to the same world. I think Bear said that, “Yeah, there's been some inspiration,” but at the same time, he's not trying to replicate what Howard Shore did. He's still trying to say, “Here's my take on it.” Which also makes sense, the timeframe of the entire show’s thousands of years separated from the movies. Bear’s even alluded to the idea of like, “Oh, here's this theme, and it's gonna sound this way, and it's specifically using instruments that were not used in the original Lord of the Rings, because this civilization is gonna be gone by that point,” or, “Oh, here, I'm actually using this type of fiddle because it harkens to what this group of people later become thousands of years later.” So, there are some tidbits that he has conceived of, it's a very complicated score in every way. I think there's 16 distinct themes for all these different pieces.
How The Rings Of Power Honors Jackson's Trilogy
The Rings of Power has a unique challenge in adapting Tolkien's lesser-known writings. Not only must it weave a new story that interests viewers, but it must also function as a convincing set-up for Jackson's award-winning and lore-filled Lord of the Rings trilogy. McCreary's score honors Jackson's trilogy by acknowledging The Rings of Power's place within its universe and striving to convey how Middle-earth is different in the Second Age without copying the existing trilogies. This is similar to the approach Galadriel actor Morfydd Clark said she took for her character to show how the elf becomes the wise and benevolent force she is in The Lord of the Rings.
In addition to its efforts to create Middle-earth's Second Age, The Rings of Power season 1 has made sure to include specific connections to Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Alongside Galadriel, the series includes young versions of Isildur (Maxim Baldry) and Elrond (Robert Aramayo) and teases the future formations of Gondor and The Dead Marshes. With two episodes left in The Rings of Power season 1 and a potential four more seasons to come, it seems certain that Lord of the Rings fans will see even more connections to the movies in the future.