Warner Bros Lord Of The Rings, The - The Two Towers (Enhanced CD)

Amazon.co.uk Howard Shore's music for the massively successful first film chapter of Tolkien's saga won him the Oscar for Best Original Score, something of a surprise given the music's ambitious scale and determinedly dark overtones. Its sequel, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers takes the same, often Wagnerian-scaled dramatic tack, following the film's story line into even more brooding and ominous dark corners. The previous film's Hobbit-inspired pastoralism is supplanted here by rich ethnic textures that expand the musical scope of Middle-earth and the World of Men; the hardanger, a Norwegian fiddle, represents the Rohan and the North African rhaita colours the Mordor theme, while log drums, dilruba, wood xylophone and cimbalon add intriguing textures elsewhere. The score's looming orchestral clouds are brightened by Shore's masterful choral writing, which infuses ancient liturgical influences with various solo turns by Isabel Bayrakdarian, indie-pop star Sheila Chandra, Ben Del Maestro and Elizabeth Fraser. "Gollum's Song", the composer's concluding collaboration with lyricist Fran Walsh, is delivered with Björkish, postmodern angst by Emiliana Torrini, and helps punctuate the story's modern sense of allegory. --Jerry McCulley Product Description Enhanced CD includes trailer for Lord of The Rings - The Two Towers, a link to behind the scenes and making of the score, buddy Icons, screen savers and five two-sided alternate insert covers.