Howard Shore – The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers – The Complete Recordings (2006/2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Howard Shore – The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers – The Complete Recordings (2006/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 03:08:40 minutes | 1,86 GB | Genre: Soundtrack
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Rhino – Warner Records

Howard Shore’s themes for Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy are often considered as some of the greatest accomplishments in the history of movie soundtracks. By virtue of its operatic length, first: just for this second volume (available here in its entirety), the listener can enjoy this music for more than three hours! But first and foremost, we have to highlight here the extremely rich and inventive artistic performance of the composer of the movies of David Cronenberg, as well as Ed Wood, After Hours and Mrs. Doubtfire. For this second episode released in 2002 (called The Two Towers), the Canadian composer reuses here and there the epic and moving themes from the first volume, by injecting into them more darkness and ambiguity, as proven by the opening track (Glamdring, with Maori choruses), as well as tracks associated to Gollum that skillfully blend shadow and light (My Precious). This soundtrack is also filled with new themes like the one, epic and majestic, devoted to the Rohirrim, the riders of Middle-earth (The Plains of Rohan). But Shore’s score wouldn’t be complete without this Celtic flavor that the composer scatters with subtlety throughout this titanic partition—thus reminding that one of the influences of Tolkien, the author of the novels, was Irish mythology. Dermot Crehan (violin) and the great flutist James Galway (tin and low whistle) are usually responsible for bringing to this score this particular color (Edoras ; Ent-draught). In this regard, it is worth noting the impressive number of soloists inside Shore’s partition, something quite rare for a so-called “symphonic” partition. Naturally, throughout his work, the composer endeavors to respect to the letter the narrative and visual world of Tolkien and Jackson, thus intending it for the fans of the saga. But this rich and subtle original soundtrack proves in a blatant way that Howard Shore also wanted to speak to the heart of every music lover, whether they knew Tolkien’s fantastical world or not. – Nicolas Magenham

Tracklist:
1-1. Howard Shore – Glamdring (03:49)
1-2. Howard Shore – Elven Rope (02:18)
1-3. Howard Shore – Lost In Emyn Muil (04:14)
1-4. Howard Shore – My Precious (02:56)
1-5. Howard Shore – Ugluk’s Warriors (01:41)
1-6. Howard Shore – The Three Hunters (06:12)
1-7. Howard Shore – The Banishment of Eomer (03:54)
1-8. Howard Shore – Night Camp (02:50)
1-9. Howard Shore – The Plains Of Rohan (04:14)
1-10. Howard Shore – Fangorn (05:13)
1-11. Howard Shore – The Dead Marshes (05:08)
1-12. Howard Shore – ‘Wraiths On Wings’ (02:07)
1-13. Howard Shore – Gandalf the White (06:47)
1-14. Howard Shore – The Dreams of Trees (01:54)
1-15. Howard Shore – The Heir of Numenor (06:50)
1-16. Howard Shore – Ent-draught (02:55)
2-17. Howard Shore – Edoras (04:33)
2-18. Howard Shore – The Court of Meduseld (03:10)
2-19. Howard Shore – Theoden King / ‘The Funeral of Theodred’ (feat. Miranda Otto) (06:11)
2-20. Howard Shore – The King’s Decision (02:07)
2-21. Howard Shore – Exodus From Edoras (05:42)
2-22. Howard Shore – The Forests Of Ithilien (06:37)
2-23. Howard Shore – One of the Dunedain / ‘Evenstar’ (feat. Isabel Bayrakdarian) (07:13)
2-24. Howard Shore – The Wolves of Isengard (04:22)
2-25. Howard Shore – Refuge At Helm’s Deep (04:00)
2-26. Howard Shore – The Voice Of Saruman (01:10)
2-27. Howard Shore – Arwen’s Fate / ‘The Grace of the Valar’ (feat. Sheila Chandra) (03:58)
2-28. Howard Shore – The Story Foretold (03:37)
2-29. Howard Shore – Sons Of The Steward (06:03)
2-30. Howard Shore – Rock And Pool (02:54)
2-31. Howard Shore – Faramir’s Good Council (02:26)
3-32. Howard Shore – Aragorn’s Return (02:10)
3-33. Howard Shore – War Is Upon Us (03:35)
3-34. Howard Shore – ‘Where Is The Horse And The Rider?’ (06:15)
3-35. Howard Shore – The Host Of The Eldar (02:50)
3-36. Howard Shore – The Battle Of The Hornburg (02:52)
3-37. Howard Shore – The Breach Of The Deeping Wall (03:03)
3-38. Howard Shore – The Entmoot Decides (02:06)
3-39. Howard Shore – Retreat / ‘Haldir’s Lament’ (feat. Elizabeth Fraser) (04:40)
3-40. Howard Shore – Master Peregrin’s Plan (02:31)
3-41. Howard Shore – The Last March of the Ents (feat. Ben Del Maestro) (02:31)
3-42. Howard Shore – The Nazgul Attack (02:45)
3-43. Howard Shore – Theoden Rides Forth (feat. Ben Del Maestro) (05:48)
3-44. Howard Shore – The Tales That Really Matter (12:01)
3-45. Howard Shore – ‘Long Ways to Go Yet’ / ‘Gollum’s Song’ (feat. Emiliana Torrini) (08:04)