Howard Shore's music for the massively successful first film chapter of Tolkien's Ring saga won him the Oscar® for Best Original Score, something of a surprise given the music's ambitious scale and determinedly dark overtones, factors that handily blurred the line between typical film fantasy music and accomplished concert work. Its sequel takes the same, often Wagnerian-scaled dramatic tack, following the film's story line into even more brooding and ominous dark … mehrcorners. 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 colors 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 weniger

1 - Foundations Of Stone
2 - The Taming Of Smeagol
3 - The Riders Of Rohan
4 - The Passage Of The Marshes
5 - The Uruk-hai… mehr
6 - The King Of The Golden Hall
7 - The Black Gate Is Closed
8 - Evenstar - featuring Isabel Bayrakdarian
9 - The White Rider
10 - Treebeard
11 - The Leave Taking
12 - Helm's Deep
13 - The Forbidden Pool
14 - Breath Of Life - featuring Sheila Chandra
15 - The Hornburg
16 - Forth Eorlingas - featuring Ben Del Maestro
17 - Isengard Unleashed - featuring Elizabeth Fraser & Ben Del Maestro
18 - Samwise The Brave
19 - Gollum's Song - performed by Emiliana Torrini weniger