Wikipedia

The music of The Lord of the Rings film series was composed, orchestrated, conducted and produced by Howard Shore. Shore wrote many hours of music for The Lord of the Rings, 10 hours of which have been released in the Complete Recordings CD/DVD boxed sets. Additional music, including alternate and unused compositions, was released with the book The Music of the Lord of the Rings films in 2010. Shore composed the music in an emotional, operatic way, threading through the scores over 90 identified leitmotifs, which are categorized by the Middle-earth cultures to which they relate. Shore began his work on the music for The Fellowship of the Ring in late 2000 and recorded the first pieces of music (the Moria sequence) in spring of 2001. Additional music for the extended DVD version was recorded in March 2002. A similar pattern was followed for The Two Towers and The Return of the King, with the final sessions taking place in Watford on March 20, 2004.

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Album + Soundtrack

Release Format Tracks Release Events Label Catalog# Barcode
Official
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King CD 19
  • 2003-11-25 (US)
Reprise Records 9362-48521-2, 9362486092 093624852124
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King CD 19
  • 2003-11-27 (JP)
Reprise Records
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King CD 19
  • 2003-12-15 (XE)
New Line Records, Reprise Records, WEA International 9362486122 093624861225
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Limited Edition) CD 19
  • 2003 (US)
Reprise Records 9362-48612-2
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: The Complete Recordings 4×CD + DVD 15 + 14 + 16 + 8 + 53
  • 2007-11-20 (US)
Reprise Records 162044-2 093624996910

Relationships

Allmusic: http://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0000322092 [info]
Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/master/99874 [info]
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167260/ [info]
Wikipedia: en: Music of The Lord of the Rings film series [info]
other databases: http://soundtrackcollector.com/title/59793/ [info]