Music of The Hobbit film series

Principal leitmotifs

First appearance in ''An Unexpected Journey">The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey">An Unexpected Journey''

• from the Lord of the Rings: Gandalf's Farewells, The Return Journey, The Shire, Hobbiton, Frodo/Hymn, Playful variant, Hobbit Outline, Two-Step, Skip-Beat, End-cap, Antics, A Hobbit's Understanding, The History of The One Ring, Sauron, Descending Thirds, Mordor Skip-beat, the Threat of Mordor, The Power of Mordor, Servants of Sauron, Footsteps of Doom, Rivendell, Rivendell Arpeggios, Galadriel, Saruman, Witch-King of Angmar, The Pity of Smeagol, Gollum's Menace, Orc five-beat pattern, Weakness motif, Dwarrowdelf, Nature's Reclamation, Gondor Reborn, Evil Times, Fellowship theme.
• Shore also revisited pieces of none recurring music from the Lord of the Rings, turning them into themes after the fact: Durin's Folk, Map of then Lonely Mountain, Bilbo's Birthday, Smoke Rings, Gandalf's Fireworks, Eagles, Flaming Red Hair.

• : based on the existing Shire material, this melody appears as early as the opening credits, and serves as the de facto main melodic representation of Bilbo, and one of the main themes of the first score. It appears less frequently in the two later entries, but remains the most persistent of Bilbo's themes. The theme is presented formally in "A very respectable Hobbit" and, in a heroic variation that turns into a theme for the company, in "Erebor."
• : Another central theme for Bilbo. This theme was underplayed in the finished film and following soundtrack installments, where its only hinted subtly.
• * Bilbo's Theme : This theme starts as part of Bilbo's unabridged theme, but it is set in a different key and different orchestration ; and its style more closely recalls the Dwarvish music. It soon begins to appear separately, as Bilbo's more outgoing side gets the better of him.
• : Appears as Bilbo struggles with the Dwarves' lifestyle and lives out of his comfort zone. The theme is written in a more classical vein, in waltz time, which puts it outside of the scores' largely late-romantic style.

• Erebor theme: A rising motif using three horn-calls, followed by a descending B-phrase. There is also a longer variation on the Erebor theme which heralds the reclaiming of Erebor. It is ultimately played as a dirge on a blowing horn in the Battle of the Five Armies.
• Arkenstone theme: the motif for the Arkenstone, begins with a choral cluster and follows with a viola figure. It is also applied to the map and the key that Thorin uses to reclaim it.
• Thorin's theme: Thorin's theme is related to Erebor but more stepwise like the Shire theme, hinting at Thorin's connection to Bilbo. There are several variations on Thorin's theme: one variation, which appears in the film when Thorin claims Azog died in combat; and a hybrid of his theme and the Erebor theme. The most distinct variation, however, is when the harmony of the theme is hummed by a chorus at the end of "Brass Buttons" after Thorin thinks Bilbo had run away. This variation was to return, sung by the full choir, as Thorin charges Azog in the end of the film, as it appears in "Out of the Frying Pan", perhaps as a theme for Thorin's Pride.
• Dwarves in-Exile: A weary and grim gradually rising and falling motif revolves around the exile and subsequent degradation of the fortunes of the Durin's folk of Erebor and more generally relates to the dwarvish suffering and fate. It incorporates "elvish" timbres, such as female chorus and arpeggiated figures, to denote the Dwarves' blaming of the Elves for their misfortunes.
• The House of Durin: This theme is usually set to male chorus and related both to Thorin and to the Dwarrowdelf theme from Lord of the Rings. It is one of the main themes of the trilogy, and relates to all of the Dwarf characters of the line of Durin, and to the heritage of the Dwarves. Its first full statements are reserved to the second film, where it first appears in a flashback to the battle of Moria, and goes on to be featured in tracks such as "Girion, Lord of Dale", "My Armour is Iron" and "The Hunters". In The Battle of the Five Armies soundtrack, it is played in "Beyond Sorrow and Grief" and "Mithril" and is featured prominently at the beginning of "Sons of Durin."
• * An unnamed theme appears in the opening logos to the film, and again in the closing of the soundtrack and again in the Battle of the Five Armies. It is a major-key hybrid theme, created by combining the History of the One Ring theme, with the House of Durin theme.
• Another unnamed theme is used whenever the company of Dwarves coalesces: its returns with every couple of Dwarves that arrive at Bag End, and is used again when the Dwarves appear in couples before Beorn. The theme features the opening notes to the Dwarrowdelf theme looped into an ostinato.
• Ancient Enemies: an aggressive variation on the Dwarvish parallel fifths male chorus. It represents the animosity of Dwarves and Orcs, especially between Thorin and Azog, and the war waged between the races. Its used to score the entire Moria flashback, and returns for Thorin's encounter with Azog in the Battle of the Five Armies.
• The Company theme: Represents the Dwarven Company, their quest to reclaim Erebor, and their crossing of the iconic Misty Mountains and is the main theme of the first film, having appeared as early as the announcement trailer. It is Howard Shore's rendition of Plan 9's melody that is used in the film. Shore quotes different parts of the unabridged song, be they the introduction figure, either of the two verses or the refrain, and even provides it with an accompaniment figure that features prominently in the trailer and in "Overhill." however, it is curiously absent from ' and The . Shore and the filmmakers opted to reinforce the sequels' darker tone by removing the more heroic Company themes, creating a sense of absence in the listener. The melody of the company theme has two variants, not written by Shore: Plan 9's original "Misty Mountains" composition and "Song of the Lonely Mountain" by Neil Finn.
• A Secondary theme for the company and the quest is used throughout the first score. It is a "dwarvish" variant on Bilbo's adventure theme, which was an early composition of Howard Shore. It appears in full in the Bonus Track, "Erebor", accompanied by Uilleann pipes.
• Moon runes theme: a hybrid of the Erebor theme and the Rivendell Arpeggios is used for the reveal of the moon runes and again for the reveal of the hidden door itself.
• The Dwarf Lords: This early thematic idea for the Dwarves was largely unused in the final film, but made appearances in all three films: the coda appears when Dwalin tells Gandalf that Thorin is delayed because of a meeting in the Blue Mountains; the A section appears when the Dwarves reach the site of the Hidden Door; and it returns as an elegy in "The Darkest Hour" in the third film.

• The Woodland Realm theme: the first half of this choral theme accompanies Thranduil and the elves as they greet Thror during the prologue. As the company reach the Woodland Realm, the unabridged tune is performed, and than used consistently with the Woodland Elves.
• * White Gems of Lasgalen: a subtle slurred, truncated variant of the theme for the Woodland Realm. Its used for the introduction of the gems, and for Thranduil's allusion to them. Its tracked, aptly enough, to Gandalf's discovery of the vandalized statue of Thranduil's wife, who owned the gems.
• The Valley of Imladris: Howard Shore wrote a serene diegetic piece of music for Rivendell, which he also utilizes in the underscore in a martial setting when Elrond's riders arrive.

• Dragon Breath chords: An accompaniment to Smaug's themes, echoing his breath.
• Smaug's theme: A menacing and discordant theme representing Smaug the Terrible. This is also the main theme of the second film.
• * Smaug's Malice: an ascending, inverted rendition of Smaug's theme. It is played when Bilbo hears Smaug's name and again throughout the following soundtracks, where it alternates with Smaug's main theme.

• The Eagles: The eagle rescue at the end of the film passed through two different compositions, with three distinct melodic ideas associated with the Eagles throughout. The version used in the finished film was reused in the Battle of the Five Armies, creating a new theme for the eagles. there is also an alternate Eagle theme on the album.
• Stone Giants: This theme doubles as a "monster piece" in the vein of Shore's work on the Watcher in the Water and the Cave Troll, but the chords themselves are also tied to the music of nature.

• : In The Lord of the Rings, Shore saw Gandalf the Grey as a mediator figure, and intentionally wrote no theme for him, since his demise was imminent. The Hobbit saw the character of Gandalf explored much more, providing Shore with reason to write a new, five-note theme for the wizard.
• : The order of the Wizards, the Istari, is also depicted by a theme of its own. The theme is mostly associated with Gandalf, who is featured much more prominently than the other wizards.
• : Radagast is represented by nervous table percussion and fiddle, complementing both his perpetual movement, his association with nature and his eastern-European inspired design. This theme was left out of the finished film. Adams mentions several themes being associated with the Wizard, which perhaps includes a longer melodic line for fiddle and boy choir which appears on the album. In the film, the theme appears in the orchestra, without the solo fiddle or voices.
• Shadow Over Greenwood: an eerie call sung by the boy choir as Radagast discovers the sickness of Mirkwood forest. The theme is reprised when Gandalf reveals the Morgul blade to the White Council.

• : for the Necromancer, Shore takes the existing theme for Sauron and changes the ending coda, and uses the oboe to mimic the signature rhaita. It develops gradually into Sauron's theme from after Gandalf shows the council the dagger and until Sauron is revealed in the next film.
• Dol Guldur: A Descending Thirds figure based on a similar figure used as an accompaniment motif in the Lord of the Rings.
• : A more frenetic, "danger" motif for Dol Guldur, based on the Mordor Skip-Beat and the Threat of Mordor motifs.
• : Another, more aggressive, variation on the "Descending Thirds", hinting at the connection of Azog and Sauron. Here, the pattern ends with a musical "barb". By the battle of the Five Armies, the barb evolves into a long trumpet call, and comes to represent the army marshaled by Azog.
• Goblin-town theme: When the Dwarves get captured by the Goblins, Shore introduces a theme on percussion and shrill brass that contains hint of his 5/4-time Orc theme. As the Goblin King is revealed, the theme appears on brass, and as the Dwarves make their escape, it is echoed by a deep male choir.
• : In the Lord of the Rings, the Warg's brief appearance was scored with "the cruelty of the Orcs" motif. For the Gundabad Wargs of the Hobbit, Shore created a new theme, related to the cruelty of the Orcs, that represents the beasts.

• Trolls motif: A loud, Waltz-time theme that plays in the track "Roast Mutton". The Troll theme mingles with the Weakness motif to represent the Trolls' dull wits and this hybrid figure goes on to score the sequence in the Trolls' hoard. The music is first hinted as Bilbo stalls the Trolls and later during the Troll-hoard sequence.
• Spiders of Mirkwood: An eight-note figure that stands for the spiders that attack Radagast's house. Their musical palette is expanded in the Desolation of Smaug, with the return of the motif as well as various stingers, rhythmic patterns and two-chord figures that evoke their terror.

• Pine Glades of the Misty Mountains: Used in the finale of the first film.
• Elvish Blades motif''': When Thorin picks up Orcrist, a short lyrical line appears in the celli, violins and oboe. That line is perhaps recalled both as Bilbo draws out Sting in Gollum's cave, and again in the film when Orcrist is revealed to the Goblins.

  First appearance in ''The Desolation of Smaug">The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug">The Desolation of Smaug''

• From An Unexpected Journey: Bilbo; Bilbo's adventure; Fussy Bilbo; Erebor, Thorin, Arkenstone, Dwarf Lords, Moon Runes, The House of Durin, An Unexpected Party; Woodland Realm, White Gems, Gandalf, Spiders, Smaug, Smaug's Malice, Dragon breath, Wargs, Azog, Dol Guldur, Threat of Dol Guldur, Necromancer.
• From the Lord of the Rings: The Shire, Hobbit end-cap, Hobbit Skip-beat, Rivendell Arpeggio, Weakness Motif, Sauron, The History of The One Ring, Mordor Descending Thirds, Mordor Skip-Beat, Threat of Mordor.
• Returning from the Lord of the Rings : Gandalf's Fireworks, Legolas' Heroic feats, Elvish Medicine, The Forces of The Enemy, Bree, Minas Morgul.

• Bilbo Suspense Music : This motif is a sneaky driving ostinato figure that follows Bilbo when he takes charge of the situation at a pivotal moment. It goes on to replace his fussy theme.

• Thrain's Theme: In the Extended Edition of the Desolation of Smaug, Thrain is introduced with a theme. His is a slow variation of the Erebor theme with a string arpeggio, referencing the Weakness motif.

• Thranduil's theme: Thranduil's theme bears the mark of the Weakness motif, hinting at the Elvenking's Weaknesses.
• The Elvish Host: The Woodland Realm is associated with a martial idea, related to the Elves tense relationship with the Dwarves. It is used when the Dwarves are thrown into the dungeons, and again when they are besieged by the Elves in the third installment.
• : A fast-paced, flamenco-like theme based on the first line of The Woodland Realm theme played in major mode.
• Tauriel's theme: Tauriel is represented mostly by a rapid, if graceful, five-note figure derived from the B-phrase of the Woodland Realm. The B-phrase of her own theme, however, is more closely connected to the Elvish Host idea but unlike that motif, Tauriel's secondary phrase also receives lyrical settings for Oboe or choir.
• Tauriel and Kili: A love theme that represents the relationship between the two characters. It starts with a duet for flute and oboe, followed by a chorus section for voices, and ends with a lyrical oboe phrase. It appears in "Feast of Starlight", "Kingsfoil", and "Beyond the Forest". In "Feast of Starlight" and formally presented in "Beyond the Forest". In The Battle of the Five Armies soundtrack, it is played at the beginning of "Shores of the Long Lake" and is played near the end of "Ravenhill."

• Smaug's Fate: A choral combination of Smaug's various themes was used for when he is toppled by the statue of molten gold. It was then reprised for his eventual demise in the following installment.

• Beorn's theme: A deep and brassy theme played several times in the opening tracks. The harmony, based on the Nature theme, appears by itself as well and recalls Beorn's hefty footfalls.

• Bard's theme: The theme reflects his ambiguity as a character, starting quite moody with the ambivalent introduction to the character. It becomes more heroic as Bard defies Smaug.
• Esgaroth Theme: A 10-note, baroque-styled theme that represents Lake-Town. It appears prominently in the tracks "Protector of the Common Folk" and "Thrice Welcome".
• The Master of Lake-Town's Theme: The theme, played by woodwinds, strings and a clavichord, reflects his high position and his greedy nature. It is played in retrogrades when associated with his guards. A figure hinting at the opening pitches is used in the Forest River sequence.
• Alfrid's theme: The end-cap of the Master's theme is used as a motif for Alfird, his councilor. It appears briefly in "Protector of the Common Folk" and several times in the film version of "The Battle of the Five Armies."
• Girion's theme : A motif to represent the Last Lord of Dale who injured Smaug. It goes on to represent the Black Arrow and the heroism of both Bard and Bain, Girion's descendants.

• Bolg's Theme: Bolg is represented by another variation on the descending thirds, which Doug Adams seems to identify as a distinct motif, in spite of the similarity to Azog's theme. It appears at the end of the extended version of "The Forest River" and appears in "The Hunters."
• The Nine: A solo piece, related to the Istari theme, marks Gandalf's discovery of the resurrection of the Ringwraiths.

• Mirkwood: The theme is built around slow succession. Different variations are played when the Company wanders in the forest. As the company becomes lost in the forest, the motif is swallowed by the dissonant musical texture of Mirkwood.
• : the Death theme becomes a prominent musical motif in the third film and it appears frequently throughout the final part of the story to signal loss and sorrow. It skirts the Woodland Realm theme as it actively revolves around Thranduil and the elves, the concept of mortality strongly present both in the war that rages in the last film of the trilogy and in the relationship between Kili and Tauriel and informs the theme of Dwarvish Suffering as well.

  First appearance in ''The Battle of the Five Armies">The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies">The Battle of the Five Armies''

• From the Lord of the Rings: The Shire, Hobbit Outline, Hobbit Skip-Beat, Bilbo's Song; Battlefield Heroism, the Fellowship, The History of The One Ring, Sauron, Mordor Descending Thirds, Mordor Skip-Beat, Threat of Mordor, Servants of Sauron, Evil Times, Weakness Motif, Galadriel, Rivendell, Rivendell Arpeggios, Nature's Reclamation, Orcs.
• From the Hobbit: Bilbo's theme; Bilbo's Adventure, Sneaky Bilbo; Erebor, Thorin, The House of Durin, Dwarf Lords, Arkenstone; Dragon Breath, Smaug, Smaug's Malice, Dragon Sickness, Smaug's Fate; Laketown, Bard, Bard's Family, Bard and the People of Laketown, Politicians of Laketown, Alfrid, Girion; Woodland Realm, Thranduil, Legolas, Tauriel, Elvish Host, Tauriel End Kili; Death Motif, Dol Guldur, Threat of Dol Guldur, The Nine, Azog, Bolg, Wargs, Ancient Enemy, unnamed title theme.
• Returning from the Lord of the Rings : Mithril, The Forces of the Enemy.

• Dragon Sickness: The dragon-breath motif and Smaug's Malice theme are shifted from the dragon to Thorin and play in tandem during scenes that illustrate his dragon sickness. The dragon breath motif is inlaid with a rhythmic, dissonant string pattern.

• Dain II "Ironfoot"'s theme: A heroic theme played by woodwinds, trumpets, and highland bagpipes. It appears in "Ironfoot" and "Battle for the Mountain", and it is played in the movie during Dain's arrival to the Lonely Mountain and the beginning of the battle. It is backed up by a rhythmic march figure which appears in conjunction with the Dwarvish army.
• Thorin's Fate: Thorin has yet another thematic idea, sung by a solo Soprano that speaks of his ultimate fate. It is played after he breaks out of the Dragon Sickness and opts to assault the Orc Armies, and again before his demise.
• War Preparations : A harsh motif that is played with drums and horns in the tracks "The Ruins of Dale" and "Mithril", representing the militarization of Thorin's company.

• Bard's family's theme: A gently rising and falling theme which, after being hinted at in the second movie, is first played in full during "Fire and Water". It is based on a combination of phrases from Bilbo's theme and the Master's. A heroic rendition of the theme appears during the end of "Battle for the Mountain". It also appears in the extended version of "Ironfoot".
• Bard's Leadership Theme: A short motif that appears in "Shores of the Long Lakes", "Ironfoot", and "Dragon-Sickness". In the film, it is played when Percy recounts Bard's shooting the dragon.
• Bard and the People of Laketown: A combination of the Laketown theme and the ending of Bard's theme, which is played either as action music or as an elegy.

• Gundabad theme: A driving, offbeat theme for Mount Gundabad and its forces. It is first played out in "Bred for War", and features prominently in "Ravenhill". It is underlined by a version of the 5/4 rhythm that comes to represent the Orcs in the scores.
• Ogres theme.

  Returning from The Lord of the Rings

• The final framework story opening the first film showcases the themes for Gandalf's Farewells and the Journey Back. Both are meant to be used as book-ends with the ending of Return of the King, and the Journey Back even shares similarities to Bilbo's Adventure which was used on the album version. Gandalf's Farewells is used in Lord of the Rings in scenes that do not involve the departure of the wizard, much like this scene, the explanation being that it is most likely being used in an opposite meaning, of expecting to meet again with the wizard, be it Bilbo in the framework story, or Frodo on Mount Doom, who is about to die.
• Two of the variations of the Shire theme, the Hymn and Playful variation, which are mostly associated in The Lord of the Rings with Frodo and with Merry and Pippin, respectively, are applied to Bilbo in the first score: The Hymn variation in the finished film when Gandalf explains his choice of Bilbo to Galadriel, and the playful variation when Bilbo runs out of his door. However, the themes do have a broader association and the former in particular prefigures Frodo's choices more so than scoring Bilbo's.
• Galadriel's theme, in a martial setting, is used for Elrond's Riders assaulting the Warg riders. More so than scoring the moment, the music seems to connect it to the arrival of the Host of the Eldar in The Lord of the Lords, or perhaps to prefigure the encounter with Galadriel in the White Council.
• The "Ringwraith" theme is used for the final confrontation of Azog and Thorin in the first film. While the theme is most strongly associated with the Wraiths, it is first and foremost an "offspring" of the broader theme for "The Power of Mordor", which the composition also alludes to. In fact, this use of theme comes shortly before the revelation that Azog is a servant of the Necromancer, which later in that film turns out to be Sauron and using the theme in the broader sense of "The Servants of Sauron" is consistent with several of its applications in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, including two statements in the Prologue and one unused statement in "Amon Hen." In fact, the signature chords of theme underline much of the music for the Goblins and Wargs which dominates the parts of the composition leading up to the statement. Azog's own theme is also derived from one of the Mordor accompaniments which is often used in conjunction with the Ringwraith theme.
• "Gondor Reborn" was briefly quoted in the finale of the film. This is the closest that any of the scores come to using themes "romantically", as a pure suggestion of mood. However, based on dialogue from the third film, a tenuous connection can be made between the success of the quest and ultimate victory of Gondor in the War of the Ring. The most likely explanation is that Shore utilized this theme, which has a strong connotation of "good winning over evil" and extrapolated it from its narrow association with Gondor into a broader sense, applying it in this scene.

  Unconfirmed and incidental themes

• The Forest River sequence features repeated string ostinatos that represent the churning river.
• There is similar music used when the Dwarves first fall into Goblintown and again when the bridge they cross collapses. Whether it is a leitmotif or not is unclear, as it might be tracked.
• Since the High Fells of Rhudaur were originally supposed to appear in An Unexpected Journey, one of the bonus tracks, "Edge of the Wild", has the same musical idea that would later be used in conjunction with them in the following film, making the music of the High Fells technically recurring.

  Soloists

Songs

End-credits songs

• Song of the Lonely Mountain: Composed by Stephen Gallaghar and Neil Finn. Orchestrated and arranged by Victoria Kelly under the supervision of Howard Shore and performed by Neil Finn and sons and the London Metropolitan Orchestra. It is another setting of the "Misty Mountains" melody.
• "I See Fire": Composed and performed by Ed Sheeran.
• "The Last Goodbye": Composed by Billy Boyd. Orchestrated and arranged by Victoria Kelly under Shore's supervision. Performed by Billy Boyd and the London Metropolitan Orchestra.

  Diegetic Music

Instrumentation

• Woodwind: 3 flutes, 3 oboes, 3 clarinets in B-flat and E-flat, 3 bassoons
• Brass: 5 horns in F, 4 trumpets, two tenor trombones, bass trombone, tuba, doubling on euphonium.
• Timpani: 7 timpani.
• Percussion: at least three percussionists on bass drum, snare and side drums, taiko drums, tamtams, gong drum; doubling on thunder sheet, drum kit, second floor tom, jingles, a bowed saw, shakers, clappers, slit drum, cymbals, anvil, clapsticks, tambourines, frame drums, shekeres, cabasas, caxixi, egg shakers and sistrums dunun drum, two waterphones, small gong, tingsha, kouxian; Bodhrain, tubular bells, triangle, xylophone, glockenspiel, wood blocks, five Tibetan and/or Thai hanging gongs and transceleste, five singing bowls, tuned artillery shells.
• Keyboards: piano, celesta.
• Voices: 60-piece STABB choir, 30 boys; soprano soloist, tenor soloist, baritone soloist.
• Strings: 2 harps, 16 first and 14 second violins, 12 violas, 10 violoncellos, 8 double basses with low-C strings.
• Additional parts: bass oboe or heckelphone, clarinet, at least one horn, trombone, tuba, second timpanist, three added percussionists, pipe organ, at least 20 SATBB parts, ten male "grunters" and several Tibetan throat singers, twenty boys, mezzo-soprano soloist, violin.
• "Hobbit band": tin whistle, musette, concertina, hammered dulcimer, 3 classical guitars, mandolin, Celtic harp, Uilleann pipes, two highland bagpipes.
• Baroque band: clavichord and diegetic brass instruments.
• Eastern band: sarangi, monochord, offstage rhaita, wood flute and shakuhachi, lyre, a "chorus" of yadiki, one blowing horn, dizi, spike fiddle, liuqin and yangqin, tanpuras, tabla drums.
• Gamelan orchestra: at least 13 players, of which five parts for saron and pekin and three on slenthem and two players on bonang. Also in the orchestra are three kendhang drums, 10 kempul gongs, two large gong ageng, three medium kempur and one klentong; ceng-ceng and anklung, kajar, gambangs, kenong, kempyang and kethuk, as well as finger cymbals.
• Plan 9's diegetic music utilized a serpent, alphorn and straight bugle, a bowed banjo and spoons and handclapping. A variation of the Laketown theme used for the behind-the-scenes material might have utilized cornetts.

''Concert Suites''

• "Dreaming of Bag End"
• "A Very Respectable Hobbit"
• "Erebor"
• "The Dwarf Lords"
• "Beyond the Forest"
• "Ironfoot"

''An Unexpected Journey''

Track listing

Reception

Chart positions

Certifications

''The Desolation of Smaug''

Track listing

Chart positions

''The Battle of the Five Armies''

Track listing

Chart positions