There is martial music, naturally, while the Mordor sequences--such as "Minas Morgul" and "Shelob's Lair"--elicit some terrifying orchestral drama. But the score's overall tenor is more meditative than either of its predecessors, ultimately emphasising the poignancy of farewells more than exterior spectacle as it reaches a suitably and satisfyingly Wagnerian climax in "The Grey Havens". Only the obligatory song tie-in, "Into the West" (sung by Annie Lennox), is a middle-of-the-road disappointment after all that has gone before.

This single disc presents only selections from a much larger work. Hopefully, the complete scores for all three films will soon be released with the same sort of lavish attention paid to John Williams' comparable Star Wars cycle. Only then will the magnitude of Howard Shore's achievement be fully evident: at the very least, like Williams a generation earlier, Shore has given musically aware filmgoers a brief respite from wall-to-wall product-placed pop and thudding drum machines. --Mark Walker