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Howard Shore Creates Main Title Theme as He Makes His Return to Middle-Earth, Bear McCreary Confirmed as Composer of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Jul 21, 2022

Listen to “Galadriel” and “Sauron,” two new pieces of music from The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power today, only on Amazon Music

CULVER CITY, California—July 21, 2022—Amazon Studios today confirmed the involvement of two globally renowned, award-winning composers in the creation of the original main title theme and series score, respectively, for the highly anticipated original television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.  Academy Award®-winning composer Howard Shore has composed the main title theme, and Emmy® Award-winning composer Bear McCreary has composed the full episodic score, for this epic new series. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will debut worldwide on Prime Video on September 2, 2022.

Legendary composer Shore has composed scores for some of the most memorable and world-renowned film and television series, but is perhaps best known for his work on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies. Globally respected for his passion for J.R.R. Tolkien’s work, Shore has written an all-new main title theme for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

McCreary, known for his incomparable world-building and use of innovative musical approaches in the worlds of television, film, and video games, has created the series’ episodic soundtrack. McCreary’s music will guide audiences through the major events of the Second Age of Middle-earth as seen in the forthcoming series. Over the past year, McCreary has recorded and composed hours of music for the score, weaving together his original themes into a sonic tapestry for a full symphonic orchestra, alongside vibrant folk instruments and choral singers.

“With their deep understanding of the Tolkien legendarium, coupled with two of the greatest musical talents of our age, we’re thrilled that Howard and Bear are joining us on this epic journey to Middle-earth,” said Bob Bowen, Worldwide Head of Music for Amazon Studios.  

“As I set out to compose the score for this series, I strove to honor Howard Shore’s musical legacy,” said McCreary. “When I heard his majestic main title, I was struck by how perfectly his theme and my original score, though crafted separately, fit together so beautifully. I am excited for audiences to join us on this new musical journey to Middle-earth.”

Two new pieces of music composed for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power by Bear McCreary—“Galadriel” and “Sauron”—are available to streamhere now, only on Amazon Music.

Shore and McCreary join Showrunners and Executive Producers J.D. Payne & Patrick McKay as they bring to screens for the very first time the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history, set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings stories. The series, which begins in a time of relative peace, follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth.

Additional Executive Producers are Lindsey Weber, Callum Greene, J.A. Bayona, Belén Atienza, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Bruce Richmond, and Sharon Tal Yguado, and producers Ron Ames and Christopher Newman. Wayne Che Yip is co-executive producer and directs, along with Bayona and Charlotte Brändström.

The multi-season drama will premiere exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories around the world in multiple languages on Friday, September 2, with new episodes available weekly.

To view and download The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power teaser trailer announcement assets, please visit the Amazon Studios press site:https://press.amazonstudios.com/us/en/original-series/the-lord-of-the-rings-amazon-original-series/1

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Biographies
Howard Shore is one of today’s premier composers whose music is performed in concert halls around the world by the most prestigious orchestras and is heard in cinemas across the globe. Shore’s musical interpretation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s imaginative world of The Lord of the Ringsand The Hobbit, as portrayed in the films directed by Peter Jackson, have enthralled people of all generations for years. This work stands as his most acclaimed composition to date awarding him with three Academy Awards, four Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes as well as numerous critic’s and festival awards.  He is an Officier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la France, the recipient of Canada’s Governor General’s Performing Arts Award and is an officer of the Order of Canada. The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures honored Howard Shore with an award for Career Achievement for Music Composition, the City of Vienna bestowed him with the Max Steiner Award and in 2017 he received the Wojciech Kilar Award established by the mayors of Krakow and Katowice. Shore has received numerous other awards for his career achievements. Shore has been invited to speak at many prestigious institutions, including La Fémis in Paris with Michel Hazanavicius. Other notable talks have been at Oxford Union, Royal Conservatory, Yale, NYU, Julliard, UCLA, University of Toronto, Berklee School of Music, Berlinale, Cinémathèque in Paris, and at Trinity College Dublin where he received the Gold Medal of Honorary Patronage.

Emmy and BAFTA award-winning composer Bear McCreary began his career as a protégé of legendary film composer Elmer Bernstein, before bursting onto the scene scoring the influential and revered series Battlestar Galacticain 2004. Since then, McCreary has been a four-time Emmy nominee and won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme for Da Vinci’s Demons, a musical palindrome that sounds the same forwards and backwards. His recent projects include Foundation for Apple TV+, the Sony and Starz international hit series Outlander, Netflix’s Academy Award nominated documentary Crip Camp, produced by Barack and Michelle Obama, Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures’ Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot Films’ 10 Cloverfield Lane, AMC’s global phenomenon The Walking Dead, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the video game Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge for Disney; and Sony PlayStation’s massive video game God of War, and its highly anticipated sequel.