The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Thanks to the creative vision of director Peter Jackson, the wildly successful The Lord of the Rings(2001-03) fantasy film trilogy unfolds in a self-contained universe brimming with life-or-death battles. Appropriately, Howard Shore’s Grammy-winning score for The Two Towers(2002), the second instalment of the triptych, is an extension of the film’s otherworldly, suspense-filled setting. Working with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as choruses such as the London Voices and the London Oratory School Schola, Shore composed, orchestrated and conducted a score that generates suspense via sweeping strings (the ominous “The Forbidden Pool” and “The Passage of the Marshes”) or strident brass (“Helm’s Deep”). The orchestral moments are punctuated by occasional prominent guest voices, which puts a human side to the tense skirmishes. “Isengard Unleashed” features the ethereal vocal beauty of Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser, while the more tranquil “Evenstar” throws a spotlight on the operatic soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian.