Sauron's musical disguises in Rings of Power

[@GalenDeGraf]

Wasn’t planning to craft another Tolkien music theory vid right now but I watched episode 6. McCreary inspired me. Aulë gave me strength. I just hope Sauron wasn’t involved… This counts as an early Halloween video, right? Note: Notation for "Sauron’s illusion" both the rhythm and key has been simplified to make the connection to Sauron/elves easier to follow.

[@GalenDeGraf]

I’m currently dealing with some copyright disputes on this video. Best way to support future content on this channel is to join the Patreon! www.patreon.com/galendegraf And I have materials in the Patreon shop which are free for members.

[@GalenDeGraf]

Next longform video on this channel is planned to cover the scores to The Matrix, Back to the Future, Aliens, and Captain America with a post-tonal perspective, with early access on Patreon! I’ll gladly make more content on McCreary’s music (Rings of Power, Foundation, Outlander, etc.) at some point in the future, although If Bear McCreary is willing to let me peruse some sheet music for any of that, it would really help!

[@Handle35667]

@@GalenDeGrafwhy are you constantly rolling your r’s? Have you been brainwashed into mispronouncing words?

[@GalenDeGraf]

@Handle35667 Since this video is mainly about Rings of Power I’m trying to follow the show’s pronunciation in this video, though I don’t think I was perfectly consistent. Peter Jackson still feels like canon, but I like the idea that in the second age people’s pronunciation was a little different. My longform video coverage of Lord of the Rings music is less specific to Rings of Power, and I don’t recall rolling the r’s for those.

[@Outrunwhistle]

There are clearly different ways the elves pronounce names of significance. In the original LOTR movies, Elrond says Mordor in this way and Legolas says Balrog and Morgoth in an identical manner In ROP, the names that are pronounced oddly are, what do you know, Sauron, Morgoth, Numenor, Galadriel, etc

[@bethanywakim6175]

It’s so clever that the music itself becomes deceptive - it’s just as much a shapeshifter as Sauron is. My respect for McCreary’s work keeps growing with this series; thanks for another fantastic video.

[@solaireflair2815]

Something I thought was really neat was either in Season 2, episode 1 or 2; Galadriel says something like “Sauron played us like a harp”. When she says this, the background music plays Sauron’s motif on a harp.

[@noturmum7967]

Plz lmk if you remember the scene as I love stuff like this

[@solaireflair2815]

@@noturmum7967 it’s when she is talking to Elrond in Cirdan’s workshop. I’m pretty sure it’s episode 2.

[@GalenDeGraf]

I think we hear Sauron’s melody as a distant soprano in S2, Ep. 2 ca. 34.30 with her line “I was played like a harp to a melody not of my choosing.” EDIT: Per Bear’s blog there is a harp there! “solo harp gently plucks the notes of the Sauron theme, soaked in eerie, unnatural reverb”

[@vicweise1173]

I've personally been very fond of the use of "Where the Shadows Lie". The fact they took the poem about the rings of power and gave it a melody that's woven through key scene's about the rings is amazing. I keep going back to "Emissary at the Forge"

[@albeast0onyt]

the annatar theme is like warm honey

[@CharlieKnolesPlus]

So good. Bear McCreary is establishing himself as one of the great film and tv composers. This is brilliant writing.

[@monoverantus]

You point out an interesting feature of Rivendell and Lothlórien's themes: both gain their otherworldly quality from including notes that blur the edge between minor and major. Rivendell is a major-moded theme with its major sixth flattened, and Lothlórien is a minor-moded theme with its minor third sharpened.

[@GalenDeGraf]

Something else worth throwing into the “mix” here is that when the accompaniment only has an open fifth (such as for clips here of Lothórien and the Annatarized Sauron) it is less committal in terms of major and minor, leaving the *melody* as the deciding factor for whether the harmony might feel more major or minor.

[@SylvainGuehl]

​@@GalenDeGrafwhich is common practice in traditionnel music from western/northern europe : open fiths drones over modal mélodies with moving/floating degrees.

[@Griffithfolkestone]

In season 1 it's Morgoth who disrupts the song, and in season 2 red sands represent Sauron as Annatar who secretly intervenes himself with regular sands

[@Alikk784]

Bear McCreary, turning out to be a good successor to Howard Shore

[@davidhorvath9276]

👍

[@TheBabyCaleb]

He’s amazing! And the score for ROP is easily the best part

[@demonicxfire]

Coming from the Norse God of War, saga, he's definitely just- fire 🔥🔥

[@senna127]

I love that he also composed for Outlander! I love it.

Howard Shore music in the Lord of the Rings has research and subtilities. Nothing obvious or in the face, all subtle and deep. Bear McCreary music is not really subtle, I like some parts of it but I disagree with that statement of successor.

[@roguerangerproductions]

Being studying music theory in school, this is really interesting! I love lotr and like rop. Loved the comparisons!

[@thehunter7422]

Bear Mccrearys just too good. They Made a great choice for him to be the composer of the show. He really gets what Howard Shore has done with the movies 🤗the Sauron theme has been one of my favorites so far and i love what he did when he disguises as Annatar. So smooth 😎

[@haydenmammen6079]

How much did you get paid to post this? Or are you seriously so dumb that you posted this free of charge

[@OrionFromMars]

You really can’t have a show without music. This is just genius! A similar thing was done with Star Wars connecting all back to Palpatine. It’s always so cool to see artists do this with music ❤

[@GalenDeGraf]

And shout out to the amazing cinematography of this show, without which the music could not shine so brightly! After the clip I discuss in this video ("Sauron’s Illusion"), Celebrimbor returns back inside and we get some stunning and extraordinary cinematography as the camera in a single shot revolves around Annatar and transitions visually from pleasant elven town to dark city under siege.

[@JediMaestr0]

This was by far my favorite part of the S2 soundtrack. Thanks for explaining and highlighting it for others to enjoy!

[@luinérion]

Excellent video as always!

[@wesebeling]

This is so impressive and amazing. I never caught any of this watching or re-re-re-watching the episodes! Thank you for breaking this out!! Great video.

[@hoon_sol]

Brilliant. McCreary is a genius, his leitmotifs are on par with those of Wagner. Have loved his music since listening to that from Foundation.

[@GalenDeGraf]

Foundation score is spectacular!

[@davidhorvath9276]

Battlestar Galactica too

[@smittyjjensin558]

His work on Black Sails is his peak. A very very high peak.

[@AthEE_One]

​@@davidhorvath9276And that was his debut!

[@Alikk784]

i love how authentically pronounce annatar

[@carolinecolbert5692]

For all its faults, a lot of people worked hard on this show and I like to see all the little gems

[@svellice]

I mean there‘s a lot to criticize the show for but I think at some points it really nails down some of the moods and subtleties about how temptation works in a *better way* than peter jackson did (there, I said it), compared to the books. Also I think season 2 improved some of the faults of season 1. In the end, much of the hate the show gets nowadays just seams so superficial to me like bro stop, take a breath, touch some grass, come back and start to really *listen* to what the show portrays and does good.

[@willowthemoth]

I really love the show but I absolutely hate, MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE NEWEST EPISODE That the wizard is Gandalf, it makes absolutely no sense, and since according to the show he's one of two wizards to be the first to arrive in middle earth, which is supposed to be the blue wizards, it also leaves the plot hole of who the dark wizard is, if it's saroman that doesn't make sense since he's only supposed to be evil later, and if he's a blue wizard that would make even less sense since the blue wizards are supposed to be together.

[@stoatsnhoney]

@@willowthemoth Hey I did a little research and there are hints that the Istari walked in middle earth before the third age. And considering the mission of the Istari is to help the people of Middle-Earth resist Sauron, I'm okay with them altering the timeline so that the wizards arrived in the second age cause it'll be basically the same result. I think it's one of the blue wizards in Rhûn, and while they're typically grouped together it does say that one went to Rhun and another to Harad. This is just from superficial reading of quotes I found so I'm sure there's lots more details in The History of Middle-Earth, and I may absolutely be taking these passages out of context so if anything can provide more please do :)

[@GalenDeGraf]

I think I heard somewhere that the showrunners stated the dark wizard is not Saruman, so a blue wizard theory is more likely there.

[@willowthemoth]

@@stoatsnhoney yeah that's true, I really hope they do explain in more detail what's happening in the next season though, cause at the moment I'm still confused.

[@improvemyself256]

Awesome analysis! Really well explained and just Shows how much thought was put into this beautiful score!

[@TheBabyCaleb]

Bear McCreary is an extremely talented composer, and his work for ROP is the best part of the show

[@mythal0620]

When I watch a film, I can't analyse the music at all... Thank you for this great insight! When I watch the entire 2nd season in the original tomorrow, I'll be able to analyse the compositional subtleties with your help!

[@Will-nn3pb]

I saw the promo for s2 video of Mc Creary explaining this. Thank you for showing and explaining it.

[@darthmop1]

An Intro I enjoy watching every time and a melody that sometimes comes to my mind during the day

[@StoneAgeStark]

Very glad you picked up on this and shared with the rest of us, nice to see the extra thought/effort from the music department

[@samuelleask1132]

Absolutely genius, thanks for sharing this breakdown!

[@danielbanbury378]

Just stumbled onto your video, thank you these breakdowns were incredibly interesting

[@miimiimiimii]

Very interesting stuff! Great video!

[@okay5191]

This was really interesting - thanks

[@mishalee8083]

This was so cool! Thank you for explaining. I never heard the similarities between Annatar's theme and the elves of Rivendell / Lothlorien from Lord of the Rings, but it makes so much sense! Also, it calls back to the similarities between Halbrand's theme and Galadriel's theme, which of course darkens into Sauron's theme - like the good and beauty that is there is twisted into a minor echo by Sauron - for himself and for the elves.

[@tacoturtle8708]

You rock at this ... nice finds and descriptions.

[@ipercalisse579]

Interesting.. the last you played especially recalls me some composers of the ars nova time, the "dissonances", Guillaume Machaut.. also during baroque, especially early baroque, some used to have melody going very sharp almost colliding with other voices..

[@AntonioHernandez-oq1jv]

Great video and great music. I really love Season 2.

[@AtelaLafford]

i was looking for something like this after hearing his theme a few times thank you so much

[@nicomuda1994]

Great video! I love rings of power because, even though its different, so many parts of it pay homage to the PJ trilogies, and feel very thematically Tolkein-esque. The music is one of the pieces I think McCreary did amazing work! Orignal, but reminds you of Howard Shore. I love the theme for Numenor.

[@ostatnifajek128]

The fact that Halbrand is Sauron was better hidden in the musical theme than in the show itself

[@cosmicmuffin322]

The music is one of the only well done and thoughtful parts of this absolute dumpster fire of a show

[@YodatheHobbit]

He sure was hidden for me. I initially thought maybe he was The Witchking.

[@strayfreckles]

​@@cosmicmuffin322not a dumpster fire, have you watched S2?

[@Jakblade]

I’m so freaking into this!!! Absolutely amazing thank you so much!

[@giuliamassimino2840]

Fantastic video!! ❤

[@Erik_Wulf]

I am not a big fan of the The Rings of Power, but the plot around Sauron/Anatar is one of the few things I actually like in it, as well as the soundtrack atmosphere. Although still miles behind Lotr and Hobbit.

[@JazzMaster01]

Yeah I can't stand the show but I like the visuals and music

[@YodatheHobbit]

Nostalgia has tainted you.

[@JazzMaster01]

@@YodatheHobbit The show sucks

[@ClearlyInPeril]

Couldn't disagree more. I just watched the Hobbit trilogy again with my girlfriend, who has never seen any LotR at all, and we both agreed that the Hobbit was terrible. It really does a disservice to the book imo, and doesn't do anything for my enjoyment of LotR. RoP is leagues and leagues better in terms of writing, directing, set design, costuming, and overall immersion and feeling like LotR. Of course, there are things I don't like about RoP (Harfoots, don't even get me started with that Season 1 plot,) but overall it is significantly better. Remove the rose tinted glasses

[@IT_IS_ME-tw6ur]

@@ClearlyInPeril you're retarded

[@Zilla1954]

Bear Mcreary is a genius. I first discovered his work when he did Godzilla: King of the Monsters and instantly fell in love with his Ifikube-inspired soundtrack for that movie. His music is just another thing I love about the Rings of Power, and Sauron's new theme rocks!

[@bufohannah]

Thanks for the nice breakdown ❤

[@fynbos-indiealternativesin5012]

Bear McReary showing his genius with this! The soundtrack to the show is amazing!

[@Marky_C]

Please analyze the ring themes/where the shadows lie?

[@RedditThree]

this is amazing analisys

[@YodatheHobbit]

Good stuff. Great analysis. These kind of things are always so fun to me to hear, explained by someone with a better musically vocabulary and ear than I. Makes me miss David W. Collins's podcast. Thank you. I do wonder if as seasons of this show progress we will start hearing some of Shore's themes incorporated and mixed with Bear's own themes. I hope that ends up being the case. Would be great to hear the Rivendell theme as it starts to be founded and developed next season. I really enjoyed hearing all three Thor movie themes by different composers in Thor Ragnarök, sort of all representing different aspects of the film and moods of the character. For me that worked well in that movie.

[@GalenDeGraf]

Since Amazon has TV rights but not film rights, they are contractually unable to use Howard Shore’s LotR themes for Rings of Power. I talk about this in some depth in another video if you’re interested: Musical continuity without quotation kzbin.info/www/bejne/oGG2oXSPnJKNn7s

[@delyar]

finally, the video I needed

[@nachteulen_kollektiv2023]

Love the connection and the concept behind those theme(s) - Bear McCreary is an absolute genius and knows, how he has to compose a sequel of Howard Shore's themes! I also love that he plays with Dur & Moll to make the theme sounds more hopefully - dangerous - sneaky and sad, only by changing some minor notes! You always get the theme of the different cultures and protagonists in the series - and through the minor changes the theme changes, to reflect the emotions of the specific character and their storylines :) ...just the theme of Damrod is too heavy, it would fit in the series, if they had shown some story behind that character back in the past... but we only get a short appearance at the orc-camp and later on at the battle for about 3 minutes "action sequence" - that actually is really disappointing, if you think about Bear McCrearys major change of style with that vocals and metal riffs. The metal is pretty refreshing, but at the end titles without a warning it was surprisingly shocking and didn't fit well!

[@enilenev5777]

Genius ❤

[@Apostlehood]

Awesome! I love the soundtrack of RoP

[@fgdj2000]

Music can do so much. I love how the same theme plays in the Jackson films when Gandalf gives Bilbo String, when Bilbo spares Gollum and when Gandalf talks to Frodo about Pity in Moria, connecting these moments. How Azogs theme is a piece of Sauron‘s movie theme, how Boromir‘s theme is the same melody as Minas Tirith and so on. Star Wars has so much of this as well: famously the celebration at the end of Episode I features a faster and more upbeat version of The Emperor’s theme. And the title theme of Rogue One uses the exact same notes as the Star Wars theme, but uses them to arrange a new melody, emphasising that this is something connected, yet also separate and nee.

[@dookieburrito9196]

Whatever problems people have with the show, the music has been one of the redeeming factors

[@loveylace4541]

Yeah, that was how I figured out Halbrand was Sauron. I have relative pitch. I've played Bear's ROP album on Spotify in loop. No one believed me, but I was right.

[@Ninjaned]

Hi! Someone on internet mentioned Adar's Theme from Rings of Power season 1 has a similar opening 1min as another track from season 1 E7 "Memories of Dancing" Can we get an opinion please 👀👀

[@Eryndriel]

Well someone actually did some good work on the show at least, this is so interesting and amazing, even if i don't understand music stuff

[@stephengeist344]

One thing that isn’t bad about this series is the OST. Bear killed it here

[@RhapsodyInBlaah]

Good pronunciation.

[@Andrea-oy3yl]

Perfection.

[@danielmattackal6801]

People don't appreciate the amount of work put into this show

[@whoshoo]

Mainly because it doesn't amount to much unfortunately

[@Shcreamingreen]

A lot of PVC was used in the making of an army.

[@Ninjaned]

They will loose their core personality if they stop being haters, that's why! ROP is good & getting better with each season!!

[@ipercalisse579]

People does.. that's why we are heartbroken that got spoiled just for the greed of Bezos/Morgoth

[@Shcreamingreen]

@@Ninjaned Nobody paid fucking attention to anything in this show, with music seemingly being a nice exception, so what are you even talking about?

[@catilucia]

I found my corner of KZbin

[@Fitchy-ke3wz]

I have no idea what any of that music jargon means but it was very interesting!

[@GaladriexLady]

Hi from Turkey 🇹🇷

[@TimeTraveller-nt1im]

Selam

[@GaZZuM]

"MuSiC gOoD, sCrIpT bAd!" 🙄 Some people are such crybabies, I swear. Excellent video! I would never have noticed these details for myself.

[@LuisArcadia641]

The script is indeed very bad, pacing and dialogue are awful. That is a shame seeing every other aspect of the production is amazing (costumes, effects, music, cinematography, acting).

[@seileen1234]

But the music IS good and the script IS bad.

[@Ninjaned]

Preach OP!!!!

[@ipercalisse579]

​@@LuisArcadia641 I watch it translated in my language. It is awful even translated..

[@PurtyPurple]

The replies prove your point... why can't people just enjoy a well done in depth analysis without feeling the need to find something to shit on? They're like toddlers: "I didn't like something and neither should you!"

[@pupu6oi74]

anatarrrr saurrrron

[@VVTheVictorious]

Where did you get the sheet music? Been looking for the Khazad Dum one

[@GalenDeGraf]

I transcribe a lot, but Bear McCreary also has many musical examples in his blog posts about the show.

[@anemonenova8694]

I didn't know Bear McCreary's work before Rings of Power and he has blown me away with the score of the show! Sure, the show itself has its flaws, but the music doesn't.

[@pedroider]

rivendell’s theme also looks to the rings of power main theme

[@GalenDeGraf]

This is an interesting comparison! Both composed by Howard Shore, the Rivendell theme is a major triad followed by a semitone *up*, whereas the Rings of Power main titles begin with a major triad followed by a semitone *down*.

[@Cestariarts]

1:40 this is the most typical use of Lydian

[@GalenDeGraf]

Can you elaborate on that?

[@dunhamb]

The best thing to come out of RoP is the music.

[@josiahp.6960]

It's unfortunate that more thought went into this one piece of music than the whole story of the show.

[@joleine1950]

I did not like the series at all, but this video is gold! Tolkien is all about music.

[@ramonbetzler7786]

Cool

[@chouderr1089]

bear's back must be near breaking after trying so hard to carry the rings of power for two seasons and counting... I maintain the rings of power deserves to exist purely for its score and nothing else.

[@ReidGarwin]

The show was made by Sauron of course his theme sounds good lmao

[@selman044]

I think the best thing is musics. Other things are far away from being good ❤

[@anthonytoujours9182]

But Howard Shores themes sound so much more powerful.

[@OfficialArthusamakh]

I feel like the score would get more credit or come around better if the whole plot and so on wasn't just so bloody miserable. The score has barely anything to elevate.

[@plexx365]

God, the haters are such miserable people, feeling the need to poison every single comment section in every single video that even MENTIONS "Rings of Power". For the love of God and everything holy, JUST STOP WATCHING THE DAMN SHOW!! Miserable, miserable people, all of them!

[@GalenDeGraf]

"Find the light, and the shadow will not find you"

[@riheg]

You said, hating on everybody that disagree. It’s easy for you to not care, not having years and emotions invested in Tolkiens works, but for the rest of us who are passionate, it’s a different matter

[@plexx365]

@@riheg You're talking about Tolkien's work as if it's the Holy Bible: grow up!

[@GalenDeGraf]

Let’s try to close up this thread. Tolkien’s work is extremely close to my heart. There are ways I hope the show will improve, but I don’t think the comments section of a video about the music is the right place to litigate any issue people have with the show.

[@DreamersOfReality]

And they need everyone to know how much they hate it... Whatever opinion Tolkien would have of the show, I know he would disavow such rabid hatred.

[@andreasjohansson1990]

I can honestly say I don’t remember any music from season 1 or 2.

[@Kelvinwicaksonoo]

Bloodborne Father Gascoigne Ost 😂

[@FlAw88]

Can you say Sauron like a normal person?

[@shawnthompson2303]

I’m convinced Bear McCreary cannot make bad music

[@joyceb6066]

to make short : music in rings of power is more intelligent than the serie itself

[@mrbad9171]

Fantasy producers when they hire "music experts , decor, CGI , directors , cinematographers... " : 🗿 Fantasy producers when they hire writers : 🤡

[@joetie7516]

I dont think I'll ever understand the hate this show gets. I honestly love everything about it except the bowl hair cut kid is annoying and could just be removed. Everything else, I love it.

[@AshikawaBetas]

I hate this series but this is clever.

[@williamgonzales1980]

The only real redeeming factor of the Rings of Power is the music and Ben Daniels as Círdan.

[@joetheperformer]

The brilliance of artists like Bear McCreary and the actors were distinguished by how terrible the writing of this show was. They were so afraid to make this show raunchy and politically incorrect that they made a vanilla nonsense show.

[@7riX7er]

So at least someone put some brainpower into this series

[@XeNeXX]

so they really did basde this entire show on jeff wanting a game of thrones - as got's themes always tended to do this sorta stuff too - im honestly so disaponted by this show - not a tolkien etc fan - but the shows dogwater at best even for casuals - especially for casuals

[@stasis_]

This show is one of many examples where music's quality is so far beyond the script.

[@ivanortiz847]

No, it's not

[@brandonm1708]

@@ivanortiz847why not?

[@Zombeastsqurl]

The work on the show is so good, but it’s dragged down by bad writing and just weird inconsistencies throughout.

[@mondschein8067]

Completely hated series that contains real gems. So sad that the serie suffer so much on hate.

[@somnambulist83]

No amount of over-theorized structural nonsense can change the fact that all of the music on this show is both derivative and boring; by the time I notice music is playing, it's either because the music is swelling to a terminal crescendo or because I recognize the essence of the tune from the Jackson trilogy. Let's not give this show credit where none is due. The music is an enormous part of its enormous failure.

[@kiwitealc5353]

I agree, and I'm surprised I don't see more people talking about it. I've started noticing this season that whenever a character enter a scene, someone just presses the button to play their four-note theme tune. It's most noticeable for Arondir, because every time he shows up we get that "Bum-bah bum-bah" on french horn. Sometimes multiple times in a scene. It's pretty hokey. I like that bear mcreery tried to do something here with these themes, and on their own, some of the songs are pretty nice. But they bring very little to the show, and you can really tell that the score wasn't written to go with scenes, they just slap pieces on when it feels right. The worst of it all though is the random end credit songs--- the tom bombadil song and the orc metal. They might be okay on their own, but throwing them in the credits undercuts what little emotion/tension they have at the ends of those episodes. (And personally I don't think either was done well. The singer in the Tom B. song I don't think is very good, and the orc metal on top of orchestral instrumentation didn't work for me.)

[@TheHiggybaby]

Credit is in the ear of the beholder. While you may have found it boring and derivative, others find it emotive and original. It's certainly fine to dislike it, however.

[@JazzMaster01]

The music. The only good thing about Rings of Power

[@darthgimbo]

You're on to something...

[@neptune7426]

The only good part about out this show is the soundtrack composed by the two great composers.

[@chriscline9187]

The only decent thing about this show is the symphonic music…

[@ipercalisse579]

McCreary is the only good thing in RoP, in my opinion. The series is a mess, but the music is brilliant.

[@plexx365]

I wish you haters would stop watching the show, and stop poisoning every "neutral" video with your misery.

[@cataclyzm3844]

@@plexx365 please stop critizing something I like, it might improve the show!!!

[@plexx365]

@@cataclyzm3844 I have a REALLY hard time thinking that you like the show at all.

[@cataclyzm3844]

@@plexx365 I like the universe the show is based on, so I do really want to see improvements. If not in this show, in future adaptations aswell.

[@GalenDeGraf]

I’m flattered people think they can improve a billion dollar show with generic comments on my youTube video, but if you truly want improvements, I suggest voicing specific, constructive ideas (and perhaps finding a more relevant place to say them).

[@n9ne-o0]

Shit show anyways, but good video

[@erikhamann]

The music is probably the best thing about this show, followed by saurons and celebrimbors acting performance. The rest ranges from mediocre to awful.

[@aloevera3932]

Finally someone who isn't just hating blindly. I agree, the show is mediocre in general ( have seen better and have seen worse) but there are some jewels in it and just for the sake of them I'm waiting for season 3

[@LysimedVenteel]

The music is the only good thing about this series. Also word of advice, Annatar is not an Elf.

[@GalenDeGraf]

Sauron disguises himself among the elves as Annatar. (Compared to Halbrand, Annatar looks-and his music sounds-more elvish.) If you think I think Annatar IS an elf, this video has deceived you.