Howard Shore | Concerning Hobbits
“Concerning Hobbits” - from Peter Jackson’s “make it hobbity” direction to tin whistle melodies, how a concert piece built from film fragments became cinema’s most peaceful theme in 2001.
Story Behind “Concerning Hobbits”
Peter Jackson’s Direction and Shore’s Vision
In 1999, director Peter Jackson met with composer Howard Shore to begin discussing the music for what would become The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Shore visited the set and created preliminary versions of core themes—including the Shire theme and Frodo’s Theme—before Jackson began shooting. The collaboration established a creative partnership where Jackson would offer directive guidance and Shore would translate those visual concepts into music.
One such moment crystallized the approach to the Hobbit music. Jackson gave Shore a simple but profound direction: “Make it hobbity.” Shore understood this meant creating music that didn’t feel composed from above but rather as if the hobbits themselves were making it—something playful, homemade, joyful. Shore wanted to give the impression that “the hobbits were playing the music.” This meant choosing instruments that felt rustic and organic rather than grand and orchestral: tin whistle, fiddle, mandolin, Celtic harp, bodhrán, and hammered dulcimer.
From Film Fragments to Concert Suite
“Concerning Hobbits” is not originally a single, unified composition. Rather, it’s a concert suite that Shore arranged and compiled from music heard throughout the early Shire scenes in The Fellowship of the Ring. The piece draws from multiple moments—scenes of the hobbits celebrating, walking through the Shire, Bilbo’s birthday party—each with its own musical moment. These fragments were woven together into a cohesive seven-minute piece that could stand alone as a concert work while still maintaining the feeling of these disparate moments.
The piece emerged from Shore’s broader compositional strategy for the trilogy. Musicologist Doug Adams documented Shore’s process in his authorized book The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films. Shore structured his entire score around over 50 leitmotifs—recurring musical themes representing different characters, cultures, and places. For the hobbits alone, Shore created multiple variations of the Shire theme, each serving different dramatic purposes. “Concerning Hobbits” showcases all three primary variations of this theme in a single piece.
“Concerning Hobbits” Composition and Instrumentation Details
The Three Variations of the Shire Theme
The core of “Concerning Hobbits” rests on a stepwise melody played in D major. This melody appears in three distinct settings, each conveying a different emotional and cultural context. The “pensive” setting plays the theme classically—often on whistle or clarinet—maintaining emotional restraint and contemplation. This version accompanies moments when the hobbits face difficulty or uncertainty, bringing gravitas to their journey.
The “rural” setting transforms the theme into what musicologist Doug Adams describes as “a sprightly, Celtic-influenced peasant melody—the simple joy of Hobbiton in musical form.” This version uses the fiddle as the primary voice, supported by pizzicato strings, dulcimer, and guitars. The rhythm changes from the pensive restraint to something more playful and energetic, capturing the everyday joy of Hobbiton. The third variation, labeled the “hymn” setting, presents the theme in an expansive, reverent manner through strings tutti (all string instruments playing together).
Instrumental Architecture and the Bodhrán Heartbeat
Beyond the three Shire theme variations, “Concerning Hobbits” layers additional motifs and figures that Shore created to represent hobbit character. The “Hobbit Outline Figure” appears in the cellos and double basses, creating an expectation of things to come and portraying the hobbits’ playful side. The “Hobbit Two Step Figure” frequently appears during the introduction of Shire sequences, often concluding with the “End Cap” figure—a graceful rim-shot representing the good-humored hobbit lifestyle.
Most distinctively, Shore uses the bodhrán (an Irish hand drum) to create what the musicologist Doug Adams labeled “The Heartbeat of the Shire.” The bodhrán’s rhythmic pulse underlies much of the piece, creating a steady, grounding presence that feels organic and alive. Supporting instruments include Celtic harp, hammered dulcimer, musette-type accordion, drones, classical guitars, mandolin, low whistle, and recorders. Live performances may feature additional accordion or concertina.
Notes About “Concerning Hobbits” by Howard Shore
Release Date: December 18, 2001 (Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack)
Duration: Approximately 5-6 minutes (suite version varies)
Genre: Film Score / Soundtrack / Folk / Celtic
Source Film: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Film Director: Peter Jackson
Composer: Howard Shore
Recording Location: London (London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Voices)
Notable Features: Concert suite arrangement; appears in multiple variations throughout trilogy
Howard Shore “Concerning Hobbits” Era Details
Film and Soundtrack Details
Film: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Film Release: December 19, 2001
Soundtrack Release: December 18, 2001
Composer: Howard Shore
Recording Location: London, England; Watford Colosseum
Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Choir: London Voices
Total Score Composition: Over 10 hours of music for entire trilogy (2001-2003)
Awards: 3 Academy Awards, 2 Golden Globes, 4 Grammy Awards (for trilogy)
Personnel/Credits
Howard Shore - Composer, orchestrator, conductor
Peter Jackson - Director
Fran Walsh - Lyricist (for “In Dreams” adaptation)
Doug Adams - Music documentarian and analyst
London Philharmonic Orchestra - Performance
London Voices - Choir
Edward Ross - Boy soprano (for “In Dreams”)
Score Production Notes
Shore visited set in 1999 and again in August 2000 to view assembly cuts
Shore created over 50 leitmotifs for the trilogy representing characters, cultures, and places
Multiple hobbit theme variations created for different dramatic contexts
Recorded between 2000-2003 for all three films released 2001-2003
Complete Recording version released with extended material and alternate takes
Return of the King complete version: 3 hours 49 minutes
Shore tours conducting “The Lord of the Rings: Symphony in Six Movements”
Interesting Facts About “Concerning Hobbits”
The Unexpected Second Life in Wellness Culture
“Concerning Hobbits” has achieved a cultural status beyond The Lord of the Rings fandom. The piece’s whimsical, tranquil nature and consistent melodic comfort have made it a fixture in wellness spaces—particularly in spas and relaxation environments. The combination of acoustic instruments, the bodhrán’s steady heartbeat, and the piece’s deliberate avoidance of dramatic tension create an ideal sonic landscape for stress reduction. What Shore composed as a representation of hobbit joy—carefree, homespun, innocent—became, through no intentional design, one of cinema’s most recognizable pieces for meditation and calm.
This secondary life speaks to the universality of Shore’s musical language. The piece doesn’t require knowledge of The Lord of the Rings to be effective; it communicates simplicity, peace, and natural joy through purely musical means. listeners unfamiliar with hobbits or Middle-earth encounter the piece and respond to its emotional clarity.
The Theme That Returned
While “Concerning Hobbits” appears in The Fellowship of the Ring, the Shire theme’s variations recur throughout the entire trilogy at strategically important moments. At the end of The Two Towers, when Sam delivers his monologue “Even darkness must pass,” the accompaniment reprises the Concerning Hobbits theme—but in a slower, more melancholic and nostalgic version. The effect is powerful: the same music that represented innocent joy now carries the weight of longing and homesickness.
Similarly, when the Fellowship leaves Rivendell in “The Ring Goes South,” the brass picks up the Concerning Hobbits theme but transforms it into something more noble and epic, bridging the hobbits’ innocent origins with their forced entrance into the wider world. Shore’s structural genius lay in creating themes flexible enough to serve multiple emotional contexts while remaining instantly recognizable. This approach allowed “Concerning Hobbits” to function as emotional touchstone—a reminder of what the hobbits are fighting to protect.
Common Questions
Q: What instruments are featured in “Concerning Hobbits”? A: The piece features tin whistle, fiddle, mandolin, Celtic harp, bodhrán, hammered dulcimer, classical guitars, low whistle, recorders, and musette-type accordion. The bodhrán creates a distinctive heartbeat-like rhythm throughout, while the tin whistle and fiddle alternate playing the main Shire theme melody.
Q: Is “Concerning Hobbits” in all three Lord of the Rings films? A: The piece as a concert suite appears primarily in The Fellowship of the Ring. However, the Shire theme on which “Concerning Hobbits” is built recurs throughout all three films in various forms and variations, appearing whenever hobbits or the Shire are musically referenced.
Q: Why did Howard Shore use Celtic instruments for the Shire? A: Shore created distinct musical styles for each culture of Middle-earth. Peter Jackson directed him to “make it hobbity”—to create music that felt handmade and organic rather than grand. Celtic instruments conveyed the Shire as a place of rural simplicity and natural joy, though this choice has been debated by some scholars who note Tolkien intended the Shire to reflect the English Midlands rather than Celtic regions.
Q: How many times does the Shire theme appear in “Concerning Hobbits”? A: The piece features three primary variations of the Shire theme: a pensive classical setting, a sprightly rural setting, and an expansive hymn setting. All three appear within the concert suite, with additional hobbit-related motifs woven between them.
Q: Was “Concerning Hobbits” composed specifically as a concert piece? A: No. Shore composed music for the Shire scenes in The Fellowship of the Ring, and “Concerning Hobbits” is a suite arrangement compiled from these film fragments. However, it functions effectively as a standalone concert piece and appears in Shore’s touring “The Lord of the Rings: Symphony in Six Movements.”
Q: Why is “Concerning Hobbits” so popular on streaming relaxation playlists? A: The piece’s whimsical, tranquil nature, steady bodhrán pulse, and acoustic instrumentation create an ideal soundscape for stress reduction and meditation. While Shore composed it to represent hobbit joy, its emotional clarity and lack of dramatic tension have made it valuable in wellness contexts independent of The Lord of the Rings.