{"id":755977,"date":"2026-08-31T21:18:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T21:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/755977\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T21:18:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T21:18:14","slug":"the-lord-of-the-rings-voted-uks-favourite-film-score-in-25th-anniversary-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/755977\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Lord of the Rings\u2019 voted UK\u2019s favourite film score in 25th anniversary year"},"content":{"rendered":"

31 August 2026, 18:55<\/p>\n

\"Howard<\/p>\n

Howard Shore\u2019s Oscar-winning score to \u2019The Lord of the Rings\u2019 is voted the nation\u2019s favourite film score for the fourth year in a row.<\/p>\n

Picture:
\nAlamy \/ Getty<\/p>\n


\n\"Facebook
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

Howard Shore\u2019s epic Middle-earth music is voted No.1 in the Classic FM Movie Music Hall of Fame 2026.<\/p>\n

Canadian composer Howard Shore\u2019s<\/a> score to The Lord of the Rings<\/a> has been voted the nation\u2019s favourite film score for the fourth year running!<\/p>\n

On Monday 31 August, we revealed the Classic FM Movie Music Hall of Fame 2026<\/a> in partnership with Metro, a countdown of the nation\u2019s 100 favourite film scores. Broadcast on Classic FM and Classic FM Movies<\/a>, the countdown featured nine hours of epic music which captured the memories and emotions of cinema\u2019s best loved movies, from silver screen nostalgia to this year\u2019s box office hits.<\/p>\n

Thousands of votes were cast in this year\u2019s chart, and the No.1 spot was revealed by Classic FM at the Movies<\/a> presenter Jonathan Ross<\/a> just before 7pm. The countdown will be available via catch up on Global Player for seven days.<\/p>\n

25 years since the first film in the trilogy was released, The Lord of the Rings continues to capture the minds, hearts, and imaginations of audiences around the world. Peter Jackson\u2019s Middle-earth adventure has become one of the highest-grossing film series ever made, with Howard Shore\u2019s epic score helping to bring J.R.R. Tolkien\u2019s intricate high fantasy literary world to life.<\/p>\n

2026 also marks Shore\u2019s 80th birthday year, and is the fourth consecutive year his music for the trilogy has been voted No.1 in the Classic FM Movie Music Hall of Fame, and the fifth time in chart history.<\/p>\n

Howard Shore told Classic FM: \u201cI\u2019m very honored to learn that The Lord of the Rings\u00a0score has been voted favorite by the Classic FM Movie Music Hall of Fame audience for a fourth year. I\u2019m grateful to the many musicians, soloists, and singers who performed this music, which has continued to resonate with listeners for all of this time. I remain very proud of the work and its success, and I\u2019m so happy I was given the opportunity to express J.R.R. Tolkien\u2019s world through music.\u201c<\/p>\n

Read more: Flute player performs haunting \u2018Lord of the Rings\u2019 melody in mile-long tunnel<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Epic \u2018Lord of the Rings\u2019! Orchestra turns Royal Albert Hall into Middle Earth | Classic FM Live<\/p>\n

The Classic FM Movie Music Hall of Fame 2026 was also a year of dramatic rises and falls, with 10 new entries to the chart. <\/p>\n

Rachel Portman\u2019s<\/a> folk tune-filled score to Chocolat climbed 40 places to No.47, with Patrick Doyle\u2019s<\/a> Sense and Sensibility right behind at No.48, with a rise of 34 places. It was a good year for Howard Shore\u2019s score to The Hobbit, too, which was up 29 places to No.56.<\/p>\n

John Williams<\/a>\u2019 two-note motif to Jaws<\/a> proved a touch too ominous for 2026, falling 59 spots to No.72 after lurking just outside the Top 10 in 2025. James Horner\u2019s Titanic and Craig Armstrong\u2019s Love Actually both saw a significant drop, falling 40 places each to No.57 and No.83 respectively.<\/p>\n

New entries to the chart spanned 85 years, from Ralph Vaughan Williams<\/a> making his chart debut with 1941\u2019s 49th Parallel at No.66 to Ludwig G\u00f6ransson\u2019s<\/a> score to The Odyssey<\/a> debuting at No.95 after its release just over a month ago. <\/p>\n

The highest new entry of 2026 was Max Richter\u2019s Hamnet<\/a>, which reached the lofty heights of No.28. His score to the film, a fictionalised retelling of William Shakespeare\u2019s marriage to Anne Hathaway and loss of their son, Hamnet, also included the enduringly popular On The Nature of Daylight.<\/p>\n

Read more: The 50 best film scores of all time<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Christopher Nolan on music, composers, and why there’s no orchestra in ‘The Odyssey’<\/p>\n

John Williams\u2019 Schindler\u2019s List<\/a> took second place in this year\u2019s chart, but he was unable to hold onto his third place entry, as Star Wars falls to sixth place just behind Jurassic Park at No.5. He retains his title as the most popular composer, however, with 11 total entries in this year\u2019s chart. <\/p>\n

Hans Zimmer\u2019s <\/a>Gladiator stands firm at No.4, his only entry in the Top 10. Zimmer also has 11 scores in the chart, including the Dark Knight trilogy, co-composed with James Newton Howard.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Ross, who revealed the final segment of the chart, said: \u201cHoward Shore\u2019s music for The Lord of the Rings has become the gold standard for film scores \u2013 it\u2019s epic, emotional, and instantly transporting, placing you right inside the story of Middle-earth. It captures the scale, drama and heart of Tolkien\u2019s world so completely that it\u2019s no wonder Classic FM listeners have once again voted it their Number One movie score of all time. Fittingly, 25 years after the first film\u2019s release, Howard Shore\u2019s work still sounds as fresh and as captivating as ever as he approaches his 80th birthday!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Classic FM Movie Music Hall of Fame 2025 \u2013 Top 20:The Lord of the Rings – Howard ShoreSchindler\u2019s List – John WilliamsOut of Africa – John BarryGladiator – Hans ZimmerJurassic Park – John WilliamsStar Wars – John WilliamsWilde – Debbie WisemanDances with Wolves – John BarryThe Mission – Ennio MorriconeHow To Train Your Dragon – John PowellPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – Klaus BadeltApollo 13 – James HornerLadies in Lavender – Nigel HessInterstellar – Hans ZimmerHarry Potter – John WilliamsThe Magnificent Seven – Elmer BernsteinDoctor Zhivago – Maurice JarreSaving Private Ryan – John WilliamsDangerous Moonlight – Richard AddinsellThe Good, the Bad and the Ugly – Ennio Morricone<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"31 August 2026, 18:55 Howard Shore\u2019s Oscar-winning score to \u2019The Lord of the Rings\u2019 is voted the nation\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":755978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[96,2839,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-755977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=755977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/755978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=755977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=755977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}