Who composed the musical score for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit film trilogy?

Howard Shore composed the musical score for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit film trilogy. Shore had already written the music for Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, so his return gave the two Middle-earth film series a connected musical identity.

The Hobbit scores combine new themes with material associated with the earlier trilogy. Shore introduced music for locations and characters such as Erebor, the kingdom of the Dwarves, while also revisiting familiar ideas connected with the Shire, the Ring, and other elements of Tolkien’s world.

The three films were The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, released in 2012, The Desolation of Smaug, released in 2013, and The Battle of the Five Armies, released in 2014. Shore’s work helped link their different moods, from Bilbo’s quieter home life to the large-scale conflicts of the final film.

A common mistake is to credit only the performers of songs heard in the movies. Those vocal pieces are part of the soundtrack, but Shore is the composer of the orchestral film scores.