Exclusive: 'The Hobbit' Soundtrack Album Art and Track Listing Premiere!

The kind folks over at WaterTower Music have given us the exclusive soundtrack album art and track listings for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The first of a trilogy of films from Oscar-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy), will be released in the U.S. on December 14, 2012. The soundtrack will be released on December 11th. The soundtrack will be available both digitally and as a 2 CD set.

(click on the artwork to make it larger)

(click on the artwork to make it larger)

From the official press release:

THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY SOUNDTRACK 2CD SET DUE

DECEMBER 11TH FROM WATERTOWER MUSIC

Featuring Original Music by Academy Award™ Winner Howard Shore

With An Original Song Performed by Neil Finn

2 CD Special Edition Soundtrack Also Available

(November 1, 2012 – Los Angeles, CA) – WaterTower Music has announced the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Original Motion Picture Soundtrack at all retailers on December 11th. The soundtrack will be available both digitally and as a 2 CD set. A Special Edition of the soundtrack featuring six exclusive bonus tracks, seven extended score cues, and deluxe liner notes will also be available December 11. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey features original score by Academy Award® winner Howard Shore recorded at famed Abbey Road studios by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Additionally it includes an original song entitled “Song of the Lonely Mountain,” written and performed by Neil Finn (Crowded House). The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first of a trilogy of films from Oscar-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy), will be released in the U.S. on December 14, 2012.

Shore’s music for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy has been performed in concerts throughout the world. In 2003, Shore conducted the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in the world premiere of The Lord of the Rings Symphony in Wellington, New Zealand. Since then, the work has had over 140 performances by the world’s most prestigious orchestras, and has even been the subject of a book, Music of The Lord of the Rings Films.

“I have looked forward to returning to the imaginative world of Middle-earth for quite a while,” says Shore. “I read all of the books by Tolkien, including The Hobbit, when I was in my twenties, and his deep love of nature and all things green resonates deeply with me.”

“It’s a thrill for us to work with Howard Shore on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey soundtrack” stated WaterTower Music head Jason Linn, “His reputation and body of work have long inspired us, and we look forward to another successful partnership as we embark on the next chapter of our journey together.”

One of today’s most respected, honored, and active composers and music conductors, Howard Shore previously worked with director Peter Jackson on The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, which stands as his most towering achievement to date. He won three Academy Awards for his music for those films, two for Best Original Score, and one for Best Original Song. Shore has also won numerous other honors for his film work, including four Grammys and three Golden Globe Awards.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Original Motion Picture Soundtrack on WaterTower Music in the United States and Decca Records outside the United States. It will be available on December 11, 2012. The track listings for the 2 CD Standard and 2CD Deluxe versions are as follows:

THE HOBBIT SPECIAL EDITION TRACKLIST

DISC 1:

My Dear Frodo Old Friends (Extended Version) An Unexpected Party (Extended Version) Blunt the Knives performed by The Dwarf Cast Axe or Sword? Misty Mountains performed by Richard Armitage and The Dwarf Cast The Adventure Begins The World is Ahead An Ancient Enemy Radagast the Brown (Extended Version) The Trollshaws Roast Mutton (Extended Version) A Troll-hoard The Hill of Sorcery Warg-scouts

DISC 2:

The Hidden Valley Moon Runes (Extended Version) The Defiler The White Council (Extended Version) Over Hill A Thunder Battle Under Hill Riddles in the Dark Brass Buttons Out of the Frying-Pan A Good Omen Song of the Lonely Mountain (Extended Version) performed by Neil Finn Dreaming of Bag End

EXCLUSIVE BONUS TRACKS

A Very Respectable Hobbit Erebor The Dwarf Lords The Edge of the Wild

THE HOBBIT STANDARD EDITION TRACKLIST

Disc 1:

My Dear Frodo Old Friends An Unexpected Party Axe or Sword? Misty Mountains performed by Richard Armitage and The Dwarf Cast The Adventure Begins The World is Ahead An Ancient Enemy Radagast the Brown Roast Mutton A Troll-hoard The Hill of Sorcery Warg-scouts

Disc 2:

The Hidden Valley Moon Runes The Defiler The White Council Over Hill A Thunder Battle Under Hill Riddles in the Dark Brass Buttons Out of the Frying-Pan A Good Omen Song of the Lonely Mountain performed by Neil Finn Dreaming of Bag End

From Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first of a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The three films tell a continuous story set in Middle-earth 60 years before The Lord of the Rings, which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar®-winning The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Tickets for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey go on sale on Wednesday, November 7th and Fandango will have a free gift with every ticket purchase of a song from the soundtrack! Check here for complete photos, videos, showtimes and tickets.

Also, you can pre-order the soundtrack at Amazon.