# Background choral singing in 'epic' movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies, music\ **Created:** [December 4, 2022, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/background-choral-singing-in-epic-movies/976024 "2022-12-04T17:57:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2022, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/background-choral-singing-in-epic-movies/976024/1 "2022-12-04T17:57:52Z")
I’m watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy on cable this weekend, for the umpteenth time. Something I always wondered about, there is a sweeping, dramatic score in a lot of epic movies, and in this one, the chorus of voices is very noticeable in the running through the mines scene. There is always a heavenly choir of voices chanting or crooning in the background music. Where does that come from? Are there operatic choirs of singers available for hire who provide the chants and croons, much as voice actors provide dubbed voices in scenes? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2022, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/background-choral-singing-in-epic-movies/976024/2 "2022-12-04T18:05:07Z")
There are orchestral concert works that have choral parts somewhat similar to the choral parts in the _Lord of the Rings_ music (Orff’s _Carmina Burana_ springs to mind as an example). I assume when they hired the orchestra for the music, they also hired the choir for the vocal parts. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2022, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/background-choral-singing-in-epic-movies/976024/3 "2022-12-04T18:19:11Z")
I get pages and pages of hits off a simple Google search for “choirs for hire.” I’m quite sure there are any number of choirs available in Hollywood, Bollywood or even New Zealand for that kind of work (and paycheck.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2022, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/background-choral-singing-in-epic-movies/976024/4 "2022-12-04T18:42:48Z")
Enya is credited on the soundtrack; at least one of the voices was hers. Possibly more than one: She often combines multiple tracks of her voice. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2022, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/background-choral-singing-in-epic-movies/976024/5 "2022-12-04T19:00:15Z")
I looked it up on Wikipedia, didn’t think of doing that. London Philhamonic and a couple of London choirs, and many contributions by others (Annie Lennox, Enya, and even some of the actors.)…I can’t believe these movies came out 20 years ago - where DID the time go?? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2022, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/background-choral-singing-in-epic-movies/976024/6 "2022-12-04T19:32:10Z")
> [@salinqmind1](#): > > where DID the time go?? Into the west. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2022, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/background-choral-singing-in-epic-movies/976024/7 "2022-12-04T19:58:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Enya is credited on the soundtrack; at least one of the voices was hers. Possibly more than one: She often combines multiple tracks of her voice. She sang on, as a solo vocalist, and helped to compose, two pieces on the Fellowship of the Ring’s soundtrack: “May It Be” and “Aniron.” ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2022, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/background-choral-singing-in-epic-movies/976024/8 "2022-12-04T21:17:42Z")
That chanting choir has been so overused that I actually get annoyed when I hear it. Like, why can’t they think for themselves? But it’s just product, and nobody cares enough, or wants to pay enough to be original. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2022, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/background-choral-singing-in-epic-movies/976024/9 "2022-12-04T21:40:50Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > There are orchestral concert works that have choral parts somewhat similar to the choral parts in the _Lord of the Rings_ music (Orff’s _Carmina Burana_ springs to mind as an example). Or Beethoven’s 9th; or lots of things by Handel. Choirs are a regular and commonly-used element of classical music, and you can hire one just like you can hire an orchestra. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2022, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/background-choral-singing-in-epic-movies/976024/10 "2022-12-04T22:09:18Z")
There’s only so much originality you can apply to a movie score. You have to navigate within narrow parameters sometimes, and it can be jarring to not maintain expectations. I still dislike the jazzy synth score on the fantasy film _Ladyhawke_. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2022, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/background-choral-singing-in-epic-movies/976024/11 "2022-12-04T22:50:05Z")
Generally symphony orchestras will have access to a trained choir. I used to sing with a large college choir which did one or two concerts a year with the city symphony. Also – those choruses in the Lord of the Rings were mostly sung in elvish (both Sindarin and Quenya), except for Khazad-dum where they were kludged-together dwarvish.