Genevieve Ketcham

AP Language Arts Pd. 1

Kelley
5/30/14

Ketcham 1

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Interpretative Soundtrack

The Bridge of Khazad Dum- Howard Shore
This CD begins with an excerpt from The Bridge of Khazad Dum from The Lord of the
Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The solemn mood of the choir and orchestra clearly reflects
the loss of something precious, while the womans voice is the crying out of the heart because of
this loss. This excerpt represents the loss of Oscars Father before the beginning of the book,
which is why it is played first.
Ashes Adrian von Ziegler
This song is representational of the grief that Oscars grandparents feel after the Dresden
Fire Bombings. The rain in the background is their unshed tears for Anna. The piano, like their
grief, sometimes fades away, but it all ways comes back. The choir and the violin help create the
atmosphere of haunting throughout, just like the ghost of Anna is always on the grandparents
minds throughout their lives.
River of Tears Brunuh Ville
River of Tears is purposefully placed after Ashes because it holds the feelings of
Oscar and his family after his father dies. It is new and involves more people. Each of the
different instruments represent different people, the orchestra, the piano, the violin solo, and the
cello. All the voices join together in their sadness and grief to create something beautiful yet
heartrending.
My Everything Adrian von Ziegler

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This fourth song is bittersweet and brings to mind the image of Oscar traveling around
New York, looking for the answer to the riddle his father left behind. This music is more peaceful
than the others, representing the peace that Oscar feels as he is getting closer to his father. The
melody of the piece is almost childish at times, which alludes to Oscars age of 9.
Sacrament of Tears Adrian von Ziegler
Sacrament of Tears represents Oscars discovery of the secret of the key that he found
in his fathers closet. The rain in the beginning is his sadness when Mr. Black tells Oscar that he
can no longer travel with Oscar. It escalates from there until it reaches the climax when Oscar
finds out the truth. The rest of the music is representational of Oscars inner turmoil as he
realizes that he can no longer continue searching for his father and must accept his fathers death.
The Steward of Gondor Howard Shore and Billy Boyd
This excerpt from The Steward of Gondor from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of
the King represents Oscars thoughts and realizations about how he is going to live the rest of his
life. The all shall fade in the song is representational of his acceptance of death, especially his
fathers. The emotions in both the lyrics and the orchestra reveal the struggle between the truth
and what Oscar wants the truth to be.
The End of All Things Howard Shore and Rene Fleming
This last song is an excerpt from The End of All Things from The Lord of the Rings:
The Return of the King and symbolizes his final acceptance of what happened to his father as
well as his final thoughts before the book ends. His last thoughts were of 9/11 not happening and
of everyone being safe which can be seen in the peaceful last chord. The last pictures are of the
man falling from the twin towers in reverse making him fly and this whole excerpt gives the

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impression of flying through the air through the slow crescendos and decrescendos of the
orchestra and the soloist.

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Works Cited
Foer, Janathan Safran. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. New York. Houghton Miffin
Company. Print.
Norwegian scenery taken in August 2010. Personal photograph by Denise Ketcham. 1 Jun. 2014.
Shore, Howard and Billy Boyd. The Steward of Gondor. The Lord of the Rings: The Return
of the King, 2003. CD.
Shore, Howard and Rene Fleming. The End of All Things. The Lord of the Rings: The Return
of the King, 2003. CD.
Shore, Howard. The Bridge Of Khazad Dum. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the
Ring, 2001. CD.
Ville, Brunuh. Emotional Music River of Tears (No Voice). Online video clip. YouTube.
YouTube, 29 Aug. 2013. Web. 1 Jun. 2014.
Ziegler, Adrian von. Emotional Music Ashes. Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 28 Oct.
2012. Web. 1 Jun. 2014.
Ziegler, Adrian von. Emotional Music Sacrament of Tears. Online video clip. YouTube.
YouTube, 25 Sep. 2011. Web. 1 Jun. 2014.
Ziegler, Adrian von. Only Piano - My Everything. Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 10
Mar. 2013. Web. 1 Jun. 2014.