Warner Bros. and WaterTower Music announced today that the soundtrack for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released December 11. The score, composed by Howard Shore, will also be released as a special edition two-CD set with six bonus tracks and liner notes. The soundtrack can be purchased in digital formats on the same date. Take a look at the artwork for both the regular soundtrack and the special edition, and then read on for official details and the track listing.

the Hobbit Soundtrack Special Edition Photo
The Hobbit Soundtrack Photo

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.

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 Track List

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 Track List

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.