Did you know that a Catalan name was hidden behind the Spanish translation of *The Lord of the Rings*? In 1977, Francisco Porrúa, founder of the Minotauro publishing house, translated *The Fellowship of the Ring* under the pseudonym Luis Domènech. By that time, his publishing house had already moved from Buenos Aires to Barcelona, leaving Middle-earth’s mark on the city’s publishing history.
Almost half a century later, Barcelona is reunited with Middle-earth, this time through its music. Candlelight: The Lord of the Rings arrives with a concert dedicated to the melodies of the film trilogy at the Seminari Conciliar in Barcelona, an imposing building designed by Elies Rogent—Antoni Gaudí’s mentor—which will be illuminated by thousands of candles for the occasion.
3 January 2027 17:00 + more dates
Seminari Conciliar de Barcelona
Howard Shore’s leitmotifs, on four strings
The Shire, Rohan, and Gondor have more in common than simply being part of Tolkien’s universe. Howard Shore gave them their own musical identity, with melodies that reappear and evolve throughout the three films. These are known as leitmotifs—one of the soundtrack’s most distinctive features—and they are also the stars of Candlelight: The Lord of the Rings.
The concert features 13 selected pieces from the trilogy, with a repertoire and scores approved by the composer himself. For approximately one hour, a local string quartet will perform pieces such as “Concerning Hobbits,” “The Riders of Rohan,” “The Ride of the Rohirrim,” and “Minas Tirith,” as well as compositions like “The Breaking of the Fellowship,” “Gollum’s Song,” and “Into the West.”
The event, presented by Fever and Warner Bros. Discovery Global Experiences to mark the 25th anniversary of Peter Jackson’s films, offers the chance to hear up close the arrangements from one of the most recognizable soundtracks in fantasy cinema.
A Neo-Romanesque seminar in l’Eixample
The concert will take place in the Aula Magna of the Seminari Conciliar de Barcelona, a venue located within this imposing late-19th-century Neo-Romanesque complex, featuring cloisters and interior gardens in the heart of the Eixample district.
But the Seminary holds other surprises. It houses the Episcopal Public Library, founded in 1772 and considered the oldest public library in Barcelona, with some 360,000 volumes, and the Seminary’s Geological Museum, which preserves around one million fossils and more than 4,000 cataloged minerals.
It is located at Carrer de la Diputació, 231, just a few minutes’ walk from the Universitat metro station (L1 and L2).
