The opus magnum among soundtracks by Howard Shore:
Yes, not every single minute of the 3:50h stands the test of listening to it as if it a dramatic piece of music without watching the movie. There are lots of meaningless background music passages as well as battles over battles, more than in parts I and II. And at times it is pretty cliché-laden, some critics used to compare it with music of biblical movies.
On the other hand, there is also a lot to discover. Whenever Renée Fleming is taking part, it gets wonderful. The ´Mount Doom´ Finale and the Epilogue music have a quality which gets lost in the cinema. And Annie Lennox is great in the closing titles´ song which bears some irony in the very finale as it finally sounds like harmonic fragments of Wagner´s ´Ring´.
Personally I like the first part, FOTR, more. Sound quality is amazing as the whole 10 hours have been recorded in surround.
I bet it’s awesome in multichannel! 
I really love Max Richter, any recomendations of other similar artists?
Very unusual soundtrack which definitely works well separated from the screenplay but not sure if it qualifies as a symphony:
Anyways, very interesting music and great recording.
Hans Zimmer
Dune Part Two (2024)
Daniel Pemberton
Ocean’s 8 (2018)
Moog Necklace
Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
Rec checking out the soundtracks (and other non-soundtrack recordings) of the great Johann Johansson…brilliant composer gone far too soon! The post below urs mentions The Arrival which is outstanding…as is this one to The Theory of Everything…his soundtrack to Then Came the Sound of Bees is a fav as is his album of old/new, Orphee—genuinely gorgeous moving music!
Doug
More from Pemberton
These all sound entirely different…perhaps the first is the weakest as there’s lots of ‘creepy’ atmospheric music that would sound better when accompanying the movie than when listened to in isolation.
The Awakening (2011)
Bold, fused with folk elements and mythical undertones…
King Arthur: Legend of Sword (2017)
Largely a jazz noir score…
Motherless Brooklyn (2019)
Woman in Blue
Fan here…and a search tells me I’ve not posted any over the years. And I think of those 14 albums, only 2 or 3 are non soundtrack albums.
Daniel Pemberton
The Counselor (2013)
Much of the album has a distict Morricone vibe going on.
Opening titles edit
I hope you enjoy it!