The music for the Oscar-winning trilogy, composed by Howard Shore, beat scores from movies including Schindler's List and Gladiator in the Classic FM poll.

Compositions for Star Wars, by John Williams, and Out of Africa, by John Barry, made up the top five.

Williams' music featured eight times in the poll's top 30, with his scores for Hollywood blockbusters Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial making the cut.

Elijah Wood, who played Hobbit hero Frodo Baggins in The Lord Of The Rings saga, told Classic FM that Howard's music was iconic.

He added, "I think film scores are always extremely important with regard to the atmosphere and the emotional connection that you have to a film.

"Those pieces of music - you think about the Hobbiton theme - they're really iconic. They sort of transcend the films themselves, almost like John Williams' (scores). The pieces from Star Wars are so iconic. We hear the music, we know the films and I think to a certain degree that's the case with Rings too, with Howard Shore's score."

Music by James Horner, the composer who died in a plane crash in June this year (15), was also featured. Four of his soundtracks, including Braveheart, Titanic, Apollo 13 and Avatar, were all included in the poll.