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Somewhat Off-Topic: LotR Symphony
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Topic: Somewhat Off-Topic: LotR Symphony
Kris Koon
Oscar® Winner
OK, with so much talk about the music for the upcoming Lord of the Rings movies, I thought I'd allow you to hear part of the Lord of the Rings symphony for band by Johann de Meij. It's not film music per se, but it has filmic qualities that I'm sure many of you film music fans who like big, epic-sounding scores would enjoy. So I've recorded the 1st, 4th, and 5th movements from an audio cassette I have (the 2nd and 3rd movements aren't on the tape) and encoded them into RealAudio files. It's performed by the United States Air Force Band of Flight and narrated by Steve Allen (author and the origianl host of the Tonight Show). Unfortunely, the tape is old and a little worn out (and the compression to modem-friendly RealAudio files doesn't help either) so the music has lost much of its dynamic range and would sound better on a decent recording. However, I wanted to give film music fans a chance to hear some non-film muisc that they might find interesting and also to introduce them to some fine symphonic band literature. So, here are the addressess of the files:I. Gandalf http://www.auburn.edu/~koonrob/lotr1.ram
IV. Journey in the Dark (a. The Mines of Moria, b. The Bridge of Khazad-Dûm) http://www.auburn.edu/~koonrob/lotr2.ram
V. Hobbits http://www.auburn.edu/~koonrob/lotr3.ram
Here is a post I made earlier in another thread describing the symphony:
quote:
With everyone talking about music for the upcoming Lord of the Rings movies, I think it might be interesting to listen to another musical interpretation ofTolkien's work. There is a symphony for symphonic band, Symphony no. 1: The Lord of the Rings, by Dutch composer Johan de Meij. It is in5 movements. 1.Gandalf (The Wizard), 2. Lothlorièn (The Elvenwood), 3.Gollum (Sméagol), 4. Journey in the Dark (a. The Mines of Moria, b. The Bridge of Khazad-Dûm), and 5. Hobbits. It was completed in 1988 and won 1st prize in the 1989 Sudler International Wind Band Composition. The piece, as I mentioned, is written for symphonic band (aka wind band, wind orchestra), which consists of the wind, brass, and percussion instruments of the orchestra with euphoniums (baritone horns) and saxophones. The work is a large Romantic epic with several themes for various characters, including a bold, brassy fanfare for Gandalf, a theme for the creature Gollum voiced by soprano saxophone, and a cheerful folk tune for the hobbits. I have a live recording of the Symphonic Wind Orchestra St. Michael of Thorn performing it, but a few recordings can be found at online music stores: "The Lord of the Rings" (performed by the Dutch Royal Military Band conducted by Pierre Kuipjers on Ottavo OTRC 18924), a CD (not sure of the title) performed by the Danish Concert Band conducted by Jorgen Jensen (on Rondogramofon RCD 8346), and "The Lord of the Rings" (performed by the Ensemble Vents et Percussion Quebec conducted by Rene Joly on Atma ACD 22139). I haven't heard the other pieces on these disks so can't describe them, but LotR is about 40 minutes long, which is longer than many score albums. I haven't read Tolkien's stories so I can't comment on how well de Meij captures the feel of the books, but it is a good standalone piece of Music, nonetheless, and much of it sounds like it could fit well into an epic film score.
posted 04-21-2000 08:18 PM PT (US) J. Peter Wolk-Laniewski
Oscar® Winner
I love that piece, do you know if a CD recording is available for purchase anywhere? I played the Hobbits movement my senior year of high school. I got to play the badass timpani part.
posted 04-22-2000 12:53 PM PT (US) Onelegger
Oscar® Winner
This is indeed a great piece and one my all time favorite pieces ever. I have a copy of it on CD and could make some real audio or MP3 clips that are of some better quality.
It is availiable on CD from any place you would buy Band CD's from (try walking frog or west coast music service, and any other band CD places out there. Chime in if you know of more guys. I would love to here what other ones there are.NP - Nothin'
posted 04-22-2000 02:50 PM PT (US) Kris Koon
Oscar® Winner
BTW, if anyone wants to see an extensive analysis of the work that someone wrote for a thesis, go here: http://bandchat.schoolmusic.com/winds/research/rings/index.html
posted 04-24-2000 04:24 PM PT (US) Old Infopop Software by UBB