Customer Reviews

An Evening in Rivendell

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD is an absolute delight! I bought it, hoping to find a decent musical interpretation of Tolkien's magnificent words, but didn't expect great things. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. The music is beautiful and fun, and the melodies are often as I imagined they might sound. The voices of Aragorn, Goldberry, and Galadriel are especially notable. It often swings from a solemn operatic singing style to a silly Irish romp, and back again. The only drawback is the occasional (very infrequent) slight Danish accent. This album is just magical. It isn't for everyone, but it's worth the money if you enjoy beautiful voices and great instrumental music. After listening to only a few songs, I was in love! I especially enjoyed Galadriel's Song of Eldamar, Tom Bombadil's Song, the Song of Beren and Luthien, and Sam's Rhyme of the Troll, as well as There is an inn, a merry old inn...
I enjoyed MY Evening in Rivendell!

It seems many people who heard this CD were expecting something very exotic, middle-earthy, magical, even new age. These it is not. It is however, a very excellent traditional rendition of the beautiful poetry found in Lord of the Rings. Rather, the music is drawn from a variety of traditional European sources, from Celtic to Lieder. Considering that Lord of The Rings itself is intended to be a kind of modern homage to the European and western traditions of myth and legend, I find it very appropriate to use music of this idiom. All that aside, it is simply very beautiful music, and much of it holds up well regardless of the origins of the text. The song of Beren and Leuthien is a gorgeous Lied, and very appropriate for an epic love poem of Wagnerian intensity. Similarly, The song of the inn has a nice Celtic fiddle tune feel, which nicely captures the spirit of the British Isles underlying Middle earth. The old walking song has a nice folksy sound, accompanied only by solo gituar, appropriate for a traditional traveling song. In all, it will not sound like music from middle earth, but it is beautiful music in the European tradition that is surprisingly appropriate to the texts used. Definately worth it for fans of the books.

An Evening in Rivendell
With The Tolkien Ensemble
Caspar Reiff & Peter Hall (Composers)

This is the first in a series of recordings by Danish group The Tolkien Ensemble in their quest (as quoted on their website) "to make the worlds first complete musical interpretation of the poems and songs from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien". And a magnificent collection of settings it is.

The Tolkien Ensemble is a chamber ensemble composed of conservatory-trained musicians anchored by guitarists Caspar Reiff and Peter Hall, who have also composed the musical realizations of Tolkien's poems. The settings lay within the "classical" and "folk" traditions: that is, only acoustic instruments are used, and the songs are sung in these traditional rather than popular styles. The result is one of great beauty and respect for the texts that inspired the music, but may present difficulties for listeners not accustomed to these styles.

The music itself is first-rate. Reiff and Hall vary the mood of each song in relation to the text as well as with sensitivity to the character that sings the song. Styles range from the traditional "folk" style used for songs sung by the hobbits to the more lyrical and serious (romantic and post-romantic) styles used for songs sung by men and elves. A variety of instrumentation is used to great and sometimes unusual effect: for example, the opening recitation of the "Verse of the Rings" combines oboe, vibraphone & marimba, guitar, and double-bass with an unsettling dissonance; Galadriel's songs (sung by Mezzo-soprano Signe Asmussen) combine a very plaintive solo violin with marimba, harp, guitar, and double-bass in front of a string quartet and a wordless male choir with an otherworldliness evocative of Tolkien's Elves. Folk-band Polkageist makes guest appearances on "Tom Bombadil's Song", the positively boisterous "There is an inn, a merry old inn...", and "Sam's Rhyme of the Troll" (all sung with humor and warmth by Peter Hall).

Conceptions for the musical settings seem to vary in focus: in some cases, one may easily imagine the singer and accompaniment as representative of the character and the song almost springing out of the book; the use of a different singer for each character helps sustain this kind of identification. In other cases, the focus is from a greater distance: the listener is more aware of the artists presenting an interpretation. This is most apparent in the songs with piano accompaniment (which are particularly beautiful settings); somehow songs sung this way cannot help but evoke the nineteenth-century Lieder tradition.

The recording itself is excellently produced, and is accompanied by a booklet featuring the lyrics of each song with an excerpt indicating its context within the book, beautiful line-drawings by the Queen of Denmark (!), and photographs of the musicians.

Highly Recommended!

This the definately the best musical interpretation of Tolkien's songs I have ever heard. You listen to it and do not doubt that this is how it must have sounded in Middle-earth. Different singers differentiate between how hobbits, elves or men sing songs and all the songs follow the guidelines of the book. There is even an interpretation of Galadriel's song in Elvish! The booklet is illustrated by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and comes with all the texts. If you like Tolkien's songs, this is a must!

A Night in Rivendell
With The Tolkien Ensemble
Caspar Reiff & Peter Hall (Composers)

This is The Tolkien Ensemble's second release in their series of settings of poems and songs from The Lord of the Rings. For this recording composers Reiff & Hall have chosen texts that overall are more reflective than those featured on their first release: six of the twelve tracks are settings of laments and other songs remembering the dead, and the mirthful hobbit-songs that provided a contrast to the heavier material on their first release are notably absent. The music is closely aligned in sentiment to the texts chosen, and therefore this recording presents the listener with a more introspective and moodier experience than does their first release (An Evening in Rivendell, see my review).

The settings feature a variety of instrumentation. Bass Ulrik Cold's majestically sung Gandalf is accompanied by bassoon, double-bass, and wordless male voices on the opening "A Rhyme of Lore", invoking the mystery and sadness that pervades the album. The beautiful "Gandalf's Song of Lórien" that follows seamlessly continues the mood adding guitar, string quartet, and wordless soprano solo. Povl Dissing's sibilant, tortured Gollum is simply accompanied by guitar alone, giving him plenty of space in which to stretch into character. Other especially notable tracks: the haunting and beautiful "The Fall of Gil-Galad" (Peter Hall sings and plays penny-whistle accompanied by guitar, accordion, and double-bass); two songs of the Rohirrim, remarkably performed by The Chamber Choir Hymnia; the "Elven Hymn to Elbereth" sung unaccompanied by Signe Asmussen.

As with "Evening", the settings vary in how closely they present the listener to the story. Listening to "Frodo's Lament for Gandalf" and "Gollum's Song/Riddle" one may easily imagine one hears the characters themselves singing, whereas with the "Lament for Boromir" with piano accompaniment or the choral pieces (which sound very much like post-romantic motets), the music itself takes pride of place and the experience of Middle-earth (though not necessarily the music) is less immediate.

The recording is excellent, the engineers varying microphone placement and a judicious use of reverb to suit the size of the ensemble and the character of the music on each track. The accompanying booklet features the lyrics of each song with an excerpt indicating its context within the book, beautiful line-drawings by the Queen of Denmark (!), and photographs of the musicians.

Highly Recommended.

The Tolkien Ensemble has done a wonderful job with their trilogy, and this is the 'silmaril' in the crown. This CD is a joy and a delight, from the bittersweet "The Road Goes Ever On and On" (which, I might add, is the version I now hear whenever I read the book, despite having heard musical versions of it from both the Peter Jackson movie and the BBC radio tapes) to the absolutely GLORIOUS songs of Galadriel (Galadriel's Song of Eldamar I & II ). "Glorious" is the only word available for all the Elven songs, and "sheer fun!" the only ones for the hobbits. The epic ballads "The Ent & the Ent-Wife" and, especially, "The Song of Beren & Luthien" are treated with care and beauty - the Ents being long-winded but still adorably sweet, Beren and Luthien accompanied by a bittersweet piano.
I'm still not entirely keen on the "Elven Hymn to Ebereth" - it was more beautifully done on "At Dawn in Rivendell" - but, as the saying goes, 1 in 12 ain't bad!
I cannot possibly give a higher recommendation - I adore this CD and it will always have a spot of honour among my many.

Wonderful! I bought this CD unsure what to expect, and was delighted at what I heard. It is easy to imagine that this is the way the music of Middle-Earth might have actually sounded. Tolkien's lyrics are set to enchanting music, full of sadness and longing (except of course for the cheerful songs of Tom Bombadil and the Hobbits, which are also excellent). Yet, as Aragorn said (of one of the songs included), they will lift your heart.(FoR, Ch.11)

It's quite obvious why they call this "A Night in Rivendell." It is indeed quite darker than its predecessor, but is enjoyable nonetheless.
Now, I'll admit, I haven't gotten to most of the scenes where these songs are in the book yet, but from just the lyrics, the darkness seems appropriate. The addition of the full chorus is effective, and highly enjoyable. I especially liked Gollum's Song/Riddle (masterful!!!), Lament for Boromir (both voices are excellent), Song of the Mounds of Mundburg (the chorus is amazing!), and the Elven Hymn to Elbereth Gilthoniel. The voices are still great, as is the music. A few of the moods may not be entirely appropriate, but they're still effective. I got over it, really! I was too busy enjoying the melodies and voices!

On first listen, I felt I had bought the CD for the two Chamber Choir tracks alone (Lament for Theoden and Mounds of Mundburg) - granted, it was well worth the purchase! These two choir pieces are absolutely glorious - beautiful arrangement, beautiful performance. However, upon closer examination, I found other diamonds among the other few roughs. "Gandalf's Song of Lorien" is far better in its second half, when Gandalf is joined by Galadriel - glorious! (As always, the Ensemble does Hobbits and Elves best) "Lament of the Rohirrim" is lovely, yet a bit too slow to sing along with. "Lament for Boromir", though it began with a rather odd sounding introduction, put me off at first ("this is supposed to be a lament!" I moaned) However, upon a more full listen, I realized the beauty of the piece - the harsh, pounding tones actually fit the warriors lament, especially in contrast to their beautiful, quiet moments a few stanzas later. Lovely. And I have no idea how I kept passing up "The Fall of Gil-Galad"! Good heavens - it's gorgeous! Not to be missed!
In short, while I still prefer "An Evening in Rivendell", this CD has charmed its way into my heart as well. Be sure to give it a listen or two before you cast judgement - the songs do, in fact, grow on you.

An Evening in Rivendell is a beautiful CD of Tolkien's poems set to music composed by Caspar Reiff and Peter Hall. It is truly beautiful, and I am very glad that i bought this. It even has Galadriel's Namarie song, a farewell to the Company as they left Lothlorien. A must have for any Tolkien fan.