So the new album is doing well. I'm enjoying all the feedback I'm getting from all over the world. I thought I'd start a little series talking about the music from The Fall of Fingolfin. Today is track one - Sudden Flame.
The music begins with some familiar material - it's a modification on my "Music of the Ainur" theme with some strings and a choir. The choir was a late addition to the score, meant to tie this album to the last.
As far as plot - the piece is meant to narrate the first couple pages from the chapter "Of the Ruin of Beleriand and The Fall of Fingolfin" from which the album derives its name. In this chapter, we have the Noldorin elves considered launching an offensive against the besieged forces of Morgoth. The majority of them were happy with the state of affairs at the time so in the end, no plans of Fingolfin (the High King) or of the Noldorin royalty came to fruition. And there was piece for a time.
A short time. For Morgoth, the Dark Enemy had been readying a force to break the siege that had lasted almost four-hundred years. In the winter night, suddenly "great rivers of flame" burst forth from Angband. (You hear this in the piece when the low string and percussion hits are played.) Thus begins the Battle of Sudden Flame (or if you like, the Dagor Bragollach). This is the first time we see dragons in Middle-Earth, as Glaurung the "father of dragons" is first revealed, complete with an army full of orcs and Balrogs.
As the music continues, you have war drums consistently playing throughout the second half of the piece, symbolizing (in a sense) that the flames of war and the forces of evil are in fact overwhelming the Elves. At the end of the piece, we hear a short reflective piece, where one can picture the Elves counting their slain and mourning their losses.
Below, we have some artwork called "Sudden Flame" by Darlene Dunn. This image became the covert art for The Fall of Fingolfin (click here to purchase).
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