Discussing the Music Part 5: The March of the Fallen King

This post is the final five part series on my latest album, The Silmarillion Symphony Ep 2: The Fall of Fingolfin. To start with part one, click here. To listen to the music, head over to silmarillionsymphony.bandcamp.com and buy The Fall of Fingolfin. 

And now we’ve made it to the final piece in The Fall of Fingolfin album - The March of the Fallen King. This is a sorrowful piece, written like a funeral pomp.

In The Silmarillion, there isn’t much said about Fingolfin’s burial. Only that his son Turgon buried him on a mountain above the secret city of Gondolin. So my piece is very much a thought on how Turgon’s march up the mountain upon hearing the news would’ve felt. Slow, sad, and surreal. One can also take the tack that the elves of Turgon’s house in Gondolin, along with the family present there, would’ve carried the King’s body slowly, mournfully, up the mountain to finally bury their fallen king. 

Thus, the instrumentation is rather sparse - the piece is really written for a small ensemble - a few strings, two horns, and some woodwinds. I suppose the music could also be interpreted by this part of the book:

"Great was the lamentation in Hithlum when the fall of Fingolfin became known, and Fingon in sorrow took the lordship of the house of Fingolfin and the kingdom of the Noldor…” (The Silmarillion, pg. 154)

Thank you very much for reading this series. It’s been a joy sharing this commentary on the music with you. I do hope you’ll share these posts with the Tolkien fans around you, and the music as well.

To get this album for yourself, click here.