The House of Fingolfin

So last week I mentioned a theme that I'd been working on for Turgon and The House of Fingolfin. I've managed to put together a clip for it, which is inspired by "Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië."

Turgon is one of my favourite characters from the book, so he and his magnificent city Gondolin will have a monstrous theme. 

The clip is below, I hope you enjoy it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD8DZbn3fqk&feature=youtu.be

Developing On-Going Themes

Early on in my composing process, I came to understand that many of the themes I was writing would in fact have to develop and relate to new and modified ones that would come later in the story. Such is the process of writing out of a book. Much of what you'll hear in the first few pieces will come up again. As you would imagine, just like we humans have grown, evolved and changed, so too would the Elves, Men, Dwarves et all from the beginning to the end of the First Age.

This excites me as a composer. It really forces me to be thoughtful in planning the pieces as well. To give an example from the book - The Ainulindalë speaks of "the Children of Iluvatar (meaning Elves and Men)." So in the symphony there are hints pertaining to Elves and Men which will develop into their own distinct forms and then interact in later pieces of music. Likewise for the character of Melkor (the antagonist in the book), who has a large part from beginning to end of the book. The music that represents him will develop throughout the compositions.  

Another example that I am brimming with anticipation over is that of Turgon and Gondolin. Turgon of course is an elf of the House of Fingolfin - which of course has a theme, and Turgon has his own theme within that theme. Gondolin, the city Turgon builds, doesn't come into existence until the First Age, but also has a theme. Seeing as Gondolin was Turgon's project, its theme will develop out of his theme. The House of Fingolfin is included in my first planned release, so you'll get to hear some of what Turgon is all about in the near future, and yes before the fall.

Stayed tuned!

Aaron

A little audio with a little backstory

Hi again friends, So I've been working away with the symphony and it seems the good news keeps flowing. It looks as though I'm through the writing stage for all of the first collection/rendition of the album. In my estimation the recording to be released in the fall will be between 45-60 minutes long.

For the last week I've been editing away and putting everything in the simplest form I could, arranging the pieces into distinct movements and forms etc. (This is all on the advice of my editor and you'll get to meet her later.)

The best news here is that you'll get to hear a clip of the music I have been working on, albeit in a rough draft form. The clip is from a piece is called "Dance of Thralls" which is the 3rd Movement of The Beginning of Days Suite. The inspiration is drawn from the book's chapters "Of The Beginning Of Days" and "Of The Coming Of The Elves And The Captivity Of Melkor." The piece illustrates how Melkor not only had slaves and co-workers in his evil, but how he ensnared the Elves and tormented them. Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2feSyHa-P2Q&feature=youtu.be

So enjoy! I'll be aiming to post at least one audio clip a week so you can keep apprised of the goings on with the project!

Aaron

The Symphony

Greetings friends, and fellow Tolkien admirers.

As this year has gone by, I have been neck deep in orchestral scores and finally it is time to announce that I will be compiling the material I've composed into an album which will be released in Autumn 2014. I am incredibly excited for this project, as it pulls together a dream I've had for years to compose and arrange symphonic pieces of music that are inspired by Professor Tolkien's great work "The Silmarillion."

So this blog will be here for you to stay connected with my work until the release date. I will endeavour to post once or twice a week, and hopefully with some audio clips of what I'm working on at the time. There will most definitely be a Kickstarter campaign in the very near future where you will be able to support this project.

Now for a little information on the project itself. First of all, the word "symphony" generally refers to a live orchestra with strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion. While this project certainly has a live performance goal, it is simply cost prohibitive at this point. With that in mind, I have arranged for some live, in studio musicians to play some of the key parts of the symphony. (I am also a bassist so I could not deal with a synthetic sounding low end.) For the rest of the instruments, I will be using top of the line plugins. Thankfully, synthesizers have come a long way the last few years and they wield very realistic results.

Secondly, the first symphonic album with be the first of at least two. Drawing from the book, the compositions will start with "The Music of the Ainur" and end with "The Return of the Noldor." For those of you who are like me and have read the book many times, you know this means that there's at least another album to be written and possibly a third. After all, who wouldn't want to hear a massive piece like the Fall of Gondolin, or the War of Wrath?

Anyhow, I'll be posting more in the coming days and weeks as things continue to come together. I welcome your questions and thoughts on this project and will do my best to answer everything in good time.

Warmest regards,

Aaron