"Composer in Interview"

I have a bit of a long post this week, as I get to publish one part of the interview I did with German magazine 'Erebor' from the Inda-Gefährten - Deutschlands einzige Tolkien-AG Tolkien class. Many thanks to both Julian and Leonard for setting this up! 

1. You are an experienced composer and musician. How did music became your passion and when did you decide to become a composer?

 Music has been a part of my life since before being born. Both my parents and two siblings are musicians. We've all been to music school and we've all had extensive time performing. I decided to compose seriously in early 2014. I had never put together an album of original works, I had only done a great deal of songwriting and work as a bassist.  I became fascinated by Tolkien when I was 15 or 16, right about the time I started taking music more seriously. I watched The Lord of the Rings a little before that, and i really took to the legendarium. I really became captivated with Tolkiens world when I did a literature assignment using The Lay of Leithian (The Lays of Beleriand). I still remember vividly the covers of the books in my school library. I believe the year after that I picked up The Silmarillion. More recently I've really enjoyed seeing certain ideas that Tolkien places somewhat obliquely in his stories (when the Noldor start making weapons after listening to Melkor comes to mind).


2. Your masterpiece until now is your Silmarillion symphony, which contains of two pieces. How did you became fascinated by Tolkien?

Thank you! That is high praise. To answer your question, I like to think I have a strong memory and imagination. So when I read the books, not only am I looking for musical cues, I am always trying to visualize what is going on. My memory helps a great deal. Then I try to illustrate in my music what I see as the picture. To use a technical term, it's a sort of 'narrative scoring'. And it's great practice for me as someone who is interesting in scoring films.


3. You had contact to music already at the age of four. Is there a composer of the classical, baroque or romantic age that you do admire and does he inspire your music?

May I give a few answers? I grew up listening to a ton of classical and jazz music. I enjoy both. I'd mention to any young musicians reading this - this has been a major influence on me and how my ear has developed. I was lucky to have all this high information music from a very young age, and I'm grateful to my parents for that. For composers - I've always loved Bach and Hadyn in Baroque, Mozart is my hero in classical, and in the romantic era, there are so many. Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Bruckner, Elgar. And Wagner too.


4. We have read that already during your college years you had a concept for your Silmarillion symphony. This concept has been lost, but can you remember how this musical plan differs from the realized music?

Ah, the lost originals. I wish I could resurrect them. Fortunately, I can remember a few ideas, some of which I am coming back to now. I remember the ideas were a bit more random, and the orchestration was not as solid compared to the new material. There were many sketches in the old materials, which makes the loss of them sting a little more.

5. When listening to your music one can actually feel the atmosphere of Tolkien’s great work. A wonderful achievement. Film composers normally have the specific scenes to look at while composing and so can try to express the atmosphere of the scene. You do not have this advantage during composing. How did you approach the Silmarillion? Did you read the respective scenes again and again and tried to find ideas this way?

The two albums really have two different decision making processes. The Deeps of Time was all about starting from the beginning of everything. So I was composing very much inspired by the first several chapters on the book. After the main composition process (I say that because you don't ever truly stop that process), I had to decide which pieces were strongest and best portrayed the narrative.

On The Fall of Fingolfin, I had to choose rather quickly this time around. I had sketches of every piece, and simply chose the pieces that had the best melodic and storyline potential. I had a lot of re-orchestrating to do as some themes were from 2014, but that's part of the fun.


6. How do you decide which scenes of the Silmarillion you want to transfer into music? Why e.g. the Ainulindale and the Fall of Fingolfin?

Along with James Horner, Howard Shore is my favourite film composer. The score from Fellowship of the Ring is one of the most interesting I've heard. So I really find his work inspiring. Lord of the Rings ended up being about 10-12 hours of music and great music. It's been utterly essential to my musical development. It's been a huge part of me finding my compositional voice. So credit where it's due there. That said, I have to be vigilant that I do not 'unconsciously borrow' material. I want to make certain The Silmarillion Symphony sounds like me, and stealing intellectual property just isn't cool.

Stylistically, when I set out on this adventure, I definitely wanted to follow something Mr. Shore did in LOTR - the use of leitmotif for different characters and cultures. I thought that to bring The Silmarillion to life, I would have to create many different themes. So that is what I feel I've done. I believe it will bring great texture to the work and keep me busy for a long time.


7. Although your music is a new take on Tolkien, we do hear slight connections to Howard Shore in it. For example, you use female choir for the Elven or Valar music or brass in threatening situations or as representation of evil. Do you have been inspired by Howard Shore or did you try to distance yourself musically from him?

Thank you again - that sense of tragedy and grief is exactly what the music is meant to show. Slow, beautiful, with unmeasurable sorrow is how Tolkien described the 3rd theme in the Music of the Ainur. I think that's perfect, and life can be very much that way.

8. From the article about you on the homepage of the German Tolkien Society we have learned that the Silmarillion has helped you to get over the death of a friend. Is this event and its emotional consequences present in the musical work? For us your symphony expresses tragedy, grief and a majestic sense of fate and loss – and therefore it fits Tolkien perfectly.

I have not had a chance to fully commemorate my friend in the music - not yet. That said, March of the Fallen King has a number of elements that I could identify as close to those emotional consequences. As a composer I put my heart and soul into my work, so those griefs and losses are all there. And the time may come when I explore this loss musically.

9. Would you like to record your music with a full human orchestra? Why not start a kickstarter project to get together the money for such a great achievement?

Oh absolutely I would! The Fall of Fingolfin had a good number of human players, which is something I am immensely proud of. I'll be pursuing the full orchestra option in the future, and hopefully for a large scale 60 minute recording. I intend on getting video footage for this as well. I'm glad you've brought up the kickstarter idea. I will be looking at crowd funding for this larger project. I sell the music as well, and that does support my endeavours as well.

Once again, I'd like to express my gratitude to Dr. Julian Eilmann and his class at Inda-Gefährten - Deutschlands for their interest in my work, and for reaching out for an interview! Danke freunde!