It's good having friends

Hey folks,

I'm really enjoying having you along for this lovely Tolkien-themed journey I'm on. Thank you to all of you who are following along on Facebook, the blog, Twitter and so forth. I wanted to share some of the good work being done behind the scenes by filmmaker Keenan Boyle. Keenan and I having been collaborating for almost a year on Lego Silmarillion: Beren and Luthien. It's been a very productive time. Here's one of his "behind the scenes" videos:

Be sure to click around on his channel for more good work. We collaborated on Gunslinger where I added some incidental music.

Cheers,
Aaron

Finish

"They say it is the first step that costs the effort. I do not find it so. I am sure I could write unlimited 'first chapters'. I have indeed written many." - J.R.R. Tolkien.
This week's blog has been tough to write. So I was looking around for some fodder and found the above quote. It resonates with me - I'm excellent at starting pieces of music, and I have a number of ideas that I've started by never developed. May that continue to change.

Fortunately, this trend has changed in the making of The Silmarillion Symphony. Volume 1 is completed, which is something I am tremendously proud of. Volumes 2 and 3 are being worked on. Beren and Luthien is going to be its own volume, considering that once Lego Silmarillion: Beren and Luthien is complete I will have scored between 60 and 90 minutes of music.

When I began this project, I had never completed a project of my own. Two-and-a-half years later, it looks like I'll do much more than just a couple volumes. This year's will be a smaller release (maybe 10-15 minutes) with a small ensemble. It's rounding into shape very nicely.

Excitement!

Greetings to all.

I've been mulling over what to write for this post. Alas, I have nothing much to share. I had hoped to share a few thoughts on concepts in Tolkien applicable to our current events, but that will have to wait.

The short film I'm scoring (Lego Silmarillion) is coming along nicely. I'm really looking forward to the final result later this year. I'm going to be able to have some live players involved in the final recording. (Ok it's me playing cello and horn but that counts!) You can see some behind the scenes footage by clicking here and you can see me talking about the scoring process for the film below.

I should be able to produce another video soon, and hopefully some new clips of the string and piano piece I've been working on for The House of Hurin.

Peace,
Aaron

Sneak Peak

Today's been a little bit of a downer for me as I've been fighting allergies/cold all day. However I have managed to get a little sneak peak into my composing the score of "Unnumbered Tears". This one's rather heartbreaking. In the aforementioned Unnumbered Tears, the vast majority of the High Elves fight against the forces of Morgoth. As such, the High King of the Noldor, Fingon is present and commanding a substantial force of Elves and Men.

The battle begins somewhat well for the Noldor (which I will illustrate in the score) but the battle eventually goes ill. Fingon ends up separated from his brother Turgon, and in single combat with a Balrog. Fingon fights valiantly, however eventually he gets killed and trod into the mire by the Balrogs and their maces. It's a bad day for the Elves, but Turgon manages to escape.

The excerpt picks up right as Fingon is being killed. The musical story is told as though Turgon was able to catch a glimpse of his brother's last stand. That's what makes the most sense to me. Here's the piece: The Fall of Fingon.

Best of wishes,
Aaron

Small steps

Today's been a day of little steps - the kind by which we travel far.

I started out by practicing my horn. That went well enough. But then I started working a recent idea. It's looking to be a dead ringer for "The House of Hurin." I started working on a largo last week while helping someone learning guitar. Amazing what messing about with a couple chords can do for you. I was hoping to having a sketch up on soundcloud but I was also working on a short film that should coming out later this month (it's a Western). I'll have a link ready here when it's out.

Going back to The House of Hurin, it's going to be a string quartet accompanied by piano and solo clarinet. The music itself will cover the parts of The Silmarillion after Hurin is captured by Morgoth in the Unnumbered Tears. So I'm looking forward to finishing this one this year. Hoping to have a mockup done by next post.

Best wishes.

A slight diversion

Hi all,

I don't have much news for the past couple weeks, other than starting a new job which has taken the lion's share of my time. Pieces are being composed at a steady if not so speedy rate. But that's not what this post is about. I plan on doing more blogs like this one occasionally.

I often wonder about society, where the world's going etc. I constantly think on the applicability of Tolkien's writing. I think of how violent things seem, and how peaceable conflict resolution feels almost unattainable. And I realize that "the Professor" has many things to say about such things as violence, war, fear, hope, and friendship. I'm amazed on what we can learn from Tolkien's insights, whether written in his letters, or in his 'fairy stories'. So I'll be talking about these things from time to time in more detail. Best of wishes.

The Unnumbered Tears

This week I've been sketching through "Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad." For me, this is where the tone of The Silmarillion turns more tragic than perhaps it was before. It's also one of my favourite chapters. After the triumph of Beren and Luthien in capturing a Silmaril from Morgoth's crown in the previous chapter of the book.

From the looks of things, this chapter deserves a musical suite of its own. I've sketched up until Glaurung arrives. This is shaping up to be quite an epic, intense and wrenching composition. The hills and valleys of the plot are enough to support many motifs, ranging from heroic to gritty to tragedy and grief. And of course there's some single combat to be covered as well.

I'm looking forward to my continuing work on this piece, which will be provisionally title "Unnumbered Tears." The first movement is already sketched, now I must fill it out, edit and so forth. This is great fun.

I'm going to be launching a Patreon campaign this month or beginning of next in hopes of funding another album. I would absolutely love to take a few suggestions on what kind of rewards I could offer for any and all levels of patronage! You can contact me view this blog in the comments section, or by visiting The Silmarillion Symphony's Facebook.

Many thanks for your support! Looking forward to a wonderful year ahead!