The following event(s) took place in Middle-earth on April 26th: The unexpected party (1341) TheOneRing.net is officially registered…
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The following event(s) took place in Middle-earth on April 26th:
We’re delighted to share an exclusive interview from fellow Tolkien fanatic Eirik Bull – a journalist from Norway. He recently sat down with our friend, Weta Workshop’s own Daniel Falconer.
In Eirik’s interview with Daniel they cover a lot of topics, looking at Daniel’s history in working in Tolkien’s amazing world, as seen in Sir Peter Jackson’s brilliant adaptations over 20 years ago. Eirik and our friends at Weta asked us to share this interview – and you can look forward to another interview coming soon, with Sir Richard Taylor. We all hope you enjoy this amazing look at Daniel Falconer’s journey in Middle-earth.
On March 18 this year we began Middle-earth March Madness 2024: Magical Moments. TORn staffers had been working behind the scenes to choose and then vote on a plethora of happenings from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which could be considered magical events. We whittled that number down to 64, and created seeding based on the staffer votes, and back in March we opened the contest to YOUR votes.
Now, after six rounds and thousands of votes cast, we have a winner. Of all the moments when magical powers are used in Middle-earth, one has been chosen as the ‘most magical’. If you watched TORn Tuesday last night, you saw the winner revealed there. But if you’ve stayed ‘spoiler free’, we can now reveal the Middle-earth March Madness Champion for 2024 is…
Continue reading “Middle-earth March Madness 2024 – Revealing this year’s Champion”Our good friends at Volante Opera have been in touch with very exciting news! You may remember, in 2022 and 2023 we brought you news of their work with composer Paul Corfield Godfrey, to bring to life his operas of stories from The Silmarillion.
Godfrey had for many years been working on operatic excerpts from The Lord of the Rings – and during lockdown, he and the Volante Opera folks had even begun recording excerpts, ‘just in case’; but the Tolkien Estate had not granted permission for those works to be released.
There are thirty ‘chapters’, intended to be performed over six evenings. The text is (of course) abridged, but uses as closely as possible Tolkien’s own words; and fans can even look forward to an appearance by that most elusive of characters in adaptations, Tom Bombadil!
The fifteen CD set should be available in 2025. Meanwhile, you can enjoy Volante’s previous recordings of Godfrey’s Silmarillion settings, available to purchase on their website; and here’s a trailer, with aural ‘glimpses’ of what treats we have in store.
Here’s the official press release from Volante Opera:
For many years the Tolkien Estate has refused to allow any musical treatment of the works of the author which employed his own words. Now they have agreed to make a concession in respect of the music of Paul Corfield Godfrey, whose cycle of “epic scenes from The Silmarillion” was finally completed in 2023 with the issue of a ten-CD series of recordings from Volante Opera and Prima Facie Records.
Ever since the 1960s the composer has been working on sketches, fragments and episodes of what was envisaged as a cycle of musical works based upon The Lord of the Rings. Following on from the success of the recordings of The Silmarillion Paul was persuaded to go back to these beginnings and fully explore, expand and complete the work which has now evolved as “musical chapters from The Lord of the Rings”. This fully operatic setting has now become a companion work on the same scale as The Silmarillion. This adaptation takes place over thirty “chapters” designed to be performed over six evenings – over fifteen hours of music.
This work is currently in the process of recording by Volante Opera and it is anticipated that Prima Facie will release a demo recording of the complete cycle, in the same manner as their Silmarillion recordings, in 2025.
Cast
The professional singers, some thirty in number, come mainly from Welsh National Opera. Returning artists from The Silmarillion include: Simon Crosby Buttle as Frodo, Julian Boyce as Sam, Philip Lloyd-Evans as Gandalf, Stephen Wells as Aragorn, Michael Clifton-Thompson as Gollum, Helen Jarmany as Éowyn, Huw Llywelyn as Bilbo, Emma Mary Llewellyn as Arwen, Laurence Cole as Boromir/Denethor, Martin Lloyd as Treebeard/Herb Master, Helen Greenaway as Lobelia/Ioreth, Rosie Hay as Gwaihir, Sophie Yelland as the Barrow-wight, Louise Ratcliffe as Lindir, with George Newton-Fitzgerald and Jasey Hall taking on a plethora of roles. Angharad Morgan will also be reprising her role as Galadriel from The Silmarillion. Our new cast members and their characters will be introduced as the recording process continues.
Those who have enjoyed the composer’s large-scale setting of The Silmarillion will be pleased to discover that the music inhabits the same musical world as before, with many ideas and themes continued and expanded into The Lord of the Rings. The “musical chapters” also incorporate other works by the composer such as his earlier Tolkien songs (already available on CD) which now assume greater significance in the course of the whole structure.
Although the text is inevitably abridged, it adheres without any but the most minor alterations to the author’s original words, and the original plot development remains unchanged – including such elements as Tom Bombadil, the Barrow-wight and the ‘scouring of the Shire’. And some other passages, such as the coronation and wedding of Aragorn, are given expanded musical treatment.
Further tales from Tolkien in music
Also coming early 2025, a complete recording of Paul Corfield Godfrey’s solo piano works played by renowned British concert pianist Duncan Honeybourne. This will include, amongst other works, the epic piano rondo Akallabêth, a solo piano version of the Wedding March from The Fall of Gondolin, and a new work composed specifically for Duncan and this album – ‘The Passing of Arwen’.
For more information about the work please visit: www.paulcorfieldgodfrey.co.uk
For more information about the recording by Volante Opera Productions please visit: www.volanteopera.wales
Updates about the recording process will be posted to our social media feeds:
DISCORD: https://discord.gg/J6bQFHygr7
FACEBOOK: Volante Opera Productions, The Music of Paul Corfield Godfrey
INSTAGRAM/THREADS: @volanteopera
TWITTER/X: @OperaVolante, @TheCorfield
Recordings and scores of Epic Scenes from The Silmarillion and Akallabêth and other Tolkien Works are available from Volante Opera Productions’ website.
Check out Volante’s website for lots more information, including more details on casting/characters, chapter breakdown, and synopsis. So much to look forward to; we can’t wait to hear these pieces in full. Now we hope they may be brought to the stage one day… Meanwhile here’s Godfrey’s ‘Lament for Boromir’ – enjoy!
The following event(s) took place in Middle-earth on April 8th:
We come to it at last – the great battle of our time… Well, at least of this year’s Middle-earth March Madness 2024: Magical Moments. TORn staffers picked 64 happenings from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which could be considered magical events. (Though what exactly counts as ‘magic’ in Middle-earth is, of course, up for debate!) These moments were seeded based on staffer’s votes, divided into four bracket (one for each book), and so it began. Now, three weeks later and with thousands of votes cast, we are down to the final two. Let’s see how the Semi-finals played out:
The first time Bilbo experiences the power of the Ring, becoming invisible when seeking to escape Gollum, deep under the Misty Mountains, was the winning moment of The Hobbit bracket. It faced the victor from The Two Towers region, no less a moment than the return from the dead of Mithrandir, coming back to Middle-earth as Gandalf the White. Two absolutely iconic moments – and you might have expected a tight battle. In fact, the power of the Ring was no match for the wizard; The Two Towers contestant took 70% more votes than its opponent. So Gandalf the White strides into the final. Who or what will be his adversary?
This showdown was a much tighter contest then the other Semi-final. Just SIX votes made the difference between the contenders during much of this round – even as the numbers rose, that margin stayed more or less the same. It’s a duel between the defeat of the Witch-king by ‘No Man’ and Gandalf’s overthrowing of the Balrog. Will we have an all Gandalf championship battle?
The answer is … yes! At the last moment, coming in just under the wire, and having been trailing for most of this round, the wizard won by ONE VOTE. Eowyn overcame the Lord of the Nazgul, but could not defeat the Maiar. And so an event which started off seeded all the way down at #6 in its bracket confronts a #1 seeded event in the Final. It’s The Fellowship of the Ring vs The Two Towers, a kind of ‘before and after’ – the battle against the Balrog, and the return thereafter:
VS
What a magical finish for our penultimate round! I cannot recall ever having such a tight matchup in the history of Middle-earth March Madness. The Witch-king’s Fall to “No Man” had led during the entirety of its Final Four Round, but the lead was always “walking on the edge of a knife”, hardly ever more than 10 votes. And in perhaps the upset of the tournament, the FotR champion, only the number six seed in its own region, pulls off the last second victory, squeaking by the iconic moment on the Pelennor Field by a single vote. Sadly perhaps for Éowyn and Merry fans (and possibly a ‘crushing blow’ for Witch-king fans…), our March Madness tournament officials have yet to figure out instant replay technology. What a Balrog Burner of a match!
The return of Gandalf the White from his journeys beyond thought and time easily handled the contest with Bilbo’s Ring of Invisibility, despite its darker Power lurking in the background. At least for this tournament, the One Ring will not rule them all.
Which leads us to a dream matchup between two versions of possibly the most magical icon of the Third Age: Gandalf. Can Gandalf the Grey keep his momentum going? Slaying a Balrog is no small thing. Or will Gandalf’s resurrection as an Istari more evenly matched against Sauron prove that he has brought more than just a fool’s hope to this magical tournament?
It should be very clear by now that the ultimate tournament outcome lies in the hands of the fans. And even the smallest single vote can change the course of the future.
Place your votes! As with the Semi-final, we just have one bracket to vote. Use the embedded experience below, or click here. Then click the ‘Vote Now’ option that appears at the top left of the page. Let’s get voting!
Which Magical Moment will be the Champion for Middle-earth March Madness 2024? You decide! Would you like to see the wielding of Glamdring and the flame of Anor sweep to victory? Or is Gandalf’s return from the dead unbeatable magic? Rally the troops and place your votes! Voting will be open until the start of TORn Tuesday on Tuesday April 9th; we’ll take a look back over the contest and reveal this year’s Grand Winner during the show. But which moment will it be? That’s up to YOU – vote now!
