Thanka to Nevlonde, Ian and Yavie for all these news and picture!
Original
poster of bilbo’s last song from the 70s
News thanks to Nevlonde: “Hi. Just read the e-mail about Bilbo’s Last Song. Don’t know if you know that the poem was set to music by Donald Swann in his compilation of songs that were poems in LOTR. The songbook is entitled THE ROAD GOES EVER ON: A Song Cycle. Music by Donald Swann; Poems by J.R.R. Tolkien. I have the 2nd edition, published in 1978. It is now out of print, but the song is just beautiful. For years I have played it and cried every time, picturing Bilbo leaving Middle Earth. There was an old recording of the songs on, (a Record, if you know what that is!). I don’t have it but had borrowed it from the library. Swann played and sang the songs and that’s how I learned them.
There are some volumes for sale on-line, but there’re not cheap. But his music is really good and the songs were approved by Tolkien. There’s a nice introduction to the music book, explaining how Swann came to write the melodies and that Tolkien approved all, but had him revise the music for “Namarie.” Tolkien hummed what was a Gregorian chant and Swann basically used that with a bit added by Swann. Thought this might be interesting to you. “
And Ian ads this:
The BBC recording of the radio series, originally broadcast 21 years ago, featured this poem spoken over music as part of the finale of the radio dramatisation, but it was not included on the separately released soundtrack album by Stephen Oliver. John Le Mesurier. who played the part of Bilbo, was not really a singer and although the original radio adapter Brian Sibley and director Jane Morgan, loved his “sung” version Tolkien’s secretary didn’t – and she would not give permission for the “sung” version to be included in the radio series. As a result it was re-recorded as a spoken piece over the music that was broadcast as part of the serial but never included on the musical soundtrack album.
Last year, with the expiration of copyright I believe, the BBC were able to broadcast the “sung” version on a documentary on Tolkien by Brian Sibley, which to everyone I know who’s heard is far more poignant than the spoken word version. The fact that Le Mesurier is not a great singer only adds to its charm. When the BBC released new CD recordings of the radio series earlier this year (to include new intro’s and outro’s recorded earlier this year by Ian Holm – the movie’s Bilbo, but the radio series’ Frodo) they included the musical soundtrack CD with this extra new version added.
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News from Lady Elessar: “I work for a movie theater and just found out the first movie the new full (non-teaser) Two Towers trailer will be on. It is enclosed with Universal’s Red Dragon opening Oct. 4.” Whoo-hoo, roll on October.
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I’m sure everyone’s heard by now that America’s largest FAN-run sci-fi/fantasy convention, is once again descending upon Atlanta, GA this weekend (Fri Aug 29 – Mon Sept 2)! Here’s a brief line-up of the JRR Tolkien: Welcome to Middle-earth fan track to be held in the Greenbriar Room at the Atlanta Hyatt Regency: [More]
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I’m sure everyone’s heard by now that America’s largest FAN-run sci-fi/fantasy convention, is once again descending upon Atlanta, GA this weekend (Fri Aug 29 – Mon Sept 2)! Here’s a brief line-up of the JRR Tolkien: Welcome to Middle-earth fan track to be held in the Greenbriar Room at the Atlanta Hyatt Regency: [More]
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I’m sure everyone’s heard by now that America’s largest FAN-run sci-fi/fantasy convention, is once again descending upon Atlanta, GA this weekend (Fri Aug 29 – Mon Sept 2)! Here’s a brief line-up of the JRR Tolkien: Welcome to Middle-earth fan track to be held in the Greenbriar Room at the Atlanta Hyatt Regency:
TheOneRing.net once again journeys to the Deep South to tell the tale of that which is closest to anyone who is a regular of this site: previews and a behind the scenes look at The Lord Of the Rings: The Two Towers. TORN founders Calisuri, Tehanu, and Corvar will be attending and presenting this hugely popular program. (Note: Saturday?s TORN presentation will be in the Centennial Ballrooms. Sunday’s will be in the Greenbriar.) They’ll have a session about webmastering with Saulone of ThereandBackAgain.net. Saulone will also have a session about ThereandBackAgain.net, showing his incredible artwork and telling how he came to be influenced so deeply as an artist by Tolkien?s works.
Tom Shippey, renowned Tolkien scholar and author, joins Dragon*Con for several sessions, including two with the Tolkien Track. If you haven’t read JRR Tolkien: Author of the Century, you have 3 ½ days to do so. ; ) This book is a definitive study of Tolkien and his works. Tom will be discussing philology and Tolkien’s place in the modern world. If you have an interest in the created languages of Middle-earth, be sure to catch these sessions!
Master metalsmith and historical re-enactor Joe Piela joins us for the first time this year. Joe has studied Tolkien’s battle related passages and brought this knowledge into his work as a metalsmith. He’s bringing many items created in his Lonely Mountain Forge for display and discussion. Roleplayers and weapons collectors will find these sessions of great interest.
In the arts, The Butler Ballet has been working on a new dance composition based on Tolkien’s touching story about Beren and Luthien, entitled The Silmaril. The Butler Ballet is a pre-professional dance company of Butler University, world famous for the great artists and choreographers that begin there. Slated to be premiered in 2003, there’s already a buzz in the dance world about this new work. Please join us for a preview, brought to Dragon*Con, by Stephan Laurent of The Butler Ballet.
Returning for their third year, Jeff Sherrill & Paul Dunne bring back their popular Elvish 101: An Introduction into the basics of Tolkien’s created languages. Learn the history behind the words (and how to pronounce them!) Jeff and Paul will set you on the path to fluency in the Elvish languages!
In music, Steve Babb, of the band Glass Hammer pays us another visit, with premieres of new videos of two of the band’s Tolkien-inspired songs. Currently at work on their seventh release, Glass Hammer has a huge following.
This year, the gaming world is represented by Universal Interactive and Games Workshop. Universal Interactive brings previews of their new video game based on the Lord of the Rings, including never before seen screen shots and a behind the scenes look at the making of an interactive video game. Games Workshop, famous for Warhammer tabletop games, has created a game for the Tolkien enthusiast, and is now adding more scenarios as the game grows in popularity. They’ll be showing the latest additions to their LOTR game.
In celebration of JRR Tolkien, we will have a night of fun, in the tradition of the Prancing Pony. Drop in for an Evening in Bree to meet fellow Tolkien fans, maybe sing a song or two and enjoy live music by Emerald Rose. We’ll have trivia questions galore. Dress in Middle-earth inspired costume for our costume contest, for your chance at very cool prizes provided by Sideshow-Weta Collectibles, Decipher, and Houghton Mifflin, to name a few. (Please note: Fire marshal rules will limit number of guests attending this. Doors will be closed when capacity is reached.)
TheOneRing.net will have a fan table set up at the Marriott Marquis. Stop by and meet the founders and staff of TORN (including Tehanu, our Kiwi Founder, who?s attending Dragon*Con for the first time!) We’ll have drawings and giveaways throughout the convention and would love to meet you : )
For complete schedule listings and news, visit TORN’s Dragon*Con [Schedule]. For more information about the enormous event that IS Dragon*Con, visit [Dragon*Con].
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Tinidril sends in this blurb from the latest NY Times: “A case in point is the sequential release on DVD and VHS cassette of three versions of “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.” [More]
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