The songs of Lord of the Rings and tunes that fit them...
 

Hi ya'll!

I imagine there's hardly a soul here that hasn't read the books. I just love the music and poetry in the books. Tolkien was a master of songs and peotry.

Some of the songs, I've noticed, can fit some tunes, or similar tunes of today. For instance, the song of Nimrodel in Lorien. I can just hear Legolas singing that with his voice (almost sounding like Steve Green...) singing the song of Nimrodel. Go back and read it, you'll find the words fit the tune of <drumroll> It Came Upon A Midnight Clear! Read it! Go ahead! The song Galadriel sings at the farewell banquet fits the tune too.

And then there's the troll song. (Sam sings it right before the Flight to the Ford) It rings in my mind to the tune (which I've only heard advertised on commercials for nostalgic music CDs) could go with that song and beat of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" but with Johnny Cash singing. :-)

And then there's the song 'ol Frodo sang at The Prancing Pony that sounds extremely like an old nursury rhyme I knew once...:-)

On the theme of music but slightly different I was wondering if there has ever been a record of a composer attempting to compose a piece to the description of the Ainulindalë, The Music of the Ainur. Just image the growing clamor and harmony of the Ainur singing together for the first time, and the slow destruction of this harmony by Melkor. I don’t know if it is possible to create a tune that harmonies with a loud tune as the Second Theme of Eru does, but i would love to know if anyone has tried (or would like to try).

Yes, I can safely say there has been an attempt, though not deliberatly in reference to Lord of the Rings.

Ever heard the tune for The Prince of Egypt when Moses meets God? I call that Holy Wailing, but others call it sacred sounding choir vocals, or awesome-sounding God song. But it's amazing. It's really a sacred-sounding choir, and if you haven't heard it, try buying the soundtrack (or renting it if you don't own a money tree :-)) and listening to track 8. It'll blow your socks off.

I have a record of original music composed, arranged and performed by Bo Hansson entitled "Music Inspired By Lord of the Rings" - it contains a trach inspired by just about each chapter. I haven't listened to it in a few years (the record player having spun its last a while back), but from what I remember, Hansson did an excellent job captivating the essence of the mood of each chapter. Of course, this is all his original work, not a rendering of Tolkien's songs.

More music inspired by LOTR...

Check out a group called "Nickel Creek." They are a folk/bluegrass/country ensemble- the instruments are violin, mandolin, and acoustic guitar. Really a beautiful sound...

Anyway, on their title debut album they have a song called "In the House of Tom Bombadill." It's an instrumental and it's very pretty. I think their whole sound is very "hobbit-esque." Anyone else listen to NC?

[ July 28, 2002: Message edited by: Brionna ]

If you're after the songs themselves, Donald Swann set some of them to music in collaboration with JRRT. There is an album called... ohh help... if no-one posts with the name then i'll post it when i remember... anyway he set songs of LOTR to piano accompaniment. 'Namarie' is particularly good.
You can also get tapes of JRRT hiself reading some of the poems, and he sings 'Namarie' and Sam's troll song. That tape is also really worth a listen, and again i can't remember what its called. but if you can find it, do get it.

Brionna, I also have that Nickel Creek CD and enjoy the music very much. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] You'll find a bit more information on this thread.

Is it just me, or does Toccata in D Minor seem like perfect "orc hunting" music? [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Uhhh. . . if you say so. . . [img]smilies/confused.gif[/img]

I have a copy of 'Misty Mountain Hop' by Led Zeppelin. It really doesn't remind me of Middle Earth at all but still...

Led Zep have quite a lot of LotR references such as 'Gollum, the evil one' stealing his girl in 'the land of Mordor' [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

None of these really set the mood of Middle Earth but a friend of mine is adamant that 'Stairway to Heaven' was written for LotR.

I also think the Star Wars theme is almost identical to "Mars," and that "Cristofori's Dream" is perfect for the Elves when they must leave ME: Angelic, sweet, and terribly sad, so I may just be clinicly insane. Oh, and "Canon" is really good for Orc music too. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Edit: I just thought I'd want to add that Canon thing is a joke. Unless Orcs are pretty Baroque-ish.
[img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

[ July 29, 2002: Message edited by: Anna Licumo ]

Knight, are you, perchance, from Texas? [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] If so, I welcome a fellow Texan, if not, I welcome a fellow Christian! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

I love Nickel Creek's "House of Tom Bombadil", and yes, it does sound like they all just tumbled out of a hoe-down in the Shire. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Gayalondiel, I've been looking everywhere for that tape/record/CD of Tolkien reading in Elvish! Can you remember the name or where can I find it/download it?

Well, I'm not exactly what you'd call a genuine Texan. I'm the next best thing (in my mind) But I like Texas (aside from all those tornadoes ya'll get down there) and the people from there (ala George Dubya Bush) and I wear a cowboy hat down to our horse barn. So I'm a westerner at heart!

Glad to see a lot of Christians on here too. That's very nice to see.

A long time ago, somebody posted that they were using hymn tunes to sing LOTR songs. I searched for "tunes" and didn't find that post. But I've been trying it with celtic tunes. Has anyone else tried to match Tolkien's poetry with celtic tunes? Here's what I came up with at first shot:

I sit beside the fire and think// Annie Laurie, or, Broom o' the Cowdenknowes

The Road goes ever on and on// Dark Island, or, The Water Is Wide (Waly Waly)

Sing Hey! For the Bath at close of day// Summer Days and Heather Bells, or, Lassie wi' the yellow coatie

Luthien (The leaves were long the grass was green) // The Lea Rig (Really works well!)

Nimrodel (An elven maid there was of old)// Jock o' Hazeldean (works very well [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] can also use "O My Luve is like a red red rose"

Anna, you now have me trying to visualize orcs moving to Pachelbel's Canon - very funny!! But you know, as far as orcs are concerned - if they ain't Baroque, don't fix 'em! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

I too, have heard Bo Hansson's work, and for a long time it was the only Tolkien-related music around, besides Zep.
I liked the tune sung in the BBC LOTR, the one sung by Sam for the Gil-Galad song? That tends to fit almost all of Tolkien's carefully moded poems.
Lays are hard to chant an sing when they are long. I know, I've tried getting thru all of Brigid O'malley in both English and Irish at a campfire. I found that intermixing the original language with the English translation captured the audience's attention despite the need for continual key changes to keep the tone flowing.
I am interested in why some "songs" were called chants, and after being introduced to chant in Buddistic tradition, I see the need for it. Yes, chant can be sung, but when it's learned like a prayer, sometimes chant (like Shakespeare's sonnets) can sound more alive if spoken and not sung.
For the music of The Ainur, I suggest that you try Handel's The Planets.

[ September 06, 2002: Message edited by: Tirned Tinnu ]

Hmmmm, I read some of the song lyrics in the books, and then spend serious time coming up with simple, yet melodic tunes that fit the meter of the words. I find it to be great fun, but I better start recording then as the perfect tunes so carefully worked out are easily forgotten! (Thanks for the link Mark.) I would like to hear JRR Tolkien actually reading and singing, if you can remember the name, Gayalondiel!

Tirned Tinnu,
I, too, liked some of the songs from the BBC radio version, especialy Sam's "Gilgalad". I also like the tune for "The Road goes ever on" used in the film, sung by Gandalf.

In one of his letters, Tolkien said that the Troll song was written to fit the music of an american folk song, "The Fox" (The fox whent out on a winter's night/Prayed for the moon to give him light..). I think that's the only one for which he mentions a particular tune.

[ September 20, 2002: Message edited by: Selmo ]

There are two cds I listen to when I read LotR aside from the movie soundtrack (In fact, it seems that almost each book I own has its own listening cd). One of them, is Celtic Graces, and the other one is a Yanni cd (too lazy to go to my own room and look for the title).

I haven't been thinking about putting old tunes to the poems, but I'll try them with the tunes in Celtic Graces.

Thanks to Knight for starting this thread. I am goinig to go on a cd shopping spree and try to look for every artist in this thread.

So to Knight of Gondor, I welcome thee, another music enthusiast as well as another fellow Christian! Mae Govannen!

You welcome! And I still think the song of Nimrodel would sound better to the tune of It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, as would the song Galadriel sang as the Fellowship departed...go back and read it to yourself as you sing!

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear?! That's exactly the tune I thought would fit to Bilbo's song, "I sit beside the fire and think," if you group the verses in twos!
Odd...

Yeah, but "It came upn a midnight clear" is just so... Christmassy. I totally love it, don't get me wrong; it's one of my favorites, and I collect Christmas Carols. But I can't bring myself to put Tolkien's poems to Christmas carol tunes. Maybe because I like the carols for themselves, so much.

If duh tune doth fit, you must use it! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

OMG!!! I remember singing that song in kindergartin!!!

Someone brought up the matter of Led Zeppelin, and Stairway to heaven was written with LotR referance, several of them. Along with Occult referances and others. There is a stanza in that song that goes:

There's a feeling I get
When I look to the west
And my spirit is crying for leaving
In my thoughts I have seen
Rings of smoke through the trees
And the voices of those who stand looking

I've never seen this one pointed out exactly. Does anyone else see that?

I have thought that maybe stairway to Heaven is somehow inspired by LoTR but I'm not sure it has that quaility, though. Have any of you gotten or heard the Tolkien Ensemble's Night nad Eening in Rivendale it has alot of great poems and songs from the book put to music. Some of it is rally good. I've also heard The Starlit jewel is good but I'm having trouble finding a copy.

There's an old French Christmas carol that fits nicely to "The Road Goes Ever On and On". I never can remember the words, I can only whistle it. But here's the MIDI and the English translation: Il est né le divin Enfant


It's also good for "I Sit Beside the Fire and Think".

Oh, and "The Fox" does fit "Old Troll" well! Especially since they're both very blood-thirsty lyrics:

"...and the little ones chewed on the bones-O!" [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

P.S. - Here's the lyrics and MIDI for The Fox. (The MIDI link is at the bottom of the page, below the lyrics.)

[ November 25, 2002: Message edited by: Birdland ]

Greensleeves works nicely for the shorter songs as long as you don't think of it as a Christmas tune.

I was just going to say greensleeves! But it works for most songs in LotR, not just short ones (believe me, I've tried [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] )

I love it when old posts get ressurected!